hi, lo, and diff settings

Chuck_24

Hello - I'm a homeowner with an old house and a new hot water boiler that was here when I bought the place. It's a burnham rsa125th-tb with 8124c aquastat relay. It's on it's 3rd season and I'm on my 1st (last house had forced air which I don't like so much). I don't understand the system too well but have spent hours trying to figure it out, reading manuals and time in the cellar tracing pipes, watching gauges, etc. We were having a horrendous clanging noise in the radiators over the holidays and a bit of blow out on the pressure valve, approx 1 quart per day. The clanging sounded like mechanical valve not thermal expansion. With a metal rod I traced the noise to in or near the boiler. I called a heating co. that installs burnhams locally (West Virginia) and they sent a couple service guys who determined the noise was coming from an old thrush valve (this one http://www.heatinghelp.com/pdfs/221.pdf - I can't believe I found this spec!). One of the guys flipped the valve to open, it was stuck about 1/4 above normal setting, and the clanging stopped. He did not know what the valve was and left it open. Meanwhile the other guy opened the aquastat cover and twisted the controls. I'm not sure why or what the original settings were. However ever since the system will not cool down at night, it stays about 75 when the tstat is set for 55. Today I flipped the Thrush valve back to normal and have twiddled with the hi, lo, and diff settings so the boiler is at least at a lower setting as I recall from my time watching the temp gauge. currently hi, lo, and diff are 170, 120, and 10 but I don't know if this is correct.

sorry for the book but these are now my questions:

- what are the appropriate setting for hi,lo,diff for my region (or is this boiler specific but I can't find in the manual)?

- do I need this antique thrush flow valve? It's now leaking a little so I need to have it replaced pretty soon.

- how do I find a "qualified" contractor to take care of my system? Are there certifications that I should look for? Or any specific questions to ask?

- is there any value to upgrading the controls to having an outdoor temp compensator?

Is there a dummys book for hot water systems? I don't want to work on it but I do want to understand it.

Thanks for any info. This is an amazingly interesing forum!

Regards,

Chuck Davis,
Harpers Ferry WV

Gene_3

I yi yi

I hate reading stuff like this...

You are correct in asking these questions

You need another company, the old Thrush valves had the ability to trap air in the top, this would make them rattle when the circ was pumping, could be that it is shot too. That is a Flow Check, it keeps the heat in the boiler when the circ is off, with it open you get gravity flow and over heating, it may be stuck,or rotted as well, it should have been replaced with a new boiler.

If you get your h/w from the boiler with a tankless coil you should set the low 160 hi 200 diff 10, if you get h/w from an indirect or other source set the low @130-140, hi 200 and diff 10.

Now you may also have a problem with your expansion tank, because you were blowing off out your relief valve {did they check that????} and that may be the source of the air in the system and Flo check.

Call around and see, after explaining your situation, if another company will come out and offer a deal on a service contract.

Check here at Dans site for books.

An informed customer/consumer keeps us from getting sloppy and weeds out the schleppers.

Chuck_24

thanks, Gene!

Thanks for that info and insight, Gene. I had done a bit of reading on the the web site about the hw/steam systems and after sleeping on it suspected that I was in a quasi gravity flow system with that old check valve left open. Thanks for confirming that. Yes I will probably cut my losses on the 1st contractor that came out, move on and find another. I have good relations with my previous plumber and will inquire with him. I recently discovered that the boiler has a DHW coil in it, unused and since my old electric is leaking I am very interested in hooking this up and hopefully saving money and energy.

I must say I find this whole business very fasinating. I've tried a little to understand hv/ac heat pumps and now this boiler heat business amazes me at the sophiscated level of applied physics that exists in our homes.

Also that thread I was reading last night about CO levels in homes has inspired me to invest in a worthwhile detector. I will also get one for my folks and ensure they are keeping their antique furnace maintained.

Keep up the good words and work folks!!!

Regards,

Chuck

Chuck_24

thanks, Gene!

Thanks for that info and insight, Gene. I had done a bit of reading on the the web site about the hw/steam systems and after sleeping on it suspected that I was in a quasi gravity flow system with that old check valve left open. Thanks for confirming that. Yes I will probably cut my losses on the 1st contractor that came out, move on and find another. I have good relations with my previous plumber and will inquire with him. I recently discovered that the boiler has a DHW coil in it, unused and since my old electric is leaking I am very interested in hooking this up and hopefully saving money and energy.

I must say I find this whole business very fasinating. I've tried a little to understand hv/ac heat pumps and now this boiler heat business amazes me at the sophiscated level of applied physics that exists in our homes.

Also that thread I was reading last night about CO levels in homes has inspired me to invest in a worthwhile detector. I will also get one for my folks and ensure they are keeping their antique furnace maintained. I am very impressed at the level of concern expressed for the safe and efficient operation of equipment.

Keep up the good words and work folks!!!

Regards,

Chuck

Chuck_24

thanks, Gene!

Thanks for that info and insight, Gene. I had done a bit of reading on the the web site about the hw/steam systems and after sleeping on it suspected that I was in a quasi gravity flow system with that old check valve left open. Thanks for confirming that. Yes I will probably cut my losses on the 1st contractor that came out, move on and find another. I have good relations with my previous plumber and will inquire with him as I know he does heating work and I trust him. I recently discovered that my boiler has a DHW coil in it, unused and since my old electric is leaking I am very interested in hooking this up and hopefully saving money and energy.

I must say I find this whole business very fasinating. I've tried a little to understand hv/ac heat pumps and now this boiler business amazes me at the sophiscated level of applied physics that exists in our homes.

Also that thread I was reading last night about CO levels in homes has inspired me to invest in a worthwhile detector. I will also get one for my folks and ensure they are keeping their antique furnace maintained. I am very impressed at the level of concern expressed for the safe and efficient operation of equipment.

Keep up the good words and work folks!!!

Regards,

Chuck

Gene_3

thanks

all too often our trade does not get the credit it deserves, for many reasons, for one, there is no such thing as an HVACR GOD or a know it all, and once you have humbled yourself to that fact you will hopefully learn more as a tech.

Our field covers Heating,Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration, Indoor Air Quality, electricity, plumbing and all the little nuances that are in each one of those and more, so there is no way anyone can even keep up with all the new products, the most you can hope for is to be the best tech you can and know the equipment you are servicing.

One thing about this trade is that it is never boring, if you were doing oil heat for 10 years and got bored, switch companies to gas or commmercial or refrigeration or lab work, everything and everyone every where needs at least one of the things we do.

Patchogue Phil_29

Diff of only 10?

Gene

Doesn't setting the Diff to *only* 10 degrees kinda negate it's ability to do anything? I would think that a diff of at least 20* would better serve longer cycling times. The 10* diff setting may cause shorter cycling, wasting some fuel.

This is my understanding, and I could be wrong. So, this is more of a question for everyone about what diff setting to use.

Phil