Boiler not coming on--need help trouble shooting

Kevin Blair

This is a one pipe steam system in a 2 flat. We live in the upper.





We just got back last night from a weekend visiting son and daughter-in-law in Texas. On arriving home the house felt cold. Turned up the thermostat, but nothing happened. It was late so we went to bed.



This morning still found no heat. I went to the basement. Upper boiler is stone cold. Lower boiler is working fine.



Did a visual inspection and saw that a thermostat wire was missing an electrical cap. I have no idea how or why, but reconnected the thermostat wire and checked the other connection. Nothing happened; boiler did not fire.



Disconnected thermostat wires and jumpered them; nothing happened.



Turned off circuit breaker to boiler, took off cover to electric wiring for boiler and removed the electrical caps. Turned circuit breaker back on and checked power: initially registered 120 volts. Turned breaker off. Double checked that the wires were fully connected (they were). Turned breaker back on and checked again. This time got no reading, i.e. meter showed zero volts.



At this point I ran out of time and had to leave for work.



I will talk with our tenants as soon as I can. I can only thing think that they disconnected the thermostat wire, but cannot figure out why they wouldn't have called us if something was wrong.



I am a bit baffled by the electrical readings; could the breaker have gone bad? No sign of any electrical problems in the rest of the house.



Any ideas? Regular boiler guy I use is out of town and I don't know anyone else to call.

Rod

Need More Info

Hi Kevin-  Could you give us a bit more information about your boiler.? Gas or oil? Make and model of the boiler?  Make and model of the burner.?   Do you have the installation manual? The manual should have an electrical wiring schematic.



While breakers can go bad, I would check again as it is quite likely you had a bad ground with the meter on the second test, so test again. Unless the thermostat wire was completely disconnected I would first suspect something else. Have you checked the controls (LWCO, pressuretrol)  for continuity?  As this is a non steam situation, any heating pro should be able to fix the problem for you and if time is essential, it maybe better to have a pro come in and look at it.

- Rod.

Kevin Blair

Boiler not coming on--need help trouble shooting

Thanks Rod. I am at work and can post more after I get back home. I do have the manual. The boiler is a gas McNeil-Weil (I think that is how you spell it). It has been working great since you helped me to get it balanced a year or two ago!



The thermostat being disconnected has me curious and i will see the tenants tonight. I wil double check the breaker when i get home. It struck me as odd that i didn't get a reading the second time. I bet you are correct.



We are warm enough. The temp is mid-40s and the heat from the lower apartment drifts up. We also have a Vermont Castings gas stove in the living room that can heat most of the apartment if needed, so no big rush.



I wil post more tonight.

Kevin Blair

Thermocouple??

I got home and checked the electric; everything is fine. I was in a hurry and probably just goofed it up this morning.



Everything looks fine, but I wonder about the thermocouple. If it was bad would it produce this problem? The boiler acts like it is "dead." There are no sounds, no clicking of anything trying to start, etc. It acts like any unplugged electrical appliance: totally lifeless.



What else can I check? I can take some pics if that would help, but I am not sure how much they would help.



Thanks,

Kevin

Hap_Hazzard

Thermocouple

A bad thermocouple will prevent the pilot from staying lit. If the pilot is out, follow the start-up procedure in the manual. If it doesn't light or stay lit, replace the thermocouple and try again.

Rod

Troubleshooting.

Hi Kevin - You didn't mention which Weil McLain model you have. If you don't have it already, you might want to go to the Weil McLain website

http://www.weil-mclain.com/en/our-products/boilers.aspx 

and see if they have an additional manual "Control Supplement " for your model. They have them for most models The "Control Supplement" usually has troubleshooting diagrams which might be of help to you.

- Rod

Kevin Blair

update

Thanks Rod. I am trying to get someone out to look at it. A friend has been helping. This is the second time this boiler has gone when Tim, my usual guy, has been out of town.



I turned off the electric for 5 minutes and then turned it back on (suggestion of friend). Low water cut off came on, but then nothing.



It is an electronic ignition, so no pilot.



My sense is that something is up with the ignition, gas regulator, thermocouple, etc.



I think this one is out of my range and I need a pro. Hopefully I will find someone soon. In the meantime, we are ok in terms of the temp.



I'll let you know how it turns out!



Best,

kevin

kcopp

just a guess....

its prob the pressuretrol. Prob clogged.