Boilers at proper water level but automatic water feed keeps asking for water till overflow??

Athana

J-Star did a wonderfull installation 3 seasons ago but his co is now gone,and have not been able to find him.
(I did not realize he had closed until I called two weeks ago.)
Tonight at 2:30 am I heard water feed go on..3 times in a few minutes..!
I went down to see boiler was full to top and overflowing on floor from a vent behind them.
This happened once before and I tapped on the "call box" that asks for water and pressed red button
on box/feed that is next to water feed valve and the "call lights" went off.
So whats faulty ?..Black feed box next to Feed Valve..or the "Call" box on Boiler?
(We have two boilers with that "call" box..only one keeps asking for water)
Thanks

nicholas bonham-carter

What make and model of LWCO, and auto-feed do you have?
If it is a probe type LWCO, instead of float type, then maybe the probe signal is weak.
The probes should be taken out and cleaned every other year. If not the probe, then the control box may be faulty, or have a bad connection.--NBC

Athana

Hi Nicholas..thank you.
The two Boilers each have one CycleGard CG450-2060 on them..
it says in manual to "remove & inspect probe annually and clean sediment off"..this may be it you think, yes..?
I'll call company to ask for instructions on how to take probes out and put back in.
I bleed all the values and skim top of Boiler myself.
This issue first happened when the boiler really cranked in the last very cold spell and steam got to the farthest ends,which it rarely does as we have financial troubles and keep it down..(untill Joe put this gas system in we kept Oil heat between 59-61º..that guy saved our lives when he made that conversion possible).
Anyway when I checked the water that time..was like petroleoum black..and Id just cleaned it a few days before.
The other unit is a UniMatch universal waterfeed which was existing.
*What is the red button on UniMatch do..?..it is marked Manual Waterfeed?
*Is there a way to override easily this 'stuck" CycleGard..as there is still one on the other boiler..and till we can attend to repairing it we can go down to check water level.
*Now at end of season..is it sensible to empy cold boiler down all the way untill totally clean then refill with fresh water?

Thank You

Fred

It really does sound like the LWCO probe for the Cyclegard may either need to be cleaned or is not grounding properly or is defective. It sounds like the auto water feed is doing what it should, adding water when the Cyclegard calls for water. If you have the manual for the Cyclegard, it should give you the maintenance instructions for taking the probe out and cleaning/inspecting it. You don't want to disable ot bypass the cyclegard as that is an extremely important safety component. You can shut the auto water feed off by turning the valve on the water pipe that feeds into it but you do waant to check the boiler regularly, given the Cyclegard may not be working properly.

Athana

Thank you Fred..good advise..Ill shut water feed to that pipe (I hope one is there) till we can have it fixed.
The Manual doesn't explain how to take the probe out just the steps after cleaning and it back in to check that its working
properly.I called manufacturer in Connecticut and I was told to unscrew box and pull probe out..clean it with steel wool and drop back in..(the adviser didnt seem to care much).
I'll try that tonight.Hopefully the solution..we have bad very mineraled water here.
I think last time lights asking for water turned off when I banged on the CycleGard box a bit..last night i just turned boilers off..emptied buckets of water till clean then back to bed.