The upside down control panel, this weeks video

RayWohlfarth

We came across this incredibly sophisticated control systems for a rather large house. The system went down on the Friday before a long holiday weekend. the temperatures were to drop to the teens. What would you do?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wlc22-HZwM

FLYFISHER

Simple and understandable is always better that complicated with a 100 page instruction manual. We install all of our systems in a way that I can facetime with the customer and walk them through the system. Organized with everything labeled. With an annual safety check most of the systems we install have extremely few issues during the heating season.

SKYPAINTER

You mention that the home had cast iron radiators AND in-floor radiant heating too, this system should have been setup as a two-temperature system as radiant floors typically require a lower operating temp than the cast iron rads, how did you address this? One of your diagrams of the piping on the boilers shows them as piped in series with one another, that's wrong, two condensing boilers should be piped using a "common header", the outputs on one leg and returns on another, this would allow for much more efficient operation.

TAG

Wireless equipment is universally much better today … I had to use the Honeywell controls back in 2015 because the equipment I initially tried would not stay connected. The Honeywell was (is?) cloud based and had its own hub. The controls were not as nice/ sophisticated but they have never lost connection.

I wonder why with the two types of radiation needed different water temps they did not try and set a boiler up for each ? I did a big stone house in Philly years ago with two boilers and one did the high heat load main floor and the other did the upper floors and the radiant with a 4 ways control for the lower temp.

jeffydiver

I'd get out my 16ga test leads and jump out the whole panel and wire it to a T2 thermostat and then negotiate for a more resilient control panel. They'd have heat and hot water until the deal is done. Give them a service call invoice for T & M making note for a recall…..and I'm sure they're going to recall and schedule for a rebuild. Happy Holidays !

RayWohlfarth

@skypainter It had a temperature mixing valve for the radiant side

@TAG The wireless controls have come a long way. I remember talking with a tech at one of my seminars who's said the neighbors garage door opener caused the thermostat to fail

@jeffydiver Yes sir I agree

Happy Holidays all

Wellness

I always thought my boiler control panel was well documented. It has worked well over the years, but in lieu of the comments, maybe I need to rethink it.

controls.gif

ratio

Pretty straight forward. You're transformers are likely 24 VAC, not 25 VAC, but I wouldn't respin the schematic for that, just wait until the next revision.

What are you using to power the LEDs? Is that just some Chinesium AC-DC power supply?

Also, what'd you draw it with? I've been using Kicad, but that's a little overkill for my use.

Wellness

@ratio. I tap 24 vac power from one of the Taco board transformers and covert that line to 12dc to run 5mm LEDs cause my old eyes can't see the tiny Taco board LEDs.

The power supply pictures in the drawing is an old Radioshack 13.8 vdc 19a power supply that is no longer made. It died a few years ago and I've since replaced it with, as you say, an off brand "Chinesium" 12vdc power supply from Amazon. 😉

I drew it with Microsoft Visio drawing program.

Hope that helps.