How do I lower the pressure of my boiler

ansky

A few months ago I had a new Utica steam boiler installed. I noticed the pressure is getting much too high before the burner cuts off. It is getting up to 2.5 PSI which I know is too high since my old boiler only went up to 1 PSI. I attached a picture of the Honeywell gauge I have - it is set with a "Cut In" of 0.5 PSI which appears to be the lowest setting possible. But what is causing the boiler to go up to 2.5 PSI? Is there a way to reduce the pressure so it cuts off sooner?

Jamie Hall

The cutout

on that type of pressuretrol is set by the difference between the cutin -- which you have set as low as it will go -- and the differential, which  is set inside the control (you will have to take the cover off).  That should be set to 1.



I would ask, however, how you are determining the pressure?  That 30 psi gauge?  because, if so, those gauges -- which are required by code or insurance or both -- are notoriously inaccurate at low pressures.



I might also ask if the gauge and the pressuretrol share a pigtail.  If they do not, you might want to check and see that the pigtail for the pressuretrol is clear.  It's not that hard to take it apart and make sure.

rrg

I had the same problem with pressuretrol

They are not very accurate and I went to a steam vaporstat to get it below 1psi.



My radiator vents are now safe from the higher pressure the original pressuretrol was set at. Everything is much quieter in the radiators since I don't have the boiler running continuously at 3-5psi like the old days.



The only difference is that the boiler will now cycle more often to catch up to the really cold temps when the thermostat calls for a large temp difference.

But if you run the house at a steady temp than it works great.



Best investment to date.

ansky

High pressure

I checked inside the pressuretrol and it is already set to 1. I can tell the pressure is getting too high based on 3 reasons:



1) The pressure gauge reading goes up to about 2.5

2) I can hear my vents hissing which I did not have a problem with when my old boiler was set to 1 PSI.

3) The boiler is running much longer before cutting off than my old boiler did.



So while my pressure gauge my technically not be accurate, I am convinced the pressure is getting too high (or at least higher than it needs to be).



Would it help to change the inside setting to something less than 1?

ansky

Lower setting?

I'm resurrecting this old thread as I never got an answer to my question above.  Can I open up my Honeywell and turn the white knob to a value lower than '1' to help reduce the pressure of my boiler?  Does anyone know if that would work?