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Aquastat For Boiler heater.

I have an old oil fired boiler in my basement. It heats the house and it also does hot water. My wife and I decided we wanted electric hot water so I installed it. At the same time I gutted the old boiler and replaced the pump/burner with a Beckett Genisys 7505 pump/burner. It works great for heating the house, but I'm beginning to realize that I need something to control the Circ pump and the burner. Right now its setup where the circ pump runs the whole time theres a call for heat. Also the base boards are getting really hot because theres nothing to turn the burn off when the water gets to a certain temp. I think what I need is an aquastat, but I'm not sure what model. I think what I need is a controller that when there is a call for heat (24v) it turns the burner on. Then when the water gets to a certain temp it turns on the circ pump. Then when the water hits a certain HI/Low temp the burn turns off/on but the circ pump still runs until the call for heat is satisfied.

Comments

  • STEVEusaPA
    STEVEusaPA Member Posts: 6,506
    What happened to the old aquastat?
    If you somehow managed to rig up your burner/boiler without the aquastat as a safety control, you just built a nice bomb in your house, and are risking the health and safety of anyone who enters. Plus you will assume all liability (civil & criminal) in the event of a catastrophe.

    You're doing something very wrong.

    Better get some knowledgeable competent help in there to make sure it's going to operate safely, install a proper aquastat, and to make sure you put the right burner in there, and the draft, smoke & combustion are set up properly.
    steve
    SuperTech
  • HVACNUT
    HVACNUT Member Posts: 5,803
    Maybe YouTube can absorb some of that liability.
    You gutted the boiler?
    The Beckett Genisys is the primary, not the burner. If you replaced the complete burner, and now it's a freight train, you need a competent pro to fix what you did. Like @STEVEusaPA said, you managed to put yourself and anyone in the house in danger. No joke. Turn it off and leave it off.
    Look at the bright side. You still have hot water. Did you ground the water heater? Just asking because, well, you know.
    SuperTech
  • WarrentyExpired
    WarrentyExpired Member Posts: 3
    By gutted I mean I had the firebox opened up and all the gaskets redone and the soot cleaned cleaned out. I have an Axeman Anderson 87PO Boiler. I live only a few minutes from the Axeman Anderson. I took my who pump/burner assembly to them and they sold me a Beckett AFG Burner that has the Beckett Genisys 7505 control box on it. The whole assemble has been working for almost a year.

    The old setup had a Honeywell R8182. I hooked it up just like the guy at Axeman said and it fired right up and worked just fine. That was almost a year ago. Over the last week I've been noticing that the burner isn't shutting off anymore when the water gets up to temp. It just keeps running until the thermostat upstairs gets to the right temp. I went down stairs to check and see what the hi temp was set at. It was set at 185. So my assumption is that the aquastat on the R8182 is now bad. The R8182 controller is really old and covered in dust. They guy at Axeman said I should probably get the R8182 controller replaced with a Hi limit aquastat since I'm no longer using the domestic hot water. That way it doesn't run in the summer trying to keep the water temp up.
  • WarrentyExpired
    WarrentyExpired Member Posts: 3
    HVACNUT said:

    Did you ground the water heater? Just asking because, well, you know.

    Yes I used 4 pieces of twisted 6 gage wire and attatched one end from the hot water brass fitting (I have cpvc from there on) to the copper cold water pipe coming in.

  • HVACNUT
    HVACNUT Member Posts: 5,803
    Apologies.
    The way I read it, it seemed like all the work was very recent.
    Look at the Hydrostat 3250 Plus. It can be set up as a cold start, high limit aquastat.
    As long as there is a call for heat, the circulator will always run. The burner should cycle off and on from the high limit setting and the differential.
    If I remember, the L8182D is a combo triple aquastat and cad cell primary. If yes, I'm curious to know how the L8182D can provide 120v to the burner if the Genisys is the new primary. What's connected to FF on the L8182D?
  • STEVEusaPA
    STEVEusaPA Member Posts: 6,506
    You should get the guy from Axeman Anderson to come over and help.
    Have him bring a full combustion kit, and pump gauges to set the burner properly when you solved your aquastat dilemma.
    steve
    SuperTech
  • SuperTech
    SuperTech Member Posts: 2,137
    Steve is correct. No manufacturer is capable of selling a burner that will work correctly everywhere, even if it is made to match the boiler. Draft and venting vary from house to house and an oil burner needs to be tuned after it is installed. And checking the flame by eyeballing it plays no part in the process.
    I don't like guessing that the equipment is working to the best of its ability, that's why I have the tools to assure safe and reliable operation.
    For aquastats I like the Honeywell L7224U with the outdoor reset module.
  • Jellis
    Jellis Member Posts: 228
    Yes you need an aquastat, and you also need to have an efficiency test done on your system or your wasting money and perhaps causing a dangerous situation.
    Also, as others have said a system running with no aquastat is extremely dangerous.