@#! Sticky Pressuretrol

guzzinerd

I knew it was going to get cold enough to get the heat going this week so I fired up the boiler last week to let it cycle, all good.

Tonight I came by to make sure everything was toasty in the apts and the boiler was cold.  Spent 2 hours fiddling with the thermostat and checking all the wire connections.  All good.

Ran to Walmart to grab a new thermostat and when I returned I remembered that I had turned the thermostat down after the pressuretrol reached it's shutoff at 1.5psi.... so before swapping out thermostats I tapped on the p-trol and she fired right up.. mystery solved.

What can I do to keep it from sticking in the future?  Electronic lube?

Jamie Hall

Make sure your cutin pressure is not too low. The common single scale pressuretrol, the PA404 series, may not recycle properly if the cutin is too low. I would never set one below 0.75 psi. for instance.

The other thing to check is that the pigtail, the passage into the pressuretrol from the pigtrail, and the connection of the pigtail to the boiler are all clear.

Pipe

Is it a mercury pressuretrol? Clear of any debris, dirt dust? Have you checked the pigtail to make sure it’s also clear?

guzzinerd

It's set to just under 2psi.  Worked great all last season and haven't touched it since.

Will check the pigtail when it turns off again.  Don't think it's a mercury type.

I think the calibration is off on the trol so I used the low pressure gauge to set the cut off and on settings.

guzzinerd

Pigtail was clear and the trol keeps sticking in the off position after each cycle.  Have to tap it to get it going again.

Just going to order a new low pressure model (L408J1017) for 0-4 psi since my systems runs under 2.  

Thanks for your help everyone.