VXT failure causes?

Jells

Got an email from the tenant saying it was really cold, I checked the Nest and it tells me it's 58°!  Another tenant tells me the CycleGard is saying it has a low water condition.

I hustle over the house and see that is indeed low, but when I push the button on the VXT nothing happens!  I pushed it a bunch of times and finally it opens, but intermittently, sometimes when I push it will, but sometimes when I push it won't.

 Currently it won't open at all no matter how much I push. I filled the boiler with the bypass but need to figure out what the hell is going on with the VXT. The unit is only a couple of years old.

Long Beach Ed

See if you are getting power to the solenoid when you push the feed switch. If you are, the feed valve is clogged. It has a strainer that can be removed and cleaned and the valve may be disassembled to clean. Sometimes lime deposits build up in the valve. A rebuild kit of parts is available for about $15.

If the solenoid is not getting power when the switch is pressed, and the control is, then the control is bad and should be replaced. The manufacturer recommends replacing the control every 10 years and rebuilding the valve every three. The valve's performance depends on the feed water quality.

Jells

@Long Beach Ed. Thanks. It's a little strange, if it wasn't for the fact that it's failing when triggered either by the button and the LWC, I would think it was the button failing. I don't hear a solenoid straining against  debris, I hear nothing. I jiggled the solenoid blade connections  just to make sure it wasn't simply a contact corrosion problem, but it made no difference.

Long Beach Ed

You should feel the plunger in the coil snap when you press the switch. If you feel nothing, check the coil for voltage with a test light or meter when you activate it. If the coil is responding, then the feeder casting or strainer is clogged. Not difficult to disassemble and clean.

The electronics are pretty robust and don't often fail. The numerals are lit and it's getting power?

You're sure you have the water valve that feeds this thing open, right?

Jells

Long Beach Ed said:

 The numerals are lit and it's getting power? You're sure you have the water valve that feeds this thing open, right?

Haha, yes, I'm not quite that incompetent! Like I said it was opening intermittently as I was repeatedly pressing the button. I guess I need to do a tear down on this thing.

ChrisJ

Jells said:

Long Beach Ed said:

 The numerals are lit and it's getting power?

You're sure you have the water valve that feeds this thing open, right?

Haha, yes, I'm not quite that incompetent! Like I said it was opening intermittently as I was repeatedly pressing the button. I guess I need to do a tear down on this thing.


Is it plumbed into hot or cold water?

Jells

ChrisJ said:

Is it plumbed into hot or cold water?

The hot. Actually, the bypass was from the hot, and a guy who worked on it last fall added a bypass that brought in cold instead of hot, I forget why. Do you know?

Long Beach Ed

An automatic feeder should feed cold water. Hot water is more likely to leave deposits on the valve seat.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@Jells

Look up Gordon Schweizer @Gordo on You tube videos he has a lot of videos on the VTX on which he is an expert.

ChrisJ

Jells said:

ChrisJ said:

Is it plumbed into hot or cold water?

The hot. Actually, the bypass was from the hot, and a guy who worked on it last fall added a bypass that brought in cold instead of hot, I forget why. Do you know?

What @Long Beach Ed said.
Running hot water to an auto feeder is a huge no no.


There's also the chance yours just died for no reason but they seem to be pretty robust in general.

Jells

ChrisJ said:

Jells said:

ChrisJ said:

Is it plumbed into hot or cold water?

The hot. Actually, the bypass was from the hot, and a guy who worked on it last fall added a bypass that brought in cold instead of hot, I forget why. Do you know?

What @Long Beach Ed said.
Running hot water to an auto feeder is a huge no no.


There's also the chance yours just died for no reason but they seem to be pretty robust in general.

I just looked at it again (took a good pic just for reasons like this), actually the VXT and the new bypass is cold, it was the old bypass that was hot, and the reason he put on the new bypass. I gotta get rid of the old one, it's right below the flue, and when I had chimney guys there relining it last month they accidentally opened the ball valve by dropping debris on it and flooded the whole damn system! That boiler is simply cursed.

Long Beach Ed

... I gotta get rid of the old one, it's right below the flue, and when I had chimney guys there relining it last month they accidentally opened the ball valve by dropping debris on it and flooded the whole damn system! That boiler is simply cursed.

Just take the handle off the valve.