furnace issue

cranston

i have a burnham v33 oil furnace that heats the house via radiators, and also somehow provides hot water internally. I had an issue this summer with the hot water and a HVAC tech replaced the Honeywell R8184 G1286 Cad Cell. (the tech has retired and moved somewhere? so i can't call him back). The furnace was turned on for the winter and it does not run unless i touch the reset button ( the button does not pop up but stays in the normal position-i just barely touch it) once the thermostat reaches the set temp the unit shuts off but will not start again till touched again. Can anyone give me an idea as to what is wrong

Jamie Hall

All you do is touch it? You don't press it or anything?

That's often a problem with a bad ground -- and when you touch it you are providing a ground path. Not really recommended...

That said, finding the bad ground connection is going to take some work, as it often isn't obvious. Since grounding is often through the metal of the unit, and not necessarily a wire, it could just be a loose screw somewhere. Or a loose connection.

If the boiler (for so it is called -- furnaces do hot air, not hot water) ran and provided you hot water after the cad cell replacement, it's probably not that. If it didn't, that's where I'd start -- but the problem could be anywhere right back to the circuit breaker or fuse box.

STEVEusaPA

The problem is he replaced it with the same crap primary. If it's not a loose wire/connection, It's a bad primary (relay in the primary).

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

..........or just get a comfortable chair and a good book.

SuperTech

That primary is considered crappy for good reasons.  Any primary that can be continuously reset until something else goes shouldn't be on the market anymore. The R8184G is outdated technology. If it isn't a bad wiring connection and turns out to be bad control it would be a good time to consider better options.  Honeywell R7284U or the Carlin Pro Maxx are the best ones available, and can make future troubleshooting work easier.

cranston

The suggestion to update is very welcome. i just want to make sure that the R8184 G1286 can be directly exchanged with the R7284U, as in the wires hook up the same. The unit is a Beckett AD 186477.

cranston

The burner unit is a Beckett AD 186477. Hot water and the radiators are provided by the total unit. I did notice that the hot water thermostat red and white wires and the heat thermostat red and white wires are not connected red to red/white to white but red to white/red to white, i hope this explanation is understood. As to the comment above I do not have to push the reset back down as it never pops up I just have to barely touch it

Jamie Hall

Remember that a thermostat is a switch. Period. So it doesn't really matter what colour wire connects to what, so long as they are in parallel.

That is not your problem. Depending on exactly how hard you have to touch that thing, it's either some bad connections and you are wiggling something -- or, and I would still look at this first -- a bad ground (or a non-existent one!).