steam limit control set at .05

jef

just had wells mclain eg75 steam boiler installed

i have the steam limit set at .05psi when system runs for more than an hour the gauge goes up to 3psi then cuts boiler off?(old system ran at .05)

the .05-5psi guauge on front of honeywell steam limit control is set to .05

when i take cover off there is a white dial inside that looks adjustable but no setting indicators around the dial ?

BobC

Set it to 1

The white dial should be set so the number 1 is facing you, that should let the boiler cycle between 1 and 1.5PSI.



Bob

nicholas bonham-carter

Pressuretrol devil

When you set down the pressure to the low limits our systems work best at, keep a watch on the pressure for a while. In my case, suddenly after the adjustments were made, the pressure shot up to 10psi, and I immediately got a vaporstat. The supplied pressuretrols are only suitable as paper-weights, or for holding open the installation manual, while the boiler is being installed "by the book".--nbc

BobC

You right . .

about that!  I had to replace my pressuretrol once and it worked reliably for almost one heating season and then got erratic. It never went above 4 PSI but still.



A vaporstat costs more than a pressuretrol but if you have to replace one it's probably best to bite the bullet and do it right the first time. I was lucky to snag a NOS mercury unit at that time. Those switches are not really happy at 24v, it's no small feat to design a dry contact switch that is reliable long term. For about $10 more Honeywell could make a good low pressure pressuretrol but I guess they just don't give a damn.



Bob

Jean-David Beyer

For about $10 more Honeywell could make a good low pressure pressuretrol but I guess they just don't give a damn.

I used to have friends that designed car radios for Sylvania. They were pretty proud of one they designed one year. Their customer was a large automobile manufacturer. This was in the early 1960s. They lost the contract because the competitor made a radio that was only one or two cents cheaper. When you consider the cost of an automobile, the difference is in the noise level, and the Sylvania radio was better. But the bean counters said no.



I imagine Honeywell has the same problem. It costs money to design and test a new pressuretrol or vaporstat. It costs money to set up a production line (probably in China). These costs must be recovered from the sales. What fraction of the home heating market is steam systems? How often do owners of steam heated houses change their vaporstats? I imagine the market is just not there.