Ultra blower??

Pete M_3

Had my Ultra 155 stop working.  I had a hard lockout and just hit reset without looking at it.  I know....  Anyway, after the reset all that would happen was that the boiler pump would run continuously.  Nothing else would.  I finally got a copy of the control supplement that explained how I could access the last 6 error codes.  The last error was 29, which according to the manual meant either the blower wiring was bad, the blower was bad or the control module should be replaced.  So I checked the wiring, which all seemed tight, and did have 120V at the blower.  So I shut it off again and plugged the harness back into the blower.  Turned on the boiler and same thing, just the boiler pump running, no call for heat or DHW.  So then I decide to pull the plug on the boiler, and I get a boiler status of 5 (checking air pressure switch).  So I am thinking maybe it is not the module, and plug the blower back in.  It goes into status 1 (pre-purge) and the fan starts up, then the boiler ignites, and then responses to a call for DHW.   I put it through a few calls for DHW, both in summer and winter modes, and it seems to be working.  I have not tried it in a call for heat.

Anyone have any idea why this might have happened?  It just seems like the fix was unplugging and plugging back in at the blower 120V connection while the boiler was powered.

Pete

Unknown

Ultra failure,,,

it may have been a fluke,,, if the conditions(wind, draft, etc), played havoc at the termination this may happen.

JD has one,, perhaps he will chime-in. 

Pete M_3

Hot day

It was a hot day, like today.  Was working in the basement.  The boiler pump ran a good deal that night until it sank in that it was summer and that the heat and pump should nor have been going as long as it was.  Finally went down around 1:30 am, in the fog of being half aslept I just hit the reset button.  Then I spent an hour or so trying to figure it out.  Did not, so then I just shut it off.

hot_rod

could be

the circuit board on the blower is bad. Un-plugging and re-plugging it in will reset it , once. If it happens again try the same procedure. if it fires I'd bet the board is bad.



Last I worked on one you had the buy the complete fan just to get the little board, maybe that has changed.



hr

Pete M_3

Are you

saying that eve3n though it fires and the boiler seems to be working properly, that the fan may not be working properly?  Anyway to verify that the fan is bad?

Pete M_3

Again

It happened again, a bath for the kids and wife took shower.  After the kids calmed down and fell asleep, takes about an hour or so, I hear the circulator running.  Go and look at it and it has an E-29 error and the boiler circulator is running.  The thing is that the DHW has it own circulator and the summer switch is on.  The boiler cir. should not be running.  I hit the reset button and after a few minutes it goes back to what seems to be a normal mode (no call for heat) and the cir. is not running.  Will have to see what happens in the morning when I take my shower and it gets a call for DHW.



Pete

hot_rod

the fan motor

sounds like it runs fine. It's the circuit board, built onto the side of the fan, which controls it, that fails, from my experience.



Un-plugging it will reset it for one firing only.



Hard to answer your question about which pump should be running without seeing how it is piped.



The troubleshooting manual answers some or the fault questions, or try the tech support number.



hr

Jean-David Beyer

Chiming in.

I have an Ultra 3 80K BU/hr model.  Pete M clearly has an Ultra 2. They seem quite similar, but they have very different control boards. The Ultra 3 tells you everyting in English, not peculiar numeric codes.



The only blower on an Ultra 3 is the one that circulates the combustion air from the outside air supply through the gas valve where air and gas are mixed* and go into the heat exchanger where they are burned and then out to the exhaust.



*(on the larger models, I think the gas and air are mixed after the blower; on the two smallest sizes, before the blower.)



On the Ultra 3, the boiler pump runs only if it is called for by the programming on the control board. Mine runs that pump if either (or both) heating zones call for heat, but not otherwise. Otherwise includes the indirect hot water calling for heat. In that case the boiler fires and the circulator to the indirect runs. You can set it up to never run the circulator, but that would be a very bad idea. I do not know how your near boiler piping is run, but my guess is your indirect was calling for heat. Around here, there is no way your heating would be calling for heat. Mine would be off because of warm weather shut down even if a thermostat were stupidly asking for heat.



Have you had thunderstorms lately? That might confuse the board. I had a whole-house surge protector installed in my power panel to reduce the effects of this (but not, unfortunately, eliminate them).

Pete M_3

Sounds like I

will have to replace the fan assembly, or try to get the circuit board.  If that does not work, then I guess it would be the control module.  It is under warranty going into third year, not sure if the warrenty extends for the electronics, will have to look into it.  Each runs about $300, so I hope it is covered.

I have the system setup for heat in a primary /secondary configuration.  When the termostat calls for heat, the boiler circulator and zone circulator comes on.  There is a summer/winter switch wired according to the Ultra manual, this is supposed to prevent the boiler pump from operating when set to summer.

For DHW there is a separate circulator and pipe loop for the indirect.  The DHW is wired for priority, so that when the DHW calls for heat it shuts down the boiler circ. if it is operating.

Since installed I have been concerned about power surges, should have put something on the circuit to protect it.

Pete M_3

Maybe

I should wire an external switch for the fan.  Then each time it stops working I could just turn the switch it off and then on.  That way I would not have to remove the boiler cover each time.  Just kidding...

Jean-David Beyer

concerned about power surges

I heard what a W-M U-control board would cost. I am not even sure if what I heard was correct or not. My boiler is hard-wired into the house, so I could not easily unplug it and run it through a surge protector or UPS. So, instead, I had a whole-house type surge protecter wired into my power panel. This should help with some spikes, but  depending on how close the lightning actually is, it may not be enough. For all I know, there might be a little surge protection built into the U-control, but probably not much (step-down transformer and rectifier-filter). See page 8 and 9 of this:



https://encrypted.google.com/url?url=http://ecatalog.squared.com/techlib/displaydocument.cfm%3Fid%3D6671CT9701%26action%3Dview&rct=j&sa=X&ei=PHhMTITYLdTe8AabpcnyDw&ved=0CCQQzgQoADAA&q=square+d+surge+suppressor&usg=AFQjCNFvc1Xq0cI7Brh2c2e8PFbOU6YZWQ



Notice you could get a 1250 volt spike out of this. This is less than a lightning strike, but may not be low enough to guarantee protection.



From time to time, this issue is discussed here. But I have heard nothing conclusive about what people actually do, and why they do it. So when you decide, I hope you (and others) post what they actually did and why.

Pete M_3

Looks

like what i was thinking of, that is the larger device.  I was looking for something that would protect the boiler and the other sensitive elctronic devices like computers, sound, etc.



pete

Jean-David Beyer

looking for something that would protect the boiler and

Well, while I think every house should have one of these (not the exact same model: get one that matches your power panel), they may not provide enough protection for the control board in your boiler, or for your other electronic equipment in the house. It is a good first line of defense, but it may still be necessary for more surge protection at the appliance. Depending on the appliance's sensitivity to short dropouts, a UPS may be necessary.