flame rectification

Unknown

If yours is a 24v Honeywell based ignition control, remove the "Burner Ground" wire from the Ignition Module and put your Multimeter in Series with this wire and the terminal it was connected to. Make sure your leads are plugged into the Common and Amps (MA)sockets of your meter. Set the meter for DC - Micro Amps and turn on the boiler. If you have a Honeywell S8600 series control you would generally be looking for a minimum of 1 DC Micro Amp. As always, unless you are trained and qualified to work on this type of equipment, for safety reasons have a qualified individual do this for you.

Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

U.S. Boiler Co., Inc.

curiousity kills

flame rectification

Does anyone know of a method to check flame rec. if the igniter is being used to prove flame as opposed to a flame rod?

Unknown

If you have a burner ground connection

then you want to get in series with the burner ground wire with your meter as Glenn described. You should read between 2 to 10 microamps, normal is 3 to 5. If you have a Fenwal control the microamp readings on some units may be higher. Check the Fenwal spec sheets on these.

Here is a good question for you- What if the reading is over 10 microamps, what does that indicate?

For systems which do not have an accessible burner ground I have developed a switch for being able to interrupt the 120 volt signal from the igniter circuit and allow you access to the microamp signal from the combination igniter/sensor. We cover this is detail in our Electric Ignition Systems seminars or in our Electric Ignition Manual.

If the Module has a sensor circuit you can put the microamp meter in series with the sensor wire and its terminal and get a reading. The exception is Fenwal which has FC- and FC+ which you can just put your meter across those terminals to read microamps.

I strongly recommend due to the complexity of some systems and how to take the readings that you attend a course that covers this in detail.

curiousity kills

Thank you for the detailed responses.

Mitch_6

Timmy I know this question covers alot of ground

As a predominantly hydronic technician but also will trouble shoot scorched air in a pinch. I have all your control books (and my shelf only collapsed once ;-)!

Any chance of you putting out a small tool box sized book we can keep in (our tool box) with the simple quick checks we can do on a service call. Just the more common items and generic tests and wanted or unwanted results.

I know I have also asked for this on DVD or CD format before though I still do not have a laptop in my truck yet.

Thanks

Mitch S.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Unknown

Mitch, the Troubleshooting Guides we

sell are set up with that in mind as they are consolidated excerpts from our basic manuals.

I have also recently received a full breakdown on CD of all my presentations I have done for HVACTV.com. When I have some time I am going to have some CD's burned which will be offered for sale