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Vapor stat

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leaking
leaking Member Posts: 46
in Strictly Steam
Recently we had a Weil mc lain 1,100,000 btu boiler put in for a 12 unit of one bedroom apts. the supplied pressuretrol I just had changed to a honywell vapor stat, yesterday. He set the vapor stat at 1.5 cut out, maybe 1lb cut in ( I think, not sure) it immediately on running cut out at apx. .09lb and and in at .05lb. The gauge is a big like 6", 0-30lb USG. So I set it a half pound higher and went home, (snowed in today Chicago) my installer says "he never saw one of those that was accurate". Since I really don't believe these are all inaccurate and I like to know how things work, I wonder if the Vaporstat was new, defective, normal, or my pressure gauge is bad. Now I don't know what the real pressure is. He told me to just turn it up till it heats, what should I do.

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  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,578
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    What's my pressure?

    If you have a vaporstat, then you must get a gauge which shows the range of low pressures it is designed for.

    0-3 psi, valworx.com.

    It will also tell you whether you are paying for extra gas to vent your mains of air.--NBC
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,530
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    The odds

    on a 0 to 30 psig gauge being accurate at the very low pressures are pretty close to nil.  A much more relevant question is: was all the radiation warm when the vapourstat cut out?  If it was, fine.



    If it wasn't, there are two possibilities: you need a lot more main venting (quite possible) or the vapourstat is out of calibration.  Also possible.  You can't possibly tell which, unless you get a nice accurate low pressure gauge as NBC suggests.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • leaking
    leaking Member Posts: 46
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    Vapor stat

    Ok thanks, I could only find a 0-15lb gauge but it looks like the gauge is the issue, I'm trying to buy a 0-3, but so far nothing in Chicago, I ordered one from grainger. I checked valworx site and they list operating temp at 140, is this normal of operating temps listed? The one I ordered states 160f. Do I need a pigtail? I had a Weil Mclain LGB 6-23 put in and nothing was done with pigtails, I'm not real happy with the installer as he put it in right, but I don't think things were made optimal. Like my water jumps up and down in sight glass an inch and Weil support just said "it needs skimming" and I've been running 3.5-4 lb with uneven heat, well I got dans books and now, ( just yesterday my boiler is running 1.5lb) for the first time. Gee , a lot to learn about steam!
  • Joe V_2
    Joe V_2 Member Posts: 234
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    try this

    http://www.mcmaster.com/#atmospheric-pressure-gauges/=qd9rwa



    click on low pressure gages. get one that is calibrated. my vstat had a 16oz/sq in range so I got a 0-15 oz/in and found my vStat was accurate. code says you need a zero to thirty psi gage but i'd rather have the correct pressure relief valve installed and a gage that tells me something.
  • leaking
    leaking Member Posts: 46
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    Vapor stat

    Thanks everyone I did find a 0-3 from grainger, it's a big difference from a 0-15

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