Pressuretrol settings?

DaveF

I'm just a home owner too and I've seen the same type of situation with the new vents I put in last year. I've read the "Lost Art" and "The Wall" and even had a pro out and this is what I think.

After the boiler has run for about 20 minutes, all the air is out of the system. The vents start to close. (I can hear them.) After about 30 minutes, the steam pressure starts to increase. I can see it on the boiler gauge. At about 3psi, the steam starts to blow out the vents. It is not supposed to as the vents are rated at 15psi, but that is what seems to happen. At about 4psi, the pressuretrol final cuts out. (This happens at around 45min. Usually the thermostat is satisfied by then.)

My theory is that Pressurtrols don't work as advertiesed. 0.5psi becomes 4psi. It has also been sugested that the pigtail is cloged but I can't get the pressuretrol off to check.

Many people on the wall recomend Vaporstats which are more sensitive controls for lower pressuer systems. That makes sense, but only if there is something wrong with a pressuretrol.

Pardon me for 'venting', but I have been frustrated by this too.

Patrick Hahl

Pressuretrol settings help?

In my home I have a Kewanee Type R boiler oil fired steam boiler, with a PressureTrol 404a1x1 Pressuretrol. I'm looking for typical settings, and how to adjust the Pressuretrol. I find that when the thermostat calls for heat, and after @ 20 minutes of running, the radiators are full of steam, and hot, and have steam being released thru valves on radiators. I would think that the Pressuretrol is set too high because boiler still runs till thermostat is satified. I think, again I'm just a homeowner, that since the boiler has created alot of steam, would the boiler shut down, and let the room heat up, then if steam lessons, and thermostat still calls for heat, then boiler could come on again? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

JM_2

your vents on the radiators sound bad. if steam is coming out of them the pressure in the system cant climb to shut of at the pressuretroll. only air should be coming out of the vents, when steam hits them they should close.

superMARKet

Bet it's not the pigtail

Bet you're using the little gray PA404 pressuretrol. PA must stand for "Pretty Arbitrary."

Actually, I'm staring at the guts of an spare unwanted PA right now, and it looks to me like a small amount of creative reengineering could make it more sensitive at the low end. Just by tinkering with it, I've managed to get it to respond at a lower cut-in/out, even down into vacuum conditions, but I don't have a pressure-regulated supply to test it on, so I'm not sure how reliable these modifications would be.

superMARKet

Bet it's not the pigtail

Bet you're using the little gray PA404 pressuretrol. PA must stand for "Pretty Arbitrary."

Actually, I'm staring at the guts of an spare unwanted PA right now, and it looks to me like a small amount of creative reengineering could make it more sensitive at the low end. Just by tinkering with it, I've managed to get it to respond at a lower cut-in/out, even down into vacuum conditions. I don't have a pressure-regulated supply to test it on, so I'm not sure how reliable these modifications would be, though.

David Efflandt

Fix or replace gauge too

The 0.5 psi on outside of Pressuretrol is cut-in pressure. The wheel inside is the differential rise above that (which should be set to 1). So if it rises to 1.5 psi it should shut off the burner, and when it drops to 0.5 psi it should kick back on (if thermostat is still calling for heat).

Some air vents only work properly up to 1.5 psi, although, a pressure up to 10 psi may not hurt them. If your system appears to rise above 2 psi, you need to make sure nothing is plugged and that both the pressure gauge and Pressuretrol are functioning properly. My boiler starts pressure cycling if it runs longer than 20-25 minutes, but is oversize for the surface area of my radiators.

Mark K

What do I tell the repair man?

Hi,

I am having a similar issue with my boiler. I have a one-pipe steam system, a Burnham Independence boiler about 10 yrs old. I have the grey Honeywell pressuretrol and it is set for 0.5 cut in and a 1 Diff. However, when the system is running, the pressure gauge is showing 5 PSI.

I have a service contract with the gas company, and they are sending out a repair guy in a couple of days to look at the system. What questions should I be asking him? What should I make sure he does to check the system? The system was tuned up in August by the gas company, and they told me at that time that it was all in working order.

Do I need to insist that they replace the pressuretrol? Or install a Vaporstat instead?

Thanks for any information you can give me.

bob young

gas company

when you suggest a vaporstat the gas co. guy iwill look at you like you came from mars. they want you to use as much as is possible. that is why they give out free boilers.from the gas company you will not get a heating expert,just a guy who will make it work and maybe safe.