Utica damper motor

Glenn Harrison

I constantly have problems with Effikal dampers sticking or not making switches. If under warranty I get another one because I feel manufacturers should eat cost of damper and maybe they will get message that Effikal is cheap and fails frequently.

If not under warranty, I always go with Honeywell dampers.

Glenn Harrison

Althoff Industries Inc.

Crystal Lake, Illinois

MIKE6

utica damper motor

I installed a nat gas utica boiler in sept 02.Yesterday the end switch on the damper didn't make after opening.I installed a new damper last night.Today at 3pm the new one was no good . Any one else or just me??

Mike

Steamhead

Check the wiring and controls the damper is connected to

if there's a short somewhere that sends too much current thru the end switch, that can cause it to fail.

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David Francis

Mike

Does this boiler have an electronic Aquastat? I had a similar experience and it turned out to be a bad sensor on the electronic aquastat.I did not replace the damper and caught the problem on 2nd check before I replaced the damper

David

Unknown

What make of vent damper is it?

If you let me know I may be able to help you with determinng if it is a wiring problem or something else.

Is the damper plugged into a module or electrnic control? Is it plugged into the boiler relay? Depending on which method of powering as to what the problem may be.

Some dampers are powered closed and spring open, in that case it may be binding on something.

Others are power to open power to close, what we call the
stalled motor principle.

Have you spoken to anyone at Utica about this as the boiler is still in Warranty? Phone 315-797-1310 or FAX 315-797-3762

Is this the MGB Series if so that is an Effikal Damper I believe that they use. They also use it on the PEG-C if it is steam. The MGB series is powered from the relay. Let us know what you have. They did also use some Honeywell dampers.

Is the damper opening at all? If when it opens you are not getting power out to the controls it may be sticking. Those dampers are usually directly mounted to the boiler, sometimes a 1 foot piece of flue pipe to get it off the top of the boiler will keep it from binding.

If it is an Effikal troubleshooting is as follows:

1. Check for 24 volts between terminal 1 (brown) and 4 (black) this is right across the secondary of transformer.

2. With the t'stat calling check for power 2 (orange) to 4.
This is power to the internal relay, make sure damper switch is set in the normal position, relay should be enrgized and damper should start to open.

3. At about 80 degrees open the end swtiches should make and at full open (90 degrees) the motor should stall out and you should have 24 volts from terminal 3 (yellow) to 4.

Hope this helps.

MIKE6

dam damper

Its an Effikal damper.It opens but sometimes the end switch makes and sometimes it doesn't,this is on the 12 hour old damper.Both work fine with the damper switch on manual.The flue rise is at least 18 inches.I am assuming that if they both work good with the slide switch on manual all other wiring and controls are OK
Mike

David Efflandt

Chucked Effikal for Honeywell

The house I moved into last summer has a way oversize 2 yr old Bryant boiler which cycles repeatedly on pressure when up to temperature. Its Effikal damper often failed to open when hot even though it had power to proper pins. At that point its manual switch could still open it, and it would fire right up.

The Effikal seemed flimsy to me. The Honeywell damper I replaced it with has been operating flawlessly, despite repeated pressure cycling when bringing it up from setback (on < 2 minutes, off < 1.5 min.).

I didn't want to go back to the original installer for warranty replacement because they appear to be unqualified (net EDR 2 x radiator sq ft, backwards Hartford loop, copper steam piping, no main vents).

David Efflandt

Chucked Effikal for Honeywell

The house I moved into last summer has a way oversize 2 yr old Bryant boiler which cycles repeatedly on pressure when up to temperature. Its Effikal damper often failed to open when hot even though it had power to proper pins. At that point its manual switch could still open it, and the boiler would fire right up.

The Effikal seemed flimsy to me. The Honeywell damper I replaced it with has been operating flawlessly, despite repeated pressure cycling when bringing it up from setback (on < 2 minutes, off < 1.5 min.).

I didn't want to go back to the original installer for warranty replacement because they appear to be unqualified (net EDR 2 x radiator sq ft, backwards Hartford loop, copper steam piping, no main vents).