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Time Delay Switch Inquiry

Clank Clank
Clank Clank Member Posts: 30
in Strictly Steam
I've seen some posts referring to this as a workaround to short cycling. That said, most replies refer to adding main vents and/or adjusting the Heat Cycle Rate of the thermostat (which i believe addresses a slightly different issue)



Right now, after the first cycle, subsequent cycles average about a 1 minute on / 1 minute off until the thermostat is met. Concern is mostly during the morning and eventing recovery periods. The house is kept cold at night and during the day so it has to climb in temperature a quite a bit.



Given my oversized boiler (55K needed with 145K supplied by a Weil Mclain EG-50 boiler), supply lines being only 3/4", and that I've adjusted the thermostat and added sufficient main vents (2 Gorton #2 & 1 Gorton #1 on a 30ft 2" Main pipe), the only solution that I've read about and seems to make a lot of sense is installing a time delay switch. That way, after it runs for a 1 minute and the radiators are hot, there can be a built-in delay of some kind (e.g. 10 minutes), before kicking in again.



Any recommendations on alternate solutions? If the above is the way to go, any recommendations on what to purchase, installation guides, etc.?



With short-cycling such a common issue, i would think there would be some common work-arounds (given that sometimes, as in my case, fixing the actual root cause cant easily happen).



thanks

Comments

  • Clank Clank
    Clank Clank Member Posts: 30
    Short cycling workaround

    Does anyone have experience with installing one?
  • Mark N
    Mark N Member Posts: 1,119
    Short cycle

    There is a man who posts under the name MarkS. He used some type of time delay relay on his system. He has since built a controller to run his system. Do you have a Honeywell thermostat? You could try setting the cph to 2 instead of 1 and see how it works. That will reduce how long the thermostat calls for heat.
  • Clank Clank
    Clank Clank Member Posts: 30
    What I've been looking for...

    This is great. I already replaced the pressuretrol with a vaporstat a month or two ago so I'll be hooking it up to that. I'll look over the wiring compared to what I have and let you know how it goes or if I have questions. Think this is really going to help. Thanks again.



    I would think most most benefit from this.

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