spill switch reset

Unknown

problems exceeds the perission required. When you alter the deign you accept full liability and warranty for the equipment. The alternative is to get the manufacturer to accept the barometric solution and that is also very difficult.

I really do not concern myself about those things as I have found dumping CO into a dwelling to be much more difficult to deal with than permission.

bklynick

frequent spill switch reset

Hello everyone.

For the past few weeks I've had to reset my spill switch every couple of days.

The boiler is always able to run long enough to heat up the building to the set temperature. It will also go through multiple cycles before the spill switch needs to be reset.

This is my second heating season with this building and last year I recall having to reset it a only couple of times. Definitely not as frequently as this winter.

It's a small residential building, 3 stories (30 feet tall), about 2400 sq ft. A new New Yorker steam boiler was installed about 5 years ago.

Thanks to some advice on this message board I was finally able to balance the system almost perfectly. Changed some airvents, a couple of TRVs, roof insulation, and never one complaint from the tenants with all floors at a steady 70F.

All the apartments have multiple smoke and CO2 detectors, and none have ever gone off.

Here is what I tried so far:
- installed a new spill switch
- look down the flue with a flashlight, it was all clear, (although I still need to check the bend within the cellar from the vent to the wall).
- verified damper works


What I suspect:
It has been very windy the past few weeks and my chimney does not have a wind cap. Just a standard vent cap (looks like a pointy hat). The flue is an external 8" single walled metal pipe on the outside of the building.

Unusual bahavior:
My electronic thermostat would also sometimes reset when the spill switch was tripped. Is this normal? There were new True Value batteries in there, but after changing them to new Energizer batteries this hasn't happened. The thermostat never indicated that the batteries were low.

Can anyone offer advice on how to resolve this issue? Could something else be tripping the spill switch? Perhaps an electrical problem? Could the flue be undersized, or another ventilation issue?

any help would be appreciated,
thanks!

bob young

qualified service troubleshooter

a spill switch tripping signals an unsafe condition. i would get it corrected asap unless you like to play russian roulette. carbon monoxide is extremely lethal.

Plumdog_2

Flue up theOutside

Single-wall flue up the outside wall will resist establishing a draft during cold weather. Not code in this area, probably not in yours, either. Should be double-wall "B" vent, with the correct cap and should be enclosed in insulated chase.

Unknown

A single wall vent

outside is a violation of National Fuel Gas Code.

Install a Type "B" vent first of all. Install a Star Kap vent cap on the top to prevent down draft.

Are there any buildings nearby or any blockage outside to create wind turbulence at the vent?

Other alternatives are to block the draft hood or remove it and install a barometric.

Still another is to put in a power venter.

Definitely get rid of the single wall as it looses heat to fast and will not allow adequate draft to be created.

Natural draft is created by temperature difference and height of the flue, you are losing your temperature in the flue.

Once this is done then you need to do a combustion analysis.

seabee570

spill switch

all have given great advice,you should not be resetting switch every couple days.....you need to find the problem. to ad to all the great advice,you also need to check the combustion air in the boiler room,sometimes when you have a bad flue/draft condition,a combustion air shortage can make the problem worse....just another thought,as I have seen this before...

bklynick

thanks for the quick replies.

I'll feel much more prepared now for a scheduled service call.

There are other similar neighboring buildings with the same flue installations. I'll take a closer look to check and see exactly what my neighbors and I have installed.

But this still leaves to question as to why it's happening more often this year than last. Also, there was an absentee landlord prior to me and according to the tenants there weren't any boiler issues except a poorly balanced system.

Is it possible now that my system is more "tuned", more insulation has been installed, therefore the boiler works much less this condition is exasperated since the flue stays cooler more of the time this year?

thanks.

bob young

single wall flue w/ shanty cap

sounds like you got a gerritsen beach style chimney installation. violation city.

Mitch_4

Question Tim

Is it permissble to remove a draft hood a replace it with a barometric if the appliance has nothing in its certification report regarding the use of the barometric and states a draft hood?

Just curious, in Ontario TS & SA would rip yer head off and crap down the remains if you did that...