Vibration / Chatter On 3 PSI Gauge And Vaporstat.

SteamHeat

My new gas boiler is in and my pro and I are trying to iron out the gremlins.



My Honeywell Vaporstat and 3 PSI Gauge ( Wika rear mount ), occasionally start to vibrate / chatter. The 30 PSI Gauge which is on the same pigtail just stays at zero as I expected it to. The chatter does not seem to affect operation so far, but it is a little unnerving. Has anyone any ideas as to why this is happening and what we can do to stop it?



Thanks for all of the help.

DavidK_2

I hate vibrations,

Does it stop when you touch something? I don't know much about steam, but sometimes vibrations can be hard to track down. If you are lucky holding part of the assembly still will stop the vibration - then at least you know where to start looking.

Steamhead

Dirty or oily water

can cause this. Clean or flush the boiler and see if it helps.

jpf321

same set-up .. same chatter

same setup .. 0-3 Wika (Bottom Mount) + Honeywell V-Stat... my tends to chatter just before the vaporstat triggers high..it could also be coincidence with that particular pressure...i will push the pressure up and see if still happens just before trigger... I thought it was due to v-stat having a rubber diaphragm perhaps. 

ttekushan_3

I second what Steamhead said.

Vaporstat chatter has always been due to oily contamination of the boiler water, in my experience. Skimming or surface blowoff is called for in these instances.



-Terry

SteamHeat

Skim Skim Skim !

We will try skimming.



We will also try holding onto the vaporstat to try to localize the vibration if repeated skiming does not stop it.



I will report back.



Thanks.

jpf321

no chatter with pressure turned down

fyi, i turned my pressure down from 12oz to 7oz .. now there is no chatter at time of v-stat trigger .. it simply clicks off, needle doesn't go haywire. 

SteamHeat

Thanks for this info

If the skimming does not solve the vibration / chatter, and if it seems to be coming from the vaporstat I will try this on my system too.



I am a little reluctant, because the time it takes to go from cut out to cut in is only about 1 minute on my system. I am having a problem with the vent valves leaking, ( different thread posted in this same forum ), and I think that is the cause of the short time, but I read a post from a pro that seemed to indicate, ( maybe I am misreading it ) that a short off-time was normal even if the vents aren't leaking. How long ( time ) does it take for your system to drift down from the cut out pressure to the cut in pressure now that you have set the lower cut in pressure?



Thanks.

jpf321

about a minute

it takes about 30-45secs to drop 4oz .. I reduced both the cut-out and cut-it. 7oz and 3oz respectively. it takes about 40min runtime from 170degF (where aquastat is set) to reach pressure 7oz. it takes 11mins to get from boiler start to end of my 55ft main/ 65ft main takes 13mins. have a look at this thread for system pictures and status of my ongoing tuning http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/128365/Looking-for-a-Steam-Pro-for-site-survey-visit



see my other post in response to yours in this thread regarding CPH and thermostat questions.. as well as a clearer definition of short-cycling... http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/128409/gorton-2-leaking-air-in-blow-test