Steam system in old apartment building

Dan Foley

Colin,

I sent a proposal to the owner (Mr. May) outlining my recommendations along with a price to make the necessary repairs. It was sent on 12/18/07, just a few days after my initial visit. Your post implies that I was unresponsive and that is factually inaccurate. - Dan Foley

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Colin Delzell

Honeywell relay module

Hi all. Let me preface this by saying I do have Dan's book on the lost art of steam heat and I enjoy it very much. I am a superintendent/property manager in a 3 story apartment building in Washington, D.C. built in the 1930's. I am intimately familiar with my boiler as one of the mains runs right through my apartment and the corresponding vent is in my bedroom (!) I am no expert in steam heat, but I seem to know more than any of the techs that have been sent out in the last few years, thanks to Dan's book.
Our boiler was installed (poorly) before I arrived and shortly thereafter I used Dan's book to determine that the near-boiler piping was incorrect. We had that resolved by a different company who also installed a new boiler in one of our other builings. Ever since then, however we have had a series of problems that this same company has been unable to resolve, forcing me to take them on myself. Our latest problem is that the boiler is shutting off automatically and the burner relay module shows an alarm signal. I frequently get up in the middle of the night to reset the system only to find that it is off again in the morning. Since I cannot find any info on what the alarm light means, and none of the heating companies have been able or willing to help (including one I found on this site), I was hoping someone here on the wall has an idea of what could be happening or point me in the direction of information on the Honeywell 7800 series relay module. I have already checked the Honeywell site, etc. but I can find no info on troubleshooting this module. Thanks

Daniel_3

What code are you getting?

Colin Delzell

I have no read-out

No code, just the alarm light. Do I need the diagnostic read-out option?

tim smith

Flame relay

You probably should get a good burner person out there. A display module for your flame montitor would help to see what stage the burner is locking out at. The first thing we do when no display is pull pilot assembly and clean flame rod and electrodes. Clean pilot and air tube. Clean Ultra violet eye. Make sure whoever does this is qualified and does not change flame rod and electrode position initially unless afte cleaning it still is giving problem. Make sure they have a combustion analyzer with them or they are NOT qualified! You also could have a combustion setup problem which will cause lockouts also, we especially see this on cold starts as the dense air in chimney when cold creates back pressure to firing. Just my .05 cents worth. Tim

PS: readout is nice to have but still only tells you when and at what stage of firing the failure ocurred.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Yes. Get the display module. They are expensive but will more than pay for themselves. They give you a fault code so you have a place to start.

Chances are you have a pilot ignition problem or flame sensing problem.

ED

Colin Delzell

Thanks

Thanks for the replies. Can anyone recommend a good burner man in the DC area? Already tried Dan Foley but he has yet to come back after initial meeting.

Colin Delzell

Thanks

Good idea, but then who can I get to do the repair? I am reasonably good at troubleshooting, but I am not a pro by any means.

Colin Delzell

Dan,
Thanks for the response. I didn't mean to single you out, but according to the owner, he hasn't heard back from you. If that is inaccurate, I apologize. I'm not sure why he would say that, knowing that his building is without heat and has been basically all winter. I will talk with him and get back to you if you are still interested in doing the work.
Thanks

Dan Foley

Proposal

It was sent via e-mail to Mr. May and it was received at 6:58pm on 12/18/07. I would be happy to provide a dated copy of this e-mail. Please contact me directly if you are interested. -DF

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