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Pressuretrol issue

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S_caicedo
S_caicedo Member Posts: 12
in Strictly Steam

So I’m in a spot here at a warehouse and they have a smith boiler the pressuretrol keeps tripping and I took out the pig tail it was clean no clog but my pressure gauge keeps moving up very quickly any suggestions?

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  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,376
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    Don't shoot the messenger. If the pigtail is clean and the pressure gauge is moving up -- it's not the fault of either the pressure gauge, the pigtail, or the pressuretrol.

    What is that monster feeding, and how big is it? The only way the pressure can rise is if the boiler is making steam faster than whatever it is feeding can use it, so we need to look at that.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    ethicalpaulMad Dog_2Tommi68
  • S_caicedo
    S_caicedo Member Posts: 12
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    @Jamie Hall correct this monster boiler is heating up a coffee warehouse and has about 5 or 6 ceiling hung on two floors and has steam traps 
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,376
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    Does it always rise too fast? I'm sort of wondering if some of those units may have thermostat controlled valves which are sometimes closed, reducing the load on the boiler?
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • S_caicedo
    S_caicedo Member Posts: 12
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    @Jamie Hall yes it rises quickly all the time and the ceiling unit is contralled by a 120 v thermostat each one has its own thermostat 
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,376
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    I very much suspect that the problem is that the boiler is sized to handle all the units running at once. That means that if only one unit is calling, the boiler is oversized by a factor of 5 or so. You will -- no matter how hard you try -- get a very rapid pressure rise in that case. To add pain to misery, the boiler is probably oversized even for all the units running at once...
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    ethicalpaul
  • 109A_5
    109A_5 Member Posts: 1,386
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    Hello @S_caicedo,

    It all looks old, is this a new problem or has it been going on for decades ?


    National - U.S. Gas Boiler 45+ Years Old
    Steam 300 SQ. FT. - EDR 347
    One Pipe System
  • S_caicedo
    S_caicedo Member Posts: 12
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    @Jamie Hall could possibly be I know out of the 12 units it had I think a good 7 of them are heating up 
  • S_caicedo
    S_caicedo Member Posts: 12
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    @109A_5 it’s been going on for decades 
  • 109A_5
    109A_5 Member Posts: 1,386
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    Hello @S_caicedo,
    I think I would repair the system so 12 out of 12 zones work.

    What controls the boiler ? Any one zone or other ?

    National - U.S. Gas Boiler 45+ Years Old
    Steam 300 SQ. FT. - EDR 347
    One Pipe System
  • ScottSecor
    ScottSecor Member Posts: 860
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    I agree with the comments above. If the manual reset high pressure control is tripping, you might consider lowering the operating pressure control slightly. With the system you describe, maybe on at 1psi and off at 4 psi for normal operating pressure. Set the manual reset at 8spsi to prevent tripping.

    Please post a photo of the burner and front of boiler. Perhaps the burner is capable of low-hi-low firing and you could get longer cycles with the reduced firing rate? Ideally, the burner would be fully modulating, but I doubt this is the case with no third modulating pressuretrol.

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