Weil Mclain Boiler with Aqua Side Kick

snoopy1

• Problem: No Direct Hot Water being supplied

• I do get DHW after heating of my baseboard (home heat), but does not last

• System installed in 1/2024,, home not lived in until now

• No problems at all with heating home

• Light on Aqua showing call for hot water

• Installer is not available

Thanks for help

Jamie Hall

Something isn't wired properly, or if the Aqua unit has it's own pump that may not be working. A couple of photos might help. A wiring diagram would help even more…

snoopy1

thanks will get some photos,, this was a replacement of my previous ultra and side kick,,

EdTheHeaterMan

think of this as a multi zone system. Minimum of 2 zones. One of the zones has a thermostat in a room somewhere set at 70. The other is in a room full of water. That thermostat is set to 120F. Check to see if the thermostat on the water heater is set properly

snoopy1

IMG_0295.HEIC.zip

IMG_0294.HEIC.zip

I have set this at different temps,,, now at 120f as shown,, also shows light on for need request heat from boiler

If I turn up the temp on my thermostat,,, there will be hot water,, light will change to stand by,, hot

snoopy1

"After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?"

both boiler and aqua side kick were replaced in January,, due to failure of the boiler (I replace the old side kick at the same time) in Alaska,, I was in AZ,,, returned to Alaska during install,, went back to Az,, assumed/told no problems with system

Returned to Alaska last month,, hot water has been intermittent since then,,,

The individual who installed system has passed on

So it looks like I will be calling another boiler man

Would like to narrow down problem as best as I can thanks

Jamie Hall

Well, you can be pretty sure that it's fundamentally a control or wiring problem. The boiler obviously can run. Hot water can get to the indirect, but not enough of it,, perhaps — but somewhere between the indirect calling for heat and the boiler the message isn't getting though. I'd start by checking that everything got wired the way it was supposed to be wired…

snoopy1

thanks,,, so does the hot water from the boiler that is going to my baseboard circulate through the aqua tank?

snoopy1

well,,, I need to take a shower,, set downstairs thermostat to 74 (was at 70),,,, checking now boiler still going tempature at 72

**** the demand light on my tank is off and now in standby,,, I have hot water

somehow hot water for heat is going to tank,,,

Or is the system taking care of the water heater before house heat

Jamie Hall

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1802142#Comment_1802142

It's the same hot water — that is, it's made by the same boiler. But it does NOT follow the same circulation path. For your baseboards, there will be a pump (or a valve plus a pump) which allows water to circulate through the baseboards and back to the boiler. For the hot water, there will be a separate loop which circulates water through the hot water heater. It may use the same pump, in which case there will be a different valve which opens for the hot water heater. Or there may be a separate pump.

Depending on the controller for the whole thing, the hot water heater may have "priority", which means that when it is calling for heat the baseboards don't get any heat.

Somewhere between the hot water heater calling for heat and the pump or valve the word isn't getting passed.

And by the way — I do not open .zip files, for security reasons.

EdTheHeaterMan

I am just wondering which Weil McLain boiler you are using to heat the house?

With that information I may be able to walk you thru the Control Logic (wiring) that will make your hot water work properly

• Are you interested in doing this yourself, Are you ok with working on electric controls?
• Can you provide photos of the boiler and the piping that connects the boiler to the water tank? Try taking the photos from at least two different perspectives.
• How many thermostats are in the home 
• How many circulator pumps are connected to the piping that connects to the boiler?
• Do you know if you have zone valves to separate the space heating from the water heating?
• If you don't have zone valves, then you have at least 2 circulator pumps.  

Here is a diagram of what your system may look like.  See how there are pipes that go to the radiators and other pipes that go to the water tank.  The pipes from the boiler to the water tank will circulate the heat from the boiler to the water tank heat exchanger coil.  That boiler water is not potable water and does not ever mix with the potable water in the tank.  The potable water in the tank is what you shower with or use for human consumption. 

If you have two circulator pumps, than one of the pumps will circulate the hot water into the radiators and the room will heat up when the thermostat calls for heat.

There is another thermostat on the water heater, the electronic control set at 120°F attached to the tank. That control is supposed to cause the other circulator to pump the hot boiler water into the water tank heat exchanger coil. That coil will heat up to 170° or 180° inside the tank. That hot coil will transfer its heat from the boiler water to the potable water in the tank. When the water tank thermostat reaches the set point, (like 120°F water temperature) the circulator and burner will stop operating.

EdTheHeaterMan

After a close look at the photo of your Water Tank,

I notice a Weil McLain Ultra in the lower right corner. I believe I know what the problem is. The AcuTemp 2000 water heater thermostat is not the easiest control for some plumbers to understand. Especially when connecting it to a Weil McLain Ultra. There are about 10 different diagrams in the water heater manual for connecting that control to the several different boilers that Weil McLain makes. I have selected the one that probably matches your system. And you need to connect three wires from the boiler, to four different screw terminals on the water heater thermostat. The three wires get connected to the P11 plug (grey) as follows: A Red wire from boiler plug P11 #5 to DHW terminal AC2 and one of the Output contacts. A white wire goes from boiler plug P11 #4 to the other Output contact. and the common (blue in my diagram) goes from boiler plug P11 #2 to the AC1 on the DHW thermostat.

I remember the first time I got one of those controls and I wanted to throw it away and get a regular "old fashion" aquastat.

Check the wires in that control on the water heater to see it they match the diagram I posted here. Just check the connections one wire at a time, and don't let all the other wired confuse the situation.

If that is not the problem, then you may need to program the boiler control so that the boiler pump and the DHW pump operates at the same time depending on how the plumber piped the system, and answers to the questions in my previous comment.