Cycle Guard on Hydrolevel LWCO

Patrick McGrath

Hello all:



A question - I have had my boiler replaced this year with a Smith 8 with a Carlin Gas burner (thanks all for the help figuring out what to pick).  It's quite nicely appointed, but I am a bit concerned about the Hydrolevel LWCO.  I have either the CG450 or the CGT450 with the intermittent test/Cycle Guard feature.  It is explained more below (with a video, even):



<a href="http://www.hydrolevel.com/pages/cyclegard.html">http://www.hydrolevel.com/pages/cyclegard.html</a>



The intermittent test feature essentially kicks on every twenty minutes.  The part that concerns me is that the 1 per hour cycle that the thermostat is calling for is interrupted after 20 minutes (the burner shuts off for one minute while the water level is checked, this allows for the foam to dissipate so that a false reading is not presented), and then the burner fires again to complete the cycle to satisfy the thermostat. 



I understand the need for this for a homeowner that is looking to have little or no interaction with their boiler.  It certainly would prevent a dry fire.  However, it drives me nuts.  In my mind, it is essentially short-cycling the boiler and eating up potential energy.



Should I consider swapping this out for the Safguard 450 with no intermittent level test, or should I just not care and get on with my life?



As always, thank you for any input that you can provide.

STEAM DOCTOR

replace

I personally replace the cycleguards on every boiler that I put in.

gerry gill

I agree..

My boiler came with one..replaced it within the first month..constant shutting down drove me crazy..some engineer with no real world experience must have come up with that.

Gordo

I Know What You Mean About that Cycle Guard

But, if it comes with the boiler, and you remove it, will that effect the warranty if something goes wrong?



My guess is...it depends.

Maine Vent

Original Equipment???

Gordo, my new Weil Mclain SGO4, came with a pressuretrol.



I was convinced I wanted a vaporstat on it. So I had one all set up on the pig tail with 2 gauges.

The vaporstat was not working as it should. I was wondering about this swap out of equipment on how it would effect my warranty. I finally swap back to the pressuretrol, I have seen no difference in how the system runs, I now am not worried about the warranty anymore.

Hap_Hazzard

CG400-1090

My CycleGard runs the intermittent level test for 90 seconds every ten minutes. The only real difference I've noticed is that the pressure never gets above 1 psi, and it's even quieter than before. I only notice the heat is on when I hear my vents clicking.

gerry gill

who knows, Gordo..

i was once told that the boilers warranty depended mostly upon how well the rep likes you...that was from a rep...took it as an honest answer.

Gordo

I Would Say

a vaporstat  *should* be an up-grade compared to the POS PA-404 pressuretrol.  So in a just world, it shouldn't have effected your warranty.  Certainly not MY call, however.



I guess in your case, Maine Vent, the vaporstat didn't help anyway.  So sorry to hear that.



 

Gordo

Honest Reps

"There is the truth (shakes head side to side and frowns), and then there is the TRUTH (nods head and smiles)."



I was told by a rep of a Famous Boiler Co. that if I installed one of their boilers incorrectly, there was no warranty, but if Huge Plumbing Co., whose advertising budget was greater than our yearly total gross sales, installed one of their boilers incorrectly, they were covered.



I took that as an honest answer, too.

Patrick McGrath

Cycle Guard gone...so is problem

So, my steam guy replaced the Hydrolevel with a McDonnell LWOC.



My house is back to even heat.  Good, long cycles, and we are again comfortable.



That cycle guard is a menace.  I can't imagine someone thinking they fixed all of their issues by re-sizing their boiler just to get tripped up by that. 



Thanks for the advice.