Did tech mess up my steam heat pressuretrol settings?

tim smith

I do believe and have seen the pressuretrols to be very finnicky at lowest setting as the switch spring has no tension against it which will cause a unstable switching some times. Just a note, be that said, I still try to get as low as possible but you would be much better off getting a vaporstat to do this properly and also get your pressure where you really want it. Tim

Pete_18

Pressuretrol

I had my 1-pipe Steam Heat Honeywell Pressuretrol set to the bottom on cut-in, which appears to be 1/2 lb (unless i'm reading it wrong) and the lowest the cut-out wheel goes to which is 1.

I had hired new tech service my burner this year / clean the boiler, he supposedly has been doing this for 30+ years. When he came out, he told me that my cut-in should not be bottomed out (which I thought the first line was .5 from reading it), so he bumped it up to the second line on the right which appears to me to be 2. He also changed the cut-out from 1, which I had it set at to 2. I tried to tell him that I had it set up correctly, but he was convinced it was wrong.

What should I be doing?

Was he right at all that the cut-in shouldn't be bottomed out? (Is the bottom actually .5?)

Should the cut-out be at 1, 1.5 or 2?

Steamhead (in transit)

30 years

of setting pressuretrols wrong. Gotta love it.

YOU are right. He is wrong.

Properly vented, your system should heat up with OZ/in2 of pressure.

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Pete_18

Thanks Gordo, that's what I thought, but he was convinced I was a moron and he knew how it should be set up. So there isn't any harm in bottoming down the cut-in to as low as it goes as I had it, right? (which to my knowledge is 1/2 lb pressure unless I'm reading what the Pressuretrol reads incorrectly).

Steamhead (in transit)

The only harm

would be if the pressuretrol does not turn the boiler back on at that absolute lowest setting due to its "value engineered" construction. The "gray box" is a notoriously inaccurate control.

If you have read Dan's books on Steam Heat, you know more about steam systems then that 30 year tech. Besides, you live with one.



Set it at the lowest you can that the system still works.

And think about getting a Vaporstat one day.

Happy Steaming!

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Leo

Time to

Time to fire the new tech and bring the old one back.

Leo

Pete_18

Batting zero

I haven't had very good luck, but I agree it's time to keep looking. I wish I was in Maryland. I would gladly pay top dollar for Frank or Gordo to fix my last nagging problems with my steam system. I have spent so much time trying to perfect it (new boiler, main insulation, Gorton main vents, Gorton radiator vents, 2 new radiators, etc) that it's a shame to still have some annoying problems that I can't resolve.

In case you need a good laugh..

My oil company which I have since fired almost killed me with carbon monoxide. (They left my chimney open for a few days replacing the boiler chimney vent pipe, not paying attention to the gas device venting out the same chimney). Not to mention they piped the header completely wrong for the original boiler. They also serviced the former owners boiler (which I have since replaced) for 25 years and seemed to have never actually cleaned it since the firebox had collapsed and was full of soot and the chimney was full of soot.

I then found heatinghelp, read all of Dan's books, etc.

I hired 3 folks from Heatinghelp (Find a Professional) for different tasks.

HeatingHelp Guy #1 (recommended by the board for a long time, but no longer listed on the Find a Pro page) - Scratched my newly refinished wood floor replacing a broken radiator valve because he was careless and didn't put anything down on the floor like a towel/etc prior to moving the radiator.

HeatingHelp Guy #2 - Hired to add Gortons to my mains since he seemed very knowledgeable. Unfortunately it appears he accidentally messed up the pitch of my main when doing this since I now have a slight bang when the main cools down and then starts to heat up again. I tried to get him to come back and look at it, but it wasn't worth his time.

HeatingHelp Guy #3 (No longer listed on heatinghelp) - Paid him to replace my boiler and add 2 radiators, asked him to make sure new boiler was piped per mfg spec. He replaced the boiler, didn't pipe the header with the correct size pipe claiming it didn't need it, wouldn't fix it, and never showed back up to hook up my second radiator and stopped answering my calls after I paid him in full. He seemed like a great guy and helped me out in a pinch, so I was very surprised that he bagged out on me, especially since I sent him other business as well.

Tech #4 (Not from heatinghelp) - 30+ years of burner experience and completely clueless on steam heat. Came out to do a cleaning, replace filter, nozzle, etc and decided to tell me he knew everything as he proceeded to mess up my properly set up Pressuretrol

So far I'm batting zero and this is in Boston. Frankly, I feel bad for folks in the middle of nowhere.

Chas_2

To Pete

Pete please do not judge all by the action of the last three ,i have personally seem and am in the process of repairing a very oversized steam system by some listed here ,i had called them and asked for serial # for the unit and all they did was curse and scream about the landlord ,the work they did was crap and to me they should never even touch a steam boiler or heating system they should stick to waste and vent and over charging and leaving the scence of a accident ,If you want a pro look for the guy that ain't kissing your a and who is honest and tells it like it is i do ,do i get evey job no way the ones i get are always the same story profit based plumbers or hvac guys just in it for there mark up and money very sick and terribel stuff peace and good luck clammy

Leo

I work for an oil company

I work for an oil company and we get customers from other companies but mainly from 3. It is generally price or service. We strive to be best but hey we make mistakes too. I see hack work from all types of service companies, oil, heating, and plumbing. You just have to hang in there untill you find one you are ok with. I am from MA but not your area. There are guys who know what to do or who to ask.

Leo

Unknown

Tim's right

If it's the PA404 , it might not come back on if you set it lower than 2 psi . We switched to the L series ( still spring activated ) and haven't had any problems .

burnerman_2

I hear this a lot

WHAT U MENTION IT SEEMS EVERONE IS IN SUCH A HURRY DO IT QUICK I HAD A VO-TECH STUDENT RIDE WITH ME AFTER HE WAS WITH 2 OTHER COMPANY'S SAID THE OTHER GUYS DID NOT USE VAC TO CLEAN THE FURACE THEY WERE EXPECTED TO DO 5 CLEANINGS A DAY HOW CAN U DO AN EFFENTICY TEST WHEN U DON'T EVEN VACUM OUT THE DIRT OR CHECK CHIMNEY 4 BIRDS OK SO THIS IS HOW THE NEW GUYS ARE TRAINED?? HOW CAN THEY LEARN STEAM IF THEY DO NOT TAKE TIME TO KEEP UP WITH THE NEW FURNACES AS WELL AS THE OLD ?? ROYBOY

Unknown

Spoke too soon

I set the main at 2 on a L404 today . It shut down at 3 psi and did not come back on . I readjusted the setting to 3 and it worked fine for a few cycles .