Thermostat for Steam Heat??

Lyle

I have a one pipe steam heat system and a couple of times now over the past year the heat did not kick on all night till I played with the exsisting themostat by increasing and decreasing the temp. The wire from the single stat is good from the unit to the boiler and is only about a year old. Jumping the boiler at the burner starts it right up each time. The thermostat I have is from LUX Pro PSM30. My question is what could cause the burner from starting if everything else on it is working corectly? I did check the breaker, water cut off, preasure etc and all are perfect. The only thing I can think of is the thermostat is not snaping the contact closed. If this could be the problem, where can I get an inexspensive unit? Last how do I set up the "Longer Cycle Guage" inside the stat? Thank you.

Big Ed

thermo

Is the PSM30 their non programable type ? Check the connections and heat antisipater if it has one.Look for burnt connections..not sure of the model.... Seem like the problem is in the wire or thermostat though...

Check the package some read "not for steam"....or they tell you how to adjust cycle..

The atisipater has to be set to match the amp reading as a start point and moved up to to lenghten cycle if needed.

Long Beach Ed

Steam in China?

Lux is Chinese made. They don't have steam heat in China. When these things do work they don't work for long.

Go to a heating supplier (not Home Depot or another home-owner outlet) and buy a real thermostat with the proper adjustments.

Long Beach Ed

Lyle

The stat is an old style non- programable unit. It was here when we bougth the house. I looked at the connections, but do not see any burn traces. It does have an anitisipator as well. Heat worked fine last night

Wayne M. Lawrence

steam/ thermostat

Hi, I would make one final check before replacing the thermostat. I would jump the contacts at the thermostat to rule out a wiring short, and make sure the stat is level. The PSM30, if I remember correctly is a mercury bulb stat. If the the thermostat is n/g I would replace it with a Honeywell T87- they last forever, or if you go digital- we have had very good luck with the LUX PSM600. While it has no anticipator adjustment they are very easy to program and seem to last a long time. One last thing,I read your post and while it looks like you went over the system, you may want to make sure the pressuretrol pigtail is not restricted. also check the pressuretrol settings. should be .5/ #1 on the differental. Hope this helps, Wayne

Tony_23

Lux

I've replaced more of these than any other "modern" stat. I use Honeywell FocusPro 5000 series for NP use. 1-9 cycles per hour adjustable. Haven't let me down yet.

chuck_6

Lux

I disagree with Long Beach Ed and Tony. We have a programmable Lux for our steam heat and upstairs air conditioning and both work very well, and have so for years.
On the other hand, our White Rogers for our downstairs air conditioning is, in my opinion, a piece of junk. Stay with the Lux. You may want to get the 5-day, 1-day and 1-day programmable one.

Chuck

Dan_29

thermostats

The current cost of a steam boiler is $3000 plus the $3000 the pros will charge you to install it. Why not spend $100 on a 21st century thermostat?

I just got rid of a Honeywell Chrontherm III (20 years old) in favor of a Honeywell Vision Pro digital touch screen thermostat for my gas steam system. It is very accurate and seems to match up with virtually any heat or ac system. It has an extensive menu to match it with your heating system rather than the old fashioned anticipator or set system set screws on the Chronotherm. It even has a big digit display for us old geezers!

I paid $130 at the supply house, however, I have seen them in the web for $93. Well worth the bucks. Set it and forget it.

Dan

BillW@honeywell

Any Honeywell VisonPro or FocusPro can be used with steam.

So can our new mercury-free T87K 1007 (heat only) or T87N1000 (heat-cool). This new take on the old classic is electronic, no more anticipator, it's set with 2 dip switches to 1,3,6 or 9 CPH. No more backplates either... the backplate comes with the stat. They are exactly the same size as the old T87 and use the same twist-dial operation as the old ones did. Now available at any Honeywell distributor.