Low water cutoff got wet! What do I do??

kalindaminda

The heater suddenly stopped working on the first snow day of the season. When I went to check it out, I saw water dripping steadily onto the low water cutoff.

After turning off the switch and cleaning up the water, I opened the cover and saw what looks like foamy water tracks on the circuit board inside. Any options??

Boon

What is/was the source of the dripping water?

And is it working again, do you have heat now?

kalindaminda

Hatterasguy said:

You probably know the answer already.

Nobody can ever say with certainty that an electrical control is reliable after contamination by water. If you dry it off thoroughly and it works today..........will it work tomorrow?

Yeah haha but I was hoping for a miracle. Can I buy a new LWCO and replace it myself?

kalindaminda

Boon said:

What is/was the source of the dripping water?



And is it working again, do you have heat now?

It was positioned directly beneath a pipe and the pipe was leaking. If I turn the switch back on, it tries to start, but sputters and turns off with the LWCO blinking red.

At the moment, no it's not working, and the heat won't turn on.

kalindaminda

Hatterasguy said:

kalindaminda said:

Hatterasguy said:

You probably know the answer already.

Nobody can ever say with certainty that an electrical control is reliable after contamination by water. If you dry it off thoroughly and it works today..........will it work tomorrow?

Yeah haha but I was hoping for a miracle. Can I buy a new LWCO and replace it myself?

Of course, if you're a bit handy with the wires. Turn off the power first.

Google, here I come.

Thank you, good sir lol I'll try not to shock myself

kalindaminda

You are my savior! I'll be very very careful. Thank youuu

Mums the word!

Boon

Ok, I was wondering if the leaking pipe was boiler piping.

kalindaminda

Boon said:

Ok, I was wondering if the leaking pipe was boiler piping.

Ah... that's a good point. I haven't actually fixed the leak yet. I'll focus on that first.

adambnyc

did you check the water level on the boiler? Maybe the LWCO is blinking red for a reason

kalindaminda

adambnyc said:

did you check the water level on the boiler? Maybe the LWCO is blinking red for a reason

I checked, and it's all good.

kalindaminda

@Hatterasguy

Fortunately it didn't come to me having to implement your quick-fix, as I only understood your suggestion in theory haha

Once the control dried thoroughly it started working again (for now). I also fixed the leak that soaked it in the first place.

The next thing is to replace the lwco and find a way to position it so it's not directly underneath a valve...

kalindaminda

Thank you to everyone ❤️❤️❤️

BobC

It amazes me that these controls don't use humisealed boards. That would make them just about impervious to incidental water spills.

I understand it will never happen because it probably costs a nickel to humiseasl a board.

Bob

lchmb

if you cant relocate it try and put a shield in between the valve and the lwco to protect it in the future....just watch where the run off will go..dont want to ruin something else important