Pressurtrol needs help

Shuttle

Hi fellas. I finally cleaned my pigtail. It was really dirty. I swapped my main vent (it was clogged) I checked all my vents (clean). I discovered my pressuretrol was set to high (by previous owners) I set it to .05 + 1.5 additive (Boiler ran fine) but now that my pigtail has been cleaned out, the boiler constantly shuts "off "and "on" before the "call for heat" from the thermostat is over!! (to much wear and tear on burners and damper)



My boiler used to fire up occasionally throughout the night!



nowit just fires up, get interupted and fires up again and only for a few seconds...and shuts off and back "on"etc?



I cannot insulate the main pipe because i need to heat part of that basement! should I increase that PSI? should I run on the higher pressuretrol numbers?

my PSI does not go above 3. should Irisk running it to about 10 PSI??

will smith_4

System operation

Sounds like what was happening before you cleaned the pigtail was that the thermostat was acting as the operator; it kept the boiler firing until you reached room set point -the actual operator never saw pressure because the pigtail was plugged.  Now it does. As long as the thermostat is calling for heat, the boiler will cycle off and on through the operating control-so what you're describing actually sounds normal.

As far as the insulation on the piping goes, as long as it isn't causing you operational problems, I wouldn't worry about it. Mind you, it should be insulated-but I see more pipes than not that are uninsulated that serve as defacto heat supplies in basements.

Per your gauge, 0-3 is good for your working pressure, but code might require you to have a 0-30 as well-in the event an inspector chose to, they might want to close off the isolation valve to the system (if there is one), and see where the high pressure trol and relief pops.

You do have a manual reset high limit, don't you?

All the best!

Steamhead

Have a pro check the firing rate

and whether or not the boiler is oversized. 

BobC

main vents and boiler size

If the burner is cycling on and off it is operating normally, the pressuretrol will do that until the thermostat is satisfied. Also it's to your advantage to get the pressure as low as you can, high pressure is bad for everything - especially the fuel bill.



What kind of main vents do you have? How long and what diameter are your steam mains? If the main vents are too small the pressure will build faster than it should, especially on the initial burn.



What is the make and model of your boiler, and what is it rated for in sq ft of steam? how many radiators does it drive and what size are they? List the radiators height, width, depth, # of sections and the # of columns per section. This worksheet will let you figure out the load you are driving and then we can tell if the boiler is properly sized.



http://www.usboiler.burnham.com/contractors/tool-box-sizing



Bob

Shuttle

I got the info BobC Requested (is my boiler properly sized?)

Ok Bob to answer your questions...

Question#1 Main Vent is currently a small 3/8" convector vent Hoffman#43 (iam getting rid of it as soon as my 2 (two) Gorton#2's arrive from PEXSUPPLY !!(Gonna do antler setup)

Question#2 I have a Burnham Independence gas fired Steam Boiler (I believe series#5) (if I am not mistaken, it is rated for 358 steam sq ft)

i have 2 inch main pipe running 34 feet to main vent that serves 7 radiators (bare main pipes) (i recently vented these radiators as per gorton/maid o mist instructions) 1 fam house!

here is the total number of Sq FT per radiator (as per diagram u provided)

10.4, 18.3, 9, 10.4, 11.9, 13.6, 5.5 (7 radiators) 

Mr. BobC, is my boiler properly sized?

BobC

EDR seems small.

Those numbers look awfully small. A typical radiator in my single family 1920 house is a 38" tall, 3 column, and has 6 sections; per the chart each section (of 3 columns) for that height is 5 sq ft and since I have 6 sections that radiator is 30 sq ft - 5sq ft per section X 6 sections = 30 sq ft. In my 6 room house I have 190 sq ft of radiators (EDR), yours will be different. Please check your number again to be sure because a total EDR of about 75 sq ft seems very small.



make sure your thermostat is set up for steam, the newer digital ones need to be adjusted to 1 CPH (cycles per hour). You should also insulate as much of the piping in the basement as you can, start around the boiler and work your way outwards.



Bob

Shuttle

Good advice

Thanks BobC, Thanks for all the help.