What type of system do I have?

Len K

If I can turn it all the way down (clockwise) should I leave it that way?

Len K.

Len K

Burnham V-14A-T

I have and oil unit. I just moved into my home (built 1952) I believe that this unit is a furnace. I do not know. The Burnham website has no info on it. Estimated to be 15 years old.
Here is the problem...

I have a diverter T hot water system. (From what I can see) I have a basement, first and second floor. I have one zone heat located on the first floor. The basement is not heated.

The problem is the radiators on the second floor. My daughter's room is extremely hot, my room, and the spare bedroom are cold. The two radiators in the cold rooms are warm but not as hot as my daughter's. My bathroom radiator is also hot. I turned off my thermostat on the first floor but the heat continues to run in the system. The radiators remain hot and the baseboard heat on the first floor remains hot. With the heat set off, the house is at 70 degrees because of the ongoing heating.

Why is this so?

If the heat is off, why would it continue to flow through the system, heating the house? Before I purchased the house the old flow control valve was replaced with a new Taco flow control valve. If you turn the heat on the house become unbearable. After closing on the house we noticed that the heat was hovering around 80 and the thermostat was set at 70. Since then I have replaced the thermostat. I have set my water temp settings in the furnace to 160 hi and 140 low. There is a "diff" knob that is set to 20.

Now that I have rambled on, can anyone offer a little insight to the system. I have taken some pictures that can be seen at http://www.onestopflyshop.com/furnace.html.

Thanks a lot in advance!!

Len K.

flange

even though the flow control valve is new, is it in the correct position. it should be closed during normal operation. try to turn the handle on the top, is it all the way open or closed? if you turn it clockwise when looking down on it, it should go all the way in.

joe_14

yes



yes

joeg.

Tom M.

a possibility

The fact that the flowcheck was replaced and the rest of the system appears to be "existing" tells us that this problem existed before. Assuming the valve is in the closed position and properly installed as posted above, the valve was not the problem.

I don't like the way the wire to the circulator is routed through the oil burner. Someone may have gotten their wires crossed at some point. I would recommend that you have it looked at by a reputable plumbing and heating or oil burner tech to make sure the pump isn't wired to B1 or the orange cadcell wire. Then it would run on a call for DHW, when you would want only the burner to run.

While you have him there, it would be a good idea to get rid of the "crossover" on the tankless coil and get a properly piped mixing valve, especially if you have kids. Hope this helps.

Tom M.

Len K

What type of system do I have?

I have taken another look at the "valve." It is not a flow control valve, it is a Taco Air scoop. Before we closed on the house we were supposed to have the flow control vavle replaced. I have researched the air scoop and know its purpose and I see why my house will not cool down when I shut the thermostat off. Is this correct? Since the flow control valve (pic attached) was removed and replaced with a air scoop, (another pic attached) nothing truely controls the flow in the system.

Tom M.

Seeing the other pictures,

it appears you no longer have a flowcheck. It would look similar to but not exactly like the one on the floor. I would have one installed and have the tankless repiped as I mentioned before. The wiring is probably OK.

Tom M.

Len K

Thanks Tom

There is not valve in place now. The valve was replaced with the air scoop. The valve was leaking previously before the air scoop was put in.

There is not isolation valve there to secure that flow through the system.

Circulator, Oil Burner, ?? This is all French to me. I grew up in Florida and I have never, until now, have had to deal with a furnace. We always had central air/heat.

"Then it would run on a call for DHW, when you would want only the burner to run." DHW? I apologize for my ignorance. But what is DHW?

Thanks everyone,
Len

Len K

seeing the other pictures

So, the wiring may be good. <-- Going to have that checked by a pro anyway! And as I asked above, the system will always be on then since there is not isolation valve?

Thanks again,
Len

Tom M.

Len

The piping on the right side of the boiler is connected to a coil inside that heats your domestic hot water (DHW). The water coming out of the coil can vary depending on flowrate and whether or not the boiler is running at the time to provide heat. You have a crossover between the cold and hot with a valve on it to temper the water in the winter. You may notice that your hot water temp at the faucets varies. An automatic mixing valve would protect you from scalding water during the heating season.

You can disregard what I said about the wiring. At the time, I thought that you had a working flowcheck. The lack of proper flow control is definitely the cause of your heat migration problem.

The operation of your system is as follows:

boiler temp below low limit (usually 160): burner runs, circulator doesn't. This is what keeps the boiler warm so you can get hot water. Also keeps circulator from "robbing" heat while you're in the shower. (this is when you are getting gravity flow due to the lack of a flowcheck).

boiler temp above low limit: burner and circ. run together during call for heat from thermostat

boiler temp above high limit(usually 180 - 200): burner off, circ. runs during call for heat.

You should have your oil company service the unit annually and when he is there ask him to show you the parts of the system and what they do. You'll sleep better and he will appreciate the silence from his pager. Hope this helps.

Tom M.

Unknown

I would suspect

that this boiler was originally equipped with the burner mounted R8182H Aquastat/Cad Cell control with a remote capillary that extended around the right side to the coil mounted aquastat well. This would explain why the circulator wire goes into the burner junction box. I would be a little concerned about how the person that changed this control wired in the circulator though. My advice would be to have a qualified serviceman take a close look at the wiring and to check for possible gravity flow through the system. This boiler is maintaining temperature to be on standby for hot water production and if a flow check is open or hung up, the heat will gravitate through the system. Hope this helps.

Glenn Stanton

Burnham Hydronics

Tom M.

Good call Glenn

That didn't even occur to me but it makes perfect sense. I've seen several equipped that way. I just thought that having the circulator wire in that box may have been a point of confusion for someone replacing a motor, transformer or relay.

Tom M.

Len K

Thanks EVERYONE for your help.

I appreciate everyone's input into my problem. I will take the advice you have offered and get a qualified service tech in here. Thank you for also educating me as to how this unit operates. I appreciate it.

Len K