Burnham short cycling

LARRY_32

I recently had a Burnham V-84 boiler installed.Problem is that now that it has to produce steam, the unit runs for 10 minutes, shuts off for 1 minute, then goes on for 1 minute, off 1 minute and continues this short cycle until thermostat temperature reached. The constant off/on is probably due to the unit shutting off at 2psi, the turning on when is at .5. There is a single 2 inch steam main. Burnham advises unit may be oversized and that is probably the problem. Installer has now advised I need 300 sq. feet of steam for the house.
The v84 produces 396-500 sq. ft of steam. However, the Installer says that if unit changed to a Burnham V83(3 sections) I could still have the short cycling. Has anyone had similar problem and any solution? Need feedback to make decision.

Unknown

Larry

First off, the V8 steam boiler you have is more than likely equipped with a CycleGuard Low Water Cutoff. This control shuts the burner down every 10 minutes of running time for approximately 90 seconds to check the actual water level in the boiler to be certain that it is sensing actual water and not foam that occur on top of the surface if there are impurities in the water. This would account for the initial shut down after ten minutes. What your technician needs to do is to be certain that the call for heat to the boiler is not being interruted by the thermostat when those shorter running periods begin to occur. A thermostat with an improperly adjusted heat anticipator will most certainly cause this. If the call from the thermostat is consistently on while this is happening, then he will need to determine if the pressuretrol is what is interrupting the call for heat or the Low Water Cutoff. Boiler oversizing can account for this but it is always better to confirm the point of burner interruption and where it originates to be certain. If he needs some help with this our field representatives are always available to lend a helping hand. They can be contacted through the distributor. Hope this helps.

Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

U.S. Boiler Co., Inc.

LARRY_32

BURNHAM SHORT CYCLING

Mr Stanton
Thank you for your reply. I sent an e-mail to "technical information"<TechInfo@Burnham.com earlier today giving more details as well as advising of the telcon that the serviceman from the installer had with Burnham technical support this morning.If you can locate e-mail it will shed more light on the matter. If you want, I can send it directly to you.
Pls Adv.
larryn@rcn.com

LARRY_32

BURNHAM SHORT CYCLING

Mr Stanton
Thank you for your reply. I sent an e-mail to "technical information"<TechInfo@Burnham.com earlier today giving more details as well as advising of the telcon that the serviceman from the installer had with Burnham technical support this morning.If you can locate e-mail it will shed more light on the matter. If you want, I can send it directly to you.
Pls Adv.
larryn@rcn.com

Al Gregory

If your loosing 1.5 pounds of steam in one minute you have a leak somewhere. Try new valves on your radiators.