110k Guys, Rheostat Questions

First off, I'm burning Coal!

Woot!

Now for the hard part

I've set the feed rate to get '1/2 inch' of ash at the end of the grate.

I pulled the burner wire, and set the rheostats both on min. (I had to turn on the delay, that hadn't been set. Now I feel like Spartacus for figuring out how to do that )

I've set the 'off' switch to 7 minutes, and the 'on' switch to ~30 seconds.

Anyone else running that far off the factory specs?

Second (minor) problem is that the high limit aquastat (6006A) isn't responding anywhere near the temp that's reading on the 7224. I have it set for 150f, it's kicking in at 173f, and doesn't shut off until the temp in the boiler is ~100-105f.

Which means as soon as it shuts off, the burner comes back on again.

I think it has something to do with the way Axeman want's the older expansion tanks piped in, because the well that the 6006A sits in takes forever to cool down. I mean like 3 minutes after the boiler temp reads 100f on the gauge, the high limit finally turns off.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Your well is airbound. Get a bucket and release our relief valve into the bucket. Be careful you may get some steam, you will get a lot of air. Did you use the right or the left nipple for you high limit and relief? I solved the issue and piped in a hy-vent ( I like the Watts duo-vent). I used the right nipple for supply piping and the left for the high limit and relief. From the tee I used: 3/4x close nipple, 3/4 tee, 3/4x6 nipple, 3/4 90, then the relief valve ( RI code requires boiler relief valves be upright) off the branch of the tee I put a 3/4x6 nipple, 3/4x1/8 coupling, then the hy-vent. Now the triple aquastat and the high limit are within a couple of degrees of eachother. As far as the analog temperature and pressure guage on the boiler, well let's just say that none of them are accurate and most respond very slowly.

Now as far as the timer and rheostat settings, can't help you there. I'm still trying to get mine right.
I'm running 90 seconds on 15 minutes off, stoker on half and fan about 1/4. My feed screw is in 12 1/2.

plumber wrote:Your well is airbound. Get a bucket and release our relief valve into the bucket. Be careful you may get some steam, you will get a lot of air. Did you use the right or the left nipple for you high limit and relief? I solved the issue and piped in a hy-vent ( I like the Watts duo-vent). I used the right nipple for supply piping and the left for the high limit and relief. From the tee I used: 3/4x close nipple, 3/4 tee, 3/4x6 nipple, 3/4 90, then the relief valve ( RI code requires boiler relief valves be upright) off the branch of the tee I put a 3/4x6 nipple, 3/4x1/8 coupling, then the hy-vent. Now the triple aquastat and the high limit are within a couple of degrees of eachother. As far as the analog temperature and pressure guage on the boiler, well let's just say that none of them are accurate and most respond very slowly.

Now as far as the timer and rheostat settings, can't help you there. I'm still trying to get mine right.
I'm running 90 seconds on 15 minutes off, stoker on half and fan about 1/4. My feed screw is in 12 1/2.

Sweet, I'll give that a try.

I'm using the left nipple for the 6006A. That was the recommendation from Axeman for a standard ex tank, because of the dip tube in the right hand side.

I'm coming right off the nipple to a reducer, a 3/4 bushing, then a Tee and the 6006A sits on that. I have a 3/4 inch 90 up to the relief valve.

Well, it wasn't air bound (that I could tell). The water came right out.

Like this:


Air will get trapped there, if you put the tube in a bucket you'll see the bubbles in the water. The idea is that you need to get rid of the air at a point higher than the well. I had the same problem and the hy-vent cured it.

plumber wrote:Like this:


Air will get trapped there, if you put the tube in a bucket you'll see the bubbles in the water.

Nice work.

plumber wrote:Like this:


Air will get trapped there, if you put the tube in a bucket you'll see the bubbles in the water.

MIne is the same as yours, except I come off that tee the 6006A sits in with a 90, the PR valve sits on top of that, and then the relief comes off the PR valve.

I don't have that other dohickey you have in line there.

That "dohicky" is an automatic air vent that keeps the aquastat probe from getting air bound.

markviii wrote:That "dohicky" is an automatic air vent that keeps the aquastat probe from getting air bound.

Yep, figured that out.

I have an air vent that I was going to use for my system (didn't need it because I used the old ex tank). Do you need a special one, or will any air vent work?

Any hy-vent will work. The ones made by Taco and Watts are decent quality, I like the Watts because of the manual vent feature. By old expansion tank do you mean big water tank, or did you reuse an extrol type? If I remember correctly, didn't you buy a spyrovent? If you used an old big tank and a spyrovent, you will have phantom air problems. You have to use a bladder type expansion tank with any micro-bubble type air separator. I'd recommend at least a #60, I used a #90. There are special piping techniques and fittings to pipe in those big tank type expansion tanks. Buying a bladder type expansion tank is cheaper and easier.

plumber wrote:Any hy-vent will work. The ones made by Taco and Watts are decent quality, I like the Watts because of the manual vent feature. By old expansion tank do you mean big water tank, or did you reuse an extrol type? If I remember correctly, didn't you buy a spyrovent? If you used an old big tank and a spyrovent, you will have phantom air problems. You have to use a bladder type expansion tank with any micro-bubble type air separator. I'd recommend at least a #60, I used a #90. There are special piping techniques and fittings to pipe in those big tank type expansion tanks. Buying a bladder type expansion tank is cheaper and easier.

I reused the old expansion tank. I bought the spryovent, but I don't think that would work in the setup like you have. It's not inline now. The tank was already piped in, I just tied into it from the new boiler.

If you reused the air cushion expansion tank and didn't use the spyrovent you're in better shape. What you see in the photo is a Hy-vent they can be had at any plumbing house or home depot for around $10-$15.

plumber wrote:If you reused the air cushion expansion tank and didn't use the spyrovent you're in better shape. What you see in the photo is a Hy-vent they can be had at any plumbing house or home depot for around $10-$15.

The good news about installing that is I won't have to drain the system (again ). I'll pick one of them up this week, it looks like a cheap way to solve a potential problem.

My temps also vary a good amount. My dump zone control switch is set at 220F and last night I was reading the digital output on the aquastat at 232F and no dump zone kicking in. The analog gage on the from of the boiler was reading 215F. I've purged the air out and get all water. I'm also using the left port for the dump zone control and the right as the water feed mainly so make my system plumbing easier. I looked down both with a flashlight and both ports in the boiler looked the same. I had excellent luck with a spirovent. I have no air in my system and it is operating much quieter that my previous system. On the aquastat I have my high limit at 190F and low limit at 170F and it works pretty well. My wife likes hot showers and I did have to raise the boiler temp to maintain enough hot water supply and have enough to fill the tub for the baby's bath. I was thinking about tying in a hot water holding tank and that would allow me to lower my boiler temps a bit and give me some extra capacity.

jeff216410 wrote: I looked down both with a flashlight and both ports in the boiler looked the same.

The right side is 1/2" deeper(I measured) in the jacket as it is the dip tube. I run my PRV on this side and have the supply pipe from the boiler on the other side with a diaphragm type(Extrol) expansion tank after a taco air scoop with a vent. The l6006a is in a T at the supply as it turns to the expansion tank. I run 9min. off approx. 20 sec on with the feeder rheo. at min. and the fan rheo at approx. half, LL at 130 and HL at 160.