Honeywell Controls making me KKrazy!

newbie2this

HELP!

I am really at my wits end!

I have a oil fired burner, with a R845A mounted on the rear of my boiler wired to a

R117A stack relay.  The stack is toast, and I want to replace with R4184G with

a photocell set-up, but am unsure how to connect my R845A "which runs my circulator" and a R4184G to each other.  I understand the photocell placement on my Beckett W-158124, but am going nuts trying to figure out the connection of the other two.

Thanks for the help!

Newbie

billtwocase

wiring

can be challenging. This sounds like a cold start boiler? Why not use a Genysis control? 

icesailor

Krazy:

It is simple but too complicated to explain here.

Really, if you don't know what you are doing, you should really call a professional who understands what you are trying to do. You are really doing a re-wire thing and should be done by a licensed electrician.

If you make sparks fly, it could be costly. Every boiler I have ever worked on was wired differently. The results were the same. When you turned on the power switch and colsed the thermostat, the burner started. How it did that took me a lot of figuring out. I didn't do it in a night.

newbie2this

Krazy

I wire door access control relays for a living and know my way around the relay world.

Also quite proficient with a volt/ohm meter, and this aint rocket science.  Was just wanting the easy explanation from an experienced person...

Thanks,

John

Ironman

John

Understanding relays and switching is one thing, and understanding burner controls and why they do what they do under any given circumstance, and what effect the components in the system have on them is another thing.



I'm sure you're competent with control wiring, but as it has already been pointed out, no two applications are the same. I would recommend that you follow the diagram that came with the control and then post a diagram of what you've done before you energize the boiler. That way one of the guys could review what you've done to see if everything looks kosher.

Tim McElwain

Take the #5 and #6 terminals

on the R845 (dry contacts) and wire to TT on the R4184G.

Steamhead

Why do you want to use an R4184G or R8184G?

This control most likely has a 45-second trial for ignition (also known as "safety timing"), which is no longer considered safe. This means that if the burner doesn't light immediately, it can run for up to 45 seconds before the control locks out. So the burner is spraying oil into the firing zone, and if it finally catches at, say, 35 seconds, you have what is called a "puffback" which will fill your house with soot. Not a good thing, especially if you have kids.



The RA117 has an even longer trial for ignition- 70 seconds. Enough said.



The current standard is a 15-second trial for ignition. The newer electronic controls with this T.F.I. length are actually less expensive to buy than the older ones. The replacement for an R4184/8184 is the R7184A. The GeniSys is programmable and would also work if set up properly, but its programmability comes at a cost.



 Personally, I think even 15 seconds is too long. If the burner doesn't light immediately it needs to be shut down right away. A 5-second TFI would be my preference, but the shortest we can get now is 15 seconds, and that's the only type we stock anymore.



So why not go with the R7184A?

Tim McElwain

I should have read this

posting a little more carefully. Good answers Steamhead, I was trying to make it as simple as possible without taking into consideration the actual controls involved. That along with the need to insure limits being wired into the circuit.



Thanks "Dave" for the very to the point e-mail, I want you to know I welcome everyone here to the Wall and I do not control what the host does here.

icesailor

KKrazy:

Agreed with all.

The easy way on this is usually to leave the RA117 in place and jump a "certain wire" that gets power and starts the burner. Which is now live and operates the primary burner control. But that simplicity without actually casting a jaundiced eye on the whole thing makes :ME hodl back for fear of creating "the big spark" or click. Whichever it is. That signals the ruination of what was there.

Like I said earlier. It's easy but complicated.

Then, there's that little minor thing about where does the thermostat wire go.