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Pressuretrol Not working

kevinjames79
kevinjames79 Member Posts: 76
in Strictly Steam
Hello guys

So my pressuretrol was not working. Pressure kept going up. So i bought a new pressuretrol and that also does not seem to be working. Is it possible that the new pressuretrol is bad? I did try to save some money by buying it from ebay.

Should i return it and buy from a reputed source or problem could be something else?

I do have Pressuretrol after the pigtail and i have the low pressure guage on the same line connected on the Tee. So it is not the clogged pigtail

Please help.

Comments

  • kevinjames79
    kevinjames79 Member Posts: 76
    This is the pressuretrol on the boiler.

    PA404A 1009 2
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 5,701
    I think it's much more likely that the wiring is incorrect and the pressuretrol (new and old) isn't in the control loop. How long was the old one being ignored? Did it ever work as seen by your eye?

    From far away, I still doubt the pigtail if you haven't actually blown through it. Is your low pressure gauge moving from 0 during a call for heat and then getting pegged at the top and then lowering back down after firing ends?

    Or maybe both ptrolls are set incorrectly? What is the highest pressure you have seen? Did it make the pressure relief valve blow?
    NJ Steam Homeowner. See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 5,701
    Can you send a photo of the front of it?

    You can help rule out the incorrect wiring by disconnecting one terminal in the pressure troll to see if your boiler will still fire in that state. If it does, then the system wiring is borked and is ignoring the pressuretrol.
    NJ Steam Homeowner. See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
  • kevinjames79
    kevinjames79 Member Posts: 76
    ethicalpaul said:

    Can you send a photo of the front of it?

    You can help rule out the incorrect wiring by disconnecting one terminal in the pressure troll to see if your boiler will still fire in that state. If it does, then the system wiring is borked and is ignoring the pressuretrol.

    I will try disconnecting one terminal.

    Does it matter which terminal goes where?
  • KC_Jones
    KC_Jones Member Posts: 5,737
    kevinjames79 said:

    ethicalpaul said:

    Can you send a photo of the front of it?

    You can help rule out the incorrect wiring by disconnecting one terminal in the pressure troll to see if your boiler will still fire in that state. If it does, then the system wiring is borked and is ignoring the pressuretrol.

    I will try disconnecting one terminal.

    Does it matter which terminal goes where?
    No, it's a simple switch so it shouldn't matter which wire goes on which terminal.
    2014 Weil Mclain EG-40
    EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
    Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 5,701
    No, the pressuretrol is just a switch so it doesn't matter which wire is on which terminal, if that's what you're asking.
    NJ Steam Homeowner. See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
  • kevinjames79
    kevinjames79 Member Posts: 76
    KC_Jones said:

    kevinjames79 said:

    ethicalpaul said:

    Can you send a photo of the front of it?

    You can help rule out the incorrect wiring by disconnecting one terminal in the pressure troll to see if your boiler will still fire in that state. If it does, then the system wiring is borked and is ignoring the pressuretrol.

    I will try disconnecting one terminal.

    Does it matter which terminal goes where?
    No, it's a simple switch so it shouldn't matter which wire goes on which terminal.
    Other than disconnecting the terminal, is there any other way to test the pressuretrol?
  • ImYoungxD
    ImYoungxD Member Posts: 130
    Take it off, clean the nut, put your mouth on it and blow. If you hear a tick on and off, it's working.
    Make sure the differential is 1 and 1.5 on the dial.
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 5,701
    edited January 2019
    kevinjames79 said:



    Other than disconnecting the terminal, is there any other way to test the pressuretrol?

    Disconnecting the terminal doesn't test the pressuretrol, it is to prove if your boiler isn't listening to the pressuretrol.

    The pressuretrol might still be bad or good if this test fails, but you'll know to stop chasing the pressuretrol as a cause because your other wiring is not good if the boiler keeps running with the pressuretrol disconnected
    NJ Steam Homeowner. See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
  • kevinjames79
    kevinjames79 Member Posts: 76
    I just tried to blow the old pressuretrol and i do not hear anything.

    I will disconnect the new pressuretrol tonight and will try the same test on that one.

    Now.. just for the sake of info.... if i do need new pressuretrol, which one do you guys recommend?
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 5,701
    I'm really curious now...how hard did you blow and what is the setting of the device currently?
    NJ Steam Homeowner. See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
  • kevinjames79
    kevinjames79 Member Posts: 76
    I did blow really hard. The cutoff differential was set at 1. The new device is also set at 1 differential.
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 5,701
    That’s good. And the cut in setting on the front is all the way down?
    NJ Steam Homeowner. See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    edited January 2019
    @kevinjames79 when you changed these Pressuretrols, did you also take the pigtail (looped pipe that the Pressuretrol is mounted on) off and clean it out. It sounds like it is clogged to me and no Pressuretrol will work if that's the case. It could be clogged past the Tee that your gauge is attached to.
    adasilva
  • kevinjames79
    kevinjames79 Member Posts: 76
    > @Fred said:
    > @kevinjames79 when you changed these Pressuretrols, did you also take the pigtail (looped pipe that the Pressuretrol is mounted on) off and clean it out. It sounds like it is clogged to me and no Pressuretrol will work if that's the case. It could be clogged past the Tee that your gauge is attached to.

    Fred... It was clear as of 3 days ago when i changed it.

    I am going to check again any way. But worst case scenario.. should i get new pressuretrol if nothing works out?

    If yes, then which one?
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    @kevinjames79 , it is not likely that two Pressuretrols have failed. Double check that the wires are connected at both ends and that the wire isn't broken.
    The one you want is a PA404A 1033
    Before you order a new one, take the cover off and make sure that when you set the Cut-In to .5PSI that you did not turn it too much and the spring linkage behind the Cut-In did not drop off of the end of the screw. If it did, re attach the linkage.

    Those Pressuretrols almost all need to be re-calibrated right out of the box. They are typically off by 2 or more PSI.
    Here is the procedure to recalibrate:
    Inside the Pressuretrol, right below the micro switch, there is a pivot arm. At the end of that arm you will see a screw pin that is activated by the diaphragm at the bottom of the Pressuretrol. If you look very carefully at that screw pin, you will see it actually has a tiny (I mean tiny) hex head on it. It takes a .050 hex wrench and you can turn it clockwise (Towards the bottom of the Pressuretrol to decrease the Cut-out pressure or counter clockwise to increase the cut-out pressure (which none of us want to do but who knows, your Pressuretrol may be really screwed up!). Turn the power to the unit off first. You may find the first attempt to turn that screw a little bit stubborn (relatively speaking) because it has some Locktite on it but it does turn. Don't turn too much, a fraction of a turn goes a long way towards getting it adjusted where you want it (maybe 1/32 inch turn to start with). You may need to play with it to get it exactly where you want cut out to be.
    DIY_Guy
  • kevinjames79
    kevinjames79 Member Posts: 76
    > @Fred said:
    > @kevinjames79 , it is not likely that two Pressuretrols have failed. Double check that the wires are connected at both ends and that the wire isn't broken.
    > The one you want is a PA404A 1033
    > Before you order a new one, take the cover off and make sure that when you set the Cut-In to .5PSI that you did not turn it too much and the spring linkage behind the Cut-In did not drop off of the end of the screw. If it did, re attach the linkage.
    >
    > Those Pressuretrols almost all need to be re-calibrated right out of the box. They are typically off by 2 or more PSI.
    > Here is the procedure to recalibrate:
    > Inside the Pressuretrol, right below the micro switch, there is a pivot arm. At the end of that arm you will see a screw pin that is activated by the diaphragm at the bottom of the Pressuretrol. If you look very carefully at that screw pin, you will see it actually has a tiny (I mean tiny) hex head on it. It takes a .050 hex wrench and you can turn it clockwise (Towards the bottom of the Pressuretrol to decrease the Cut-out pressure or counter clockwise to increase the cut-out pressure (which none of us want to do but who knows, your Pressuretrol may be really screwed up!). Turn the power to the unit off first. You may find the first attempt to turn that screw a little bit stubborn (relatively speaking) because it has some Locktite on it but it does turn. Don't turn too much, a fraction of a turn goes a long way towards getting it adjusted where you want it (maybe 1/32 inch turn to start with). You may need to play with it to get it exactly where you want cut out to be.

    Awesome tip. I will try it out. First i need that damn small hex wrench.

    Thanks

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