Radiant floor heating does not shut off in one section of house

hot_rod

something stuck inside the zone valve holding it open. Remove the wire from the zone valve. Does the heat stop? If so it could be an electrical problem, shorted wire perhaps. Any pictures hung on the wall near the thermostat recently? A nail into the thermostat wire could keep the power on the zone valve, acting as a heat call.

If not it could be a stuck zone valve.

In either case you may need a contractor with the proper tools and experience to dig deeper.

hr

Eric_49

Radiant floor heating does not shut off in one section of house

Hello
I have radiant in floor heating in my house. Each section of the house is controlled by the Honeywell mercury contact type thermometers. For one section of the house (dining room) the thermostat may be broken, but it appears the same as all others in the house. The mercury does not complete a circuit when the thermostat is set to off.
However, the heat in the dining room section never shuts off. The floor stays incredibly warm, keeping the room constantly at 26-27 degrees celsius.

I looked in the furnace and it "seemed" like I could just flip a switch to shut off the heat in that section of the house to bypass the problem with the thermostat (though I don't know if that is the problem) - but after flipping it, see the pictures, the floor is still hot.

Any suggestions?

Thanks so much

Unknown

had to say it

What a sad looking installation...

Eric_49

Ha - doesn't surprise me. I found a hole the size of a basketball above the cabinets in my kitchen.

Of course I don't know why the current installation of the heating system is "sad" but is it worth calling someone to fix it? (not the heat not shutting off, but the installation)

WeeJee

Probably bad Honeywell zone valve

Their motors commonly die with the valve in the partially open position.
Not far enough to prove the end switch contacts and start the pump but far enough to allow flow thru the loop when other zones are calling - thus overheating that zone.
The problem seems much more frequent in anti-freeze systems.

And i agree ... that install is just a horrific mess.

Mark Eatherton

Could be...

that the pump is a high head pump and is causing the closest zone to bypass...

Especially if there is no pressure activated bypass valve.

ME

Supply House Rick

Who installed this?

Helen Keller Plumbing & Heating?

Eric_49

Another forum had me just try "Tapping" the silver boxes to free up a valve. It seemed to work as the switch under the boxes (just a lever) would activate or go through a palpable click when I pushed it in the other direction. I pushed the switch to the right, whereas all the other zones had it to the left). I don't know if that shuts it off or turns it on again.

At any rate, the floor seemed to cool when I tapped it yesterday, and this morning it was hot again and thus I moved the switch in the opposite direction.

I am thinking of just pulling out the wires that lead to that box to see if that shuts off the heat.

If that doesn't work, or if that is dangerous, can anyone recommend a good heating contractor?

Rich Kontny_3

That is

A little cheap as Helen Keller was a very talented lady. As a member of the Lions Club I can assure you that we hold her in high esteem. Have you ever looked into Dale Carnegie and what he has to offer?

Dale

Some basics

Perhaps a review of the basics will help. Thanks for the pictures, a lot easier seeing what you have. First you have zone valves, a movable rubber ball that allows water to flow, it is opened by the little electric motor (your brand of valve)on each valve. The room zone thermostats are just switches, when they close, calling for heat, 24 volt power goes to the motor to open, in your system if the valve opens all the way a little switch in the valve closes and the pump starts. So, the homeowner can take the cover off the zone valve, have the spouse/helper turn up that stat to call for heat and watch to see if the motor moves the parts below/behind, if it does good, then the pump should start perhaps a bit of delay. Good news is the motor is a separate part and can be changed without unsoldering the rest of the valve. Good luck

Eric_49

Hi all,
Thank you for the tips and the summary as well. I have attached 3 more photos.

The first is with the cover removed - I cannot see any valve visible so who knows what the "tapping" did.

The second is a picture of the "switch" at the bottom of the zone control, but I do not see what the switch actually does. All the other zones have the switch pushed to the left, I tried pushing the switch tot he right in the problem zone that has the constant heat, but I don't know if it does anything.

The third is a picture of the wire insertion into that round steel cylinder. I tried to pull the wires out to hopefully kill the heat to that zone until I can get it fixed properly, but the wires won't come out! I did not want to pull too hard in case I wasn't supposed to be removing them.

Any ideas? Again, the darn heat does not shut off. Any recs for a heating tech in Vancouver BC?

Eric

Dale

Not easy

Well, this is not an easy topic, which is the reason the professional service people can charge for what they know, to me we pay pros for what they know not so much for what they do. However, it is possible to understand this if you are willing to read enough. The problem is there is electrical theory, control theory, wiring conventions, and specific component layout. Unfortunately hot water systems use many different layouts and parts to do the same task. And, when some one like me explains something I often skip over what is more basic which is not a good thing to do. Since you made the effort, picture 1, the round can is the zone valve motor, the valve itself you cannot see, it's in the lower part in line with the pipe. If you look with a mirror under the "can" you will see a little toothed gear which mates with another gear that moves the valve. The motor=can on this zv can be changed without unsoldering the bottom. The middle and last picture is the yy motor wires and the rr switch wires. The wires are factory wire nutted inside the valve, to pull them out you first cut the wires on this style valve, there will be other wire nuts outside the valve so no one would cut them inside. Any hot water tech. can fix this, tell them you have Honeywell zone valves and watch what they do. It will be quick, but remember you are paying for what they know. Good luck