Boiler troubles

paulk

Good Morning-
I'm a new owner of a 1907 house with a single pipe gas powered steam system. The boiler is pretty old but I'm told by everyone who's looked at it that it still has good life in it. Just had new controls put on it and it seems to work okay. Trouble is, if the pressuretrol is set below 3psi (with the differential wheel set at 1.5) the system doesn't fire. I tried to set it lower (.5 psi)but it just won't fire. Now...even when the pressuretrol is set up to 3, the gauge doesn't read above .5 before settling. The Pressuretrol is a White-Rodgers 1204-5. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul

paul sr

try cleaning that pigtail out that the pressurtrol is sitting on, might be reading false pressure if it is clogged

paulk

Thanks for the suggestion. Would that help explain why the Pressuretrol needs to be set so high? The boiler won't fire if the pressuretrol is below 3-3.5 PSI.

paul sr

pigtail

yeah it sounds like it is reading false pressure.
shut of service switch, disconnect the 2 wires, remove pressuretrol from pigtail, and remove pigtail from boiler.
try blowing through it, if it is clogged try to work a piece of rigid wire through it while rinsing it under hot water then re-install using dope or teflon. i like to blow throught them with co2, but wire will also work. hope this helps

Mellow_2

bad pressuretrol

could be the control is out of adjustment. It mighht read 2 psi but be set at .5 psi. The control could be upgraded to a vaporstat. just a thought..