Follow-up on new aquastat - please help!

Ken_13

Hello again -
if possible, I'd like to determine whether or not my heater is working properly. I'm the guy who's triple aquastat went a few weeks ago and through the good guidance here I had it replaced with a separate primary control & aquastat. But now the house is too warm.

Quick explanation is that the boiler fires alot more often, even when not triggered by the thermostat. I had the guy come back out and he said "it was just the circulator coming on." But when it comes on, the heater fires up too. Usually for short spurts but enough that my thermostat says it's 75 degrees in the living room, the heater is firing up and we have it set at 64 to try and cool the house down. Does not seem right to me.

I sent Ed Gregg a note yesterday and his line is busy tonight. He lives in the next town over and I'm at the point where I want good answers so I can eventually get the whole house heated properly - even though the living room is 75', my daughters room is about 62' upstairs!

My setup is at www.geocities.com/irishkenj/heating.html. The new controls were a Wayne primary control and the Honeywell L8124A1007 aquastat.

Thanks (again!) in advance!!!!! Ken

Mark Wolff

Wiring

A different primary control and triple aquastat relay shouldn't change how often the boiler fires.

The wiring could have been misconnected so that anytime a zone calls for heat it fires the boiler (rather unusual, but it sounds like what might be going on). Have the wiring checked.

Tim_13

You need........

Its time for an upgrade on your hot water heater. I would call a pro in.

Ken_13

But the zone is not......

calling for heat!

The sound from the thermostat is pretty obvious when it calls for heat. I can hear the loud click when setting the temperature above the current room temperature and again when turning it back down.

Problem is this thing is now firing constantly without being "called" by the thermostat. By the way, the whole house is in one zone but that's another issue.

We are now controlling the heater by using the switch at the top of the cellar steps......

Ted_4

A Ghost!

Sounds like you may have "ghost" flow in your one-zone system. This could occur if the flow control valve is not seating properly (or isn't there at all). Hot water flows by gravity out of your boiler and into the system. The key here may be that only part of the house gets heat under these conditions. The triple aquastat keeps the boiler hot at all times to the low setting, so there is always hot water available to flow. When the t-stat calls for heat, the boiler fires and raises the boiler temp to the high limit setting.

Check to see if there is a flow control valve near where the main exits the bolier (usually). If you find it, feel the pipe on each side to see if it is working or not.

John@Reliable_5

Bingo Ted!

Ken_13

John or Ted, could you.....

take a look at http://www.geocities.com/irishkenj/heating.html and point out the flow control valve, if there is one!

Thanks and Merry Christmas! Ken

Ken_13

Never mind, I see it........

is the red valve just above and to the left of the heater. Should the pipe be equally hot on each side of the valve?
In other words, what would the indications of a problem be?

Ted_4

valve

If the valve is closed (working properly) when the system has been off for a while the piping between boiler and control valve should feel warmer than the piping that leads away from valve to the system. If the valve is leaking, the pipes leading away from the valve will be hot.