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Keep "Burning" up aquastats ..help!!

chrish99
chrish99 Member Posts: 4
in Oil Heating
I have an older american standard boiler that has/had a honeywell aquatstat. Previous owners never had a hot water heater , they just used the boiler year round for heat and hot water. The immersion well for the aquastat is located in the tankless coil (for hot water). I have since put an electric hot water heater in but it is plumbed so I can use either just the electric heater or the boiler. I decided to use just my electric hot water heater last winter instead of using the boiler. About a month after switching I woke up to a cold house ..long a story short my aquatstat was fried. Ok I figured it was probably due for a new one so I purchased the exact same model (which was $500 for some reason). Installed it and it worked great , for about 2 months and then the same thing happened. I guess it could be a coincidence but I'm starting to think it has something to do with not using the tankless coil for my hot water. Is that a possibility? If so what are my options so this doesn't keep happening ? I bought another aquastat but I haven't installed it yet

Comments

  • cutter
    cutter Member Posts: 300
    I feel I wrecked a control by over heating it. If your potable hot water tank is empty because you are not using it that might be the problem.
  • Gilmorrie
    Gilmorrie Member Posts: 186
    Are you mixing up 24-V and 120/240-V 'stats?
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,278
    edited October 2018
    I am not at all familiar with this system.
    But are you somehow running the element load thru this control?
    4500 watt elements draw 18-19 amps.
  • lchmb
    lchmb Member Posts: 2,997
    not using the coil will not matter.. I'd be checking ground and neutral.. verify your wiring and voltage are where they belong..
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,479
    I agree with @ichmb. Using the electric hot water heater or not will not affect the aquastat .......unless you did something bizarre as @jughne mentioned like running the water heater power through the aqustat. I hope you didn't do that, it will be an expensive lesson
  • chrish99
    chrish99 Member Posts: 4
    It's definitely wired correctly , I am an electrician after all lol. But I will double check all the wiring to make sure nothing is mixed up
  • JohnNY
    JohnNY Member Posts: 3,291
    Is that the first boiler ever?
    Contact John "JohnNY" Cataneo, NYC Master Plumber, Lic 1784
    Consulting & Troubleshooting
    Heating in NYC or NJ.
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    CTOilHeat
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    JohnNY said:

    Is that the first boiler ever?

    I was wondering the same thing. My goodness, that boiler must be a turn of the century relic. Must just look older than it is because they didn't have tankless coils, in boiler, back then (I don't think).
  • chrish99
    chrish99 Member Posts: 4
    It's from the 80s , I've seen way worse lol
  • wrooper
    wrooper Member Posts: 58
    Honeywell aquastat? They fail when the solder joint breaks from the violence of the mechanical relay. Pull your old one apart and see if there is some burning/broken solder on a terminal. They can be resoldered and BTW many other [cheaper] aquastats can be used as replacement
    rick in Alaska
  • STEVEusaPA
    STEVEusaPA Member Posts: 6,505
    ...violence of the mechanical relay...
    Where's the 'shaking your head emoji'?

    There was an error rendering this rich post.

  • Robert O'Brien
    Robert O'Brien Member Posts: 3,563
    80's? Try 50's- 60's
    To learn more about this professional, click here to visit their ad in Find A Contractor.
  • rick in Alaska
    rick in Alaska Member Posts: 1,466
    wrooper said:

    Honeywell aquastat? They fail when the solder joint breaks from the violence of the mechanical relay. Pull your old one apart and see if there is some burning/broken solder on a terminal. They can be resoldered and BTW many other [cheaper] aquastats can be used as replacement

    I have found dozens of these controls where the solder joint behind the relay is cracked, because of the snapping of the relay in and out, and, because when they were made, they went cheap on the solder and didn't make a bead. Easy to fix, but also predictable.
    Rick

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