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Flame roll-out too sensitive

techheat_2
techheat_2 Member Posts: 117
in THE MAIN WALL
a bad roll-out switch. By even asking if a vital safety control can be bypassed I assume you are an HO. You really need a Pro to handle this

Comments

  • Joe_30
    Joe_30 Member Posts: 85
    Over sensitive flame roll-out switch

    Heating season begins. Buderus G124x32 gas boiler works fine. Then, after a warm spell ,it fails to fire. Damper is open, circulator is hunning away pumping cold water. So, I wiggle the sort of loose red button in the flame roll-out switch , and, Hey!, i get ignition. I think it did this once last Fall too. The 31 foot stack of cold air in the 6 inch aluminum chimney liner must hold back the vent gasses till it is warmer. It is a new , clean liner we installed a year ago.

    Question: can I jump the switch with a little piece of wire till the heating season is in full swing?? Other solution.??

  • Steve Ebels
    Steve Ebels Member Posts: 904
    Nope!!!!

    That switch is there to keep you and yours alive my friend. Do Not Jump It!! Get an exact replacement and try it. It may just be a bad switch. Check your house for exhaust fans that may be running, dryer, bath fans, kitchen fans etc. That spill switch should not trip under the conditions you describe with your chimney. It takes a minute or two at least. Watch it when it fires if you can to see if you are actually getting flue gas out of the draft hood. I have a hunch that something is pulling your house into a negative (less than atmospheric) pressure. Again, please don't bypass or disconnect that spill switch!!
  • Joe_30
    Joe_30 Member Posts: 85
    Roger that.

    Thanks Steve. No, I would not disable it without checking with a pro first. . To locate and define the cause and ask about it all indicate my reasoned caution.

    You are probably correct about negative pressure. There is a vented drier and an independently vented water heater in the 12' by 24' basement room.[ Cannot recall if the drier was in use.] There is a hinged basement window open 1/2 inch for makeup air, to approximate the area of the 6 inch vent. Nonetheless, the whole house leaks some and there are 3 firplaces whose dampers are not perfectly tight.

    I'l order a new switch and give it a try. Will probably add a Tjernland inforcer or something like it in future. As stated, this has only occurred at the start of the heat season.

    Thanks to all at this site.
  • Dale
    Dale Member Posts: 1,317
    Fireplaces

    No gas device in the house wins against a fireplace. If you had one of the fireplaces running when the boiler tried to start the downdraft from the fireplace would keep the boiler from venting.
  • paul lessard_2
    paul lessard_2 Member Posts: 192
    this thread makes me think of what I just heard

    Through the grapevine.I hear that some guys don't pull permits in my fathers town because he enforces make up air
    they think he's picking on them. go figure?
  • Mad Dog
    Mad Dog Member Posts: 2,595
    I've had quirky roll-out switches before...intermittent problems

    But either way, get a pro in there to diagnose and fix. Its nice that you know, but leave the actual work to us. Mad Dog

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  • Mad Dog
    Mad Dog Member Posts: 2,595
    I gather pop's is the inspexctor? good for him shame on them

    He's doing the right thing. Mad Dog

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  • Joe_30
    Joe_30 Member Posts: 85
    correction

    In starting this thread I erroneously called it the roll-out. It is the spill switch in question, as Steve correctly recognised.. Restated, the device on the low edge of the draft hood.

    We crack a window or door when using the fireplace. There are wall and chimney vents for near or in the fireplace...but it's not first on the honey-do list. Opening the outside ash pit door [not good] produces an undesirable blast furnace effect , not so cheery [or safe]as a calm wood fire, but probably useful to heat iron bars for blacksmithing. But we digress..
  • Earthfire
    Earthfire Member Posts: 543
    make up air

    Have a fresh air intake, properly sized, installed into that room. Partially open windows that wind, water, debris or rodents or luck can close or invade your house through, are a poor substitute for a properly sized air intake. Is your families safety worth the risk. Think CARBON MONIXIDE. A draft fan like a Therlund exhaust venter is not the answer to a makeup air problem
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