steam pressures question

scott75

I wanna make sure I have this straight. If the pressures get too high on the boiler before the stat satisfies, the pressuretrol shuts the burner down until it reaches the cut in pressure. So if the cut in is .5 with a differential of 4, that makes the cut out 4.5. Therefore the pressure guage should never read above 4.5. If it does, then it is either wrong or the pressuretrol isn't working. Would that be an accurate statement? If the pressure guage was accurate, then it shouldn't read above 15 because then the PTR valve would open to get pressure back down. Do pressuretrols have a failure rate? What about a pressure guage? Would the pressure rise extremely high if it was the first time the boiler was fired up for the season and the stat was calling for a 5 degree or more temp. dif.? Thanks for any replies. Just want to make sure I understand how my boiler is supposed to work and what I can/should expect.

clammy

steam

Yes your thinking right about everything except the higher pressure on first start up and pressuretrols do fail but usally the pigtail just get clooged and most residental systems run at a .5 cut in and the differental at 1 making the cut out 1 1/2 lbs .You should check your low water cut off to ensure it's functioning if it's float type you should blow it down and make sure the burner shuts off .There are a number of things that can be done to improve any steam system the first would be to buy some of dan's books the lost art of steam it will answer any question you can think of and explain it better then most and keep your eyes open while doing so .Cleaning the mud legs on the boiler and checking for restriced and dirty wet returns ,main and raditor air vents and insulation on your steam mains and branch supplies and risers and never forget NEAR BOILER PIPING i could go on and on peace and good luck clammy

oil-2-4-6-gas

.

those spring operated pressuretrols are for the birds --spend some cash get a vaporstat --it will save more than it costs -and replace those pigtails with good quality brass ones ----- your pressure is way too high --call a pro have him install a vaporstat w/brass pigtail go over all the piping,vents etc.. intial cost may be a good amount the benefits far outway it --check the"find a pro" on this site for someone who knows steam--most people today do not

scott75

Closest pro on this page is 84 miles away. I don't think there are any true pros in this area. I've been doing HVAC for a short time now but my company doesn't do much with hydronics or oil. Mostly heat pumps, AC, and gas fired forced air. So my learning of oil, hydronics and steam are slow. I plan on getting Dan's book but for the moment I am into other reading more pertinant to what I do day to day. Thanks for the help. I am looking into the different pressuretrols and vaporstats out there. I wanted to make sure that was the problem first. Turns out the real problem is that I have twice the work to do in half the time (personally, not for regular job).