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Help Setting Honeywell Pressuretrol

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cd72
cd72 Member Posts: 9
in Strictly Steam

Home owner looking for help setting my pressure trol.

Recently I discovered my pressuretrol and 3 psi gauge were not working at all. Techs came out and drained water from the loop. I now can read pressure on my 3 PSI gauge, but not sure how to get Pressuretrol working correctly.

I lowered the cut in to what looks like .5. Any lower and the screw comes out. Dial looks like it is set to 1.

The gauge climbs to 3 psi before cutting out and then cuts back in around 1.5.

Any thoughts on why it's not working correctly? And homeowner fix suggestions?

IMG_2085.jpeg IMG_2078.jpeg IMG_2079.jpeg

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 27,188

    They drained the water out of the loop — but did they also make sure the passage into the boiler was clear?

    The pressuretrol may be out of calibration — they often are. Somewhere around here there is a thread on how to calibrate them…

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • cd72
    cd72 Member Posts: 9

    Great question - not sure if they checked the passage into the boiler. I'll follow up with them. And thanks for info on calibrating pressuretrol. I'll see if I can find that thread.

  • 109A_5
    109A_5 Member Posts: 3,836

    Since the 0-3 PSI gauge is connected directly under the pressuretrol and it appears to work correctly I'd say the pressuretrol has issues. With it removed from the pipe, is the orifice that leads to the diaphragm area blocked ?

    I'd also safely disconnect one of the wires from the pressuretrol's switch to verify the circuit actually works as expected.

    National - U.S. Gas Boiler 45+ Years Old
    Steam 300 SQ. FT. - EDR 347
    One Pipe System
    cd72Robert_H
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 20,044

    pressure controls are not that accurate. You have the diff set to 1 which is as low as it can go

    cd72
  • geemalar
    geemalar Member Posts: 87

    Surprising how inaccurate these pressuretrols are. I had one that was sticking intermittently. I replaced it with a brand new one that appeared to be accurate when I installed it. Cut out at about 1.7 psi, cut in at around .7. Seemed to be functioning as intended.

    About 2 weeks later, I'm watching my 0-5 psi gauge get up to 2.5 psi before cutout. Removed the new Ptrol, checked the inlet port wasn't clogged (it looked clean), rechecked the pigtail again, it was clear………..appears everyones comments on how inaccurate they are………are to be believed.

    Adding in that my 0-5 psi gauge appears to be accurate (I tested it with a low pressure pump/gauge).

  • patrykrebisz
    patrykrebisz Member Posts: 106

    Here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzPnB29HnJ4

    »»» See my steam heat YouTube videos:
    https://www.youtube.com/@HeatingBlog

  • dabrakeman
    dabrakeman Member Posts: 979

    Well, I would try the screw first rather than the screwdriver… Some people have trouble breaking the locktite on it loose but it should turn. Turn it in very small increments and test cut-in and cutout. IF you think of it as a clock turn the screw in about 5 minute increments and retest. IF you go too far the boiler may cutout OK but not cut back in.

    From @Fred many years ago:

    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.

    BobC

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