No power to boiler

cberwald

I drained my boiler this afternoon. I've been trying to do it regularly since we installed it in 1992.
One pipe steam.
It is a Burnham V-73-T with a Honeywell R7284 Oil Primary Control, 2 Honeywell pressuretrols and a Honeywell Guard Ring Low Water Cutoff. The Low Water Cutoff has a test button but no reset button.
I shut off the power to it , drained out the system, and refilled it three times until I was getting fairly clear water coming out. When I buttoned it all up and turned the switch back on -- nothing. There's no display on the Oil Control and the i button does nothing
I've checked the breaker - it's good. There's power getting to the power switch.
The one thing I've thought of is that I may have put pressure on the Oil Control to stand up (old knees.) The thing seems to be made of cheap plastic. Could I have broken it?

I had a maintenance done on it 3/2 -- replaced the jet, cleaned the electrodes, checked firebox and flue temps and gases, etc. The guy wasn't very knowledgeable about steam (it seems that nobody in Seattle is any more), he tried to overfill the boiler (No there's the site glass!) and he kept looking for the circulation pump.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

mattmia2

no sight glass? then does it have try cocks?

the lwco is probably what is keeping the burner from firing but someone more familiar with that model will have to comment on why.

Jamie Hall

Well, the first thought is that it's not necessary to drain a steam boiler. Once a year blow down a few gallons from the bottom drain, and once a week or so blow down a gallon or so from the low water cutoff if it is the float type.

But what's done is done.

Can you determine if power is getting to the primary at all?

cberwald

Mattmia2 No It has a site glass. After telling the guy it was steam a half a dozen times he was still treating like a hot water system. I've had guys overfill the boiler to the point where water was gushing out of the main vent and the upstairs radiator vents.

cberwald

Jamie Hall -- I think that there is probably muck in the condensate return lines from 1929.
The low water cutoff is the sensor type. The boiler drain, the pressure relief, and the water fill are the only valves on the whole system other than the maintenance valves on the radiators.

I'm going to go in tomorrow and see if there's power getting out of the old shutoff switch and to the oil control. Electricity! the one thing I know a little about.

cberwald

So far: Tracing out the wires, I checked the power switch -- good. Power to the Oil Control - nada. The line voltage comes into Oil Control and immediately goes up to the LWC -- power gets to it, but doesn't come back. The power links through that down to the 2 Pressuretrols. No power at all to the Pressuretrols.
I'm calling in the Pros to clean or replace the LWC.

rick in Alaska

Check and see if there is a reset on the lwco. I bet there is, and it tripped.
Rick

cberwald

rick in Alaska.


I looked around inside the box to see if they had a hidden switch in there, no luck.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Like the note says clean the probe.

You can jump the low water cutoff but ONLY to see if that is the problem.

DO NOT RUN THE BOILER BEYOND TESTING WITH THE CONTROL JUMPED

Jamie Hall

Um... have you verified that it is the low water cutoff which is cutting the power?

cberwald

EBEBRATT-Ed and Jamie Hall -- Thanks for your suggestions.
I'm the homeowner and a DIYer. I think that it's time I put my hands in my pockets and step back a bit.
I have been on the phone with the tech from my oil delivery service and went through some troubleshooting hints from him. When I asked if he'd put me on the calendar to have someone come out, he went silent and then told me to go through the steps that I'd already done. He told me to jumper out the LWC, but wouldn't tell me how. I did put power direct to the Oil Control and it lit up
It seems to me that the pressure controls are daisy-chained off of the low water cutoff and that the oil control only gets power when they are all satisfied.
Today I tried to remove the LWC to try to clean the sensor. I met my limits. I got the wires out and figured out that to spin the the unit off I'd need to remove the pressure gauge and the site glass assembly. The gauge did it's best not to move and the next step would be to use more force and probably break it without replacement. I've taken the site glass out once before to clean it and it took a day of running around to hardware stores to find seals. I didn't think enough to look for a Plumbing and heating store.
I think I'm batting out of my league.
I called around a couple of heating service shops and either they're too busy to pick up customers or I hear a "John, do we do steam boilers?" "No"

Again Thanks for the suggestions. If someone could let me know how to jumper out the LWC and keep the pressuretrols operating I could look further into it. But at this point I think the time might be better spent looking for a boiler guy that will actually come out to the house.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@cberwald

you need a technician. As I said above Jumping any control is only for testing. Even if you jumped it you can't leave it running.

If you can't find a steam guy look for a good HVAC technician or plumber

mattmia2

BTW the gauge should have a surface to put a wrench on it at the bottom or back depending on if the connection is on the back or bottom.

cberwald

We have steam!! Finally got a tech out here. He jumped out the LWC and everything turned on. He pulled the assembly off the sensor, pulled the sensor, took it apart, and cleaned it with soapy water. Everything fired up the way it's supposed to.
Thanks to everyone who commented and tried to help this one mouse-power brain. I just don't have the knees or eyes (or the right glasses) to do this kind of work.