hot water heating problems

13 years ago

Unfortunately we still need heat this time of year in Saint Paul, and my system is having problems. ItÃ¯Â¿Â½s a hot water systemÃ¯Â¿Â½zoned with a pump for each level. Sometimes, the main floor is cold and not getting hot water when the thermostat calls for it. When I checked it, the furnace was not fired up. However, when I turned up the thermostat on the lower level, the furnace immediately fired-up, and the main floor radiators heated up as well.

I should say also that the pump on the top floor did fail this yearÃ¯Â¿Â½it was working intermittently and was replaced. Perhaps this main floor pump is failing too---it is not working well enough for the furnace to fire up.

Should i replace the pump, or is it something else?

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Comments (9)

baymee
13 years ago
You need to check the pressure of your boiler; it should be around 13#. Also, do you have an auto-fill system to keep the boiler full of water? You could have air in your lines. Your description of the problem is confusing.
elvis_presley
Original Author
13 years ago
Pressure in the boiler is fine. don't have auto-fill, but I make sure it is correct.
Sorry if the description is confusing. Basically, if the main floor calls for heat, the pump runs but boiler does not fire up. If another floor calls for heat as well, the boiler does fire, and the main floor gets hot water as well.
Ben
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baymee
13 years ago
It sounds like you have individual relays for each circulator. Possibly Honeywell 845A. Each floor probably has its own relay. I would check that suspect relay first. The thermostat sends a signal to turn on the circulator OR start the burner, depending upon the boiler's temperature.

If you remove the wires from T and T, which are 24Volt, and jump them, the burner should start up. If not, I suspect the relay.

You should have an electrician check this out. Your relay uses both 120V and 24V.

Here is a link to Honeywell's site for the 845A

http://customer.honeywell.com/techlit/pdf/95-0000s/95-6127.pdf
elvis_presley
Original Author
13 years ago
You got it right. I recently narrowed it down to that relay. mine is very similar to the one you guessed--Honeywell 832A
You are saying jump the terminals, not the disconnected wires, right? I jumped the terminals (without removing the terminals, and it did not fire up the burner. I will try to remove the wires and jump the terminals when i get back home.
I am sure I could replace the relay myself. I don't know if i can fix the relay though. Any guesses as to which part of the relay failed?
Money is very tight right now so I am trying to get this problem solved as cheaply as possible.
Thanks so much for your help.
baymee
13 years ago
I can't say what happened to the relay, but if you can start the burner and circulator by applying voltage at the proper places, you have confirmed that the contactors are not working or the 24V section has failed.

The reason I mentioned about disconnecting the thermostat wires at T and T is because if you jump them with the wires in place, you can fry the heat anticipator in the old T87F tstats.

Don't want to add that to the budget woes.
elvis_presley
Original Author
13 years ago
i messed up. was trying to test the transformer on one of the relays and zapped something. now the boiler won't ignite when any of the zones call for heat (but the pups will turn on. Any guesses as to what i just broke?
baymee
13 years ago
Have an electrician turn off all power to your oil burner system. Then have him remove the wires from ZC and ZR of your aquastat. That will eliminate all the heating zones, but should still leave you with a boiler that can produce domestic hot water. If the boiler doesn't turn on to maintain the low limit setting, which is usually 160, with the heating zones removed, then you fried the aquastat.
elvis_presley
Original Author
13 years ago
So far I have replaced the relay for that zone, and the "fan control unit" Now i will try to replace the ignition module. I have to find a sub for that part Any help or advice would be appreciated. here are photos of my boiler:

http://s1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd509/Elvis_Presley1/
baymee
13 years ago
I can only help with the circulator or aquastat issue. My experience is all with oil....no gas.

hot water heating problems

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hot water heating problems

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