WL110 Not Keeping up

 
a1harnish
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Post by a1harnish » Sun. Jan. 05, 2014 11:59 am

I'm installing a Honeywell fth6500wf. If I can't hook it right into the aquastat I have a doorbell transformer which should be 24 vac close to the boiler that will work!


 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Jan. 05, 2014 12:03 pm

a1harnish wrote:The house did stay warm on oil !!! But it was over 3k in oil a year!!!!
The unit did not reach 180 when the house was 60s
How would more baseboard help? By next winter I will have our second floor hot water baseboard installed! We have electric baseboard upstairs now!

I suggested that before I knew that the boiler couldn't hit 180, with that in mind I'd say your boiler doesn't have enough capacity for the job. Adding the second floor will make it struggle even more.

Did you follow the manual instructions for adjusting the fire?

 
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Flyer5
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Post by Flyer5 » Sun. Jan. 05, 2014 12:19 pm

a1harnish wrote:The house did stay warm on oil !!! But it was over 3k in oil a year!!!!
The unit did not reach 180 when the house was 60s
How would more baseboard help? By next winter I will have our second floor hot water baseboard installed! We have electric baseboard upstairs now!
Do you have a full grate of fire when running full out? You should have hot coals about 1/2" from the end. Also what is your overfire pressure and stack pressure?

 
kstills
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Post by kstills » Mon. Jan. 06, 2014 4:10 pm

a1harnish wrote:The house did stay warm on oil !!! But it was over 3k in oil a year!!!!
The unit did not reach 180 when the house was 60s
How would more baseboard help? By next winter I will have our second floor hot water baseboard installed! We have electric baseboard upstairs now!
http://www.argobaseboard.com/products/classic-bas ... -stats.asp

Here's a guide for baseboard, with flow in gpm vs output in BTUH.

Depending on how big the house is, and how much heat loss you have, and how much flow rate you have through the baseboard, and how hot your boiler water is, you may not have enough baseboard installed to disperse all the heat the boiler can put out.

At 4gpm, with 170f water, you'll only be putting in 45500 btuh to the house. If it's as poorly insulated as you say, that may not be enough to keep up with the heat loss (depending on the outside temperature).

 
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Post by jeff216410 » Thu. Jan. 23, 2014 11:35 pm

Would also be helpful to know recovery time. How long does it take to get back up to temp after a zone shuts down. Try upping to LL to 180 and HL to maybe 195 in extreme cold. What is the 3rd number on the aquistat display after the HL and LL (the delta temp that shuts off the circulator?) Are the flames going around the steel plate above the feeder?

 
Z10396
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Post by Z10396 » Wed. Nov. 19, 2014 7:07 am

I am experiencing recovery problems, boiler not keeping up also during this recent cold snap here. The fire looks really good and I just cleaned the boiler a week ago. My aquastat is set at HL190 LL 170 delta of 10, how far up do I dare set it? I have about and inch and a half of ash at the end of the grate. Should I set the aquastat at a higher setting and adjust me feed screw to push more coal? I am heating dhw and will probably shut that off for the time being and use my electric hotwater heater. Any additional thoughts?

 
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Post by plumber » Wed. Nov. 19, 2014 6:52 pm

Z10396 wrote:I am experiencing recovery problems, boiler not keeping up also during this recent cold snap here. The fire looks really good and I just cleaned the boiler a week ago. My aquastat is set at HL190 LL 170 delta of 10, how far up do I dare set it? I have about and inch and a half of ash at the end of the grate. Should I set the aquastat at a higher setting and adjust me feed screw to push more coal? I am heating dhw and will probably shut that off for the time being and use my electric hotwater heater. Any additional thoughts?
Leave your aquastat alone for right now. You have too much ash at the end of the grate, you want about 1/2". Turn in your feed screw to accomplish this, you're not burning enough coal.


 
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Uglysquirrel
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Post by Uglysquirrel » Wed. Nov. 19, 2014 7:27 pm

plumber wrote:
Z10396 wrote:I am experiencing recovery problems, boiler not keeping up also during this recent cold snap here. The fire looks really good and I just cleaned the boiler a week ago. My aquastat is set at HL190 LL 170 delta of 10, how far up do I dare set it? I have about and inch and a half of ash at the end of the grate. Should I set the aquastat at a higher setting and adjust me feed screw to push more coal? I am heating dhw and will probably shut that off for the time being and use my electric hotwater heater. Any additional thoughts?
Leave your aquastat alone for right now. You have too much ash at the end of the grate, you want about 1/2". Turn in your feed screw to accomplish this, you're not burning enough coal.
Just for yucks, about how many pounds should he expect to burn in the heart of the winter ?

 
Z10396
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Post by Z10396 » Wed. Nov. 19, 2014 8:42 pm

plumber wrote:
Z10396 wrote:I am experiencing recovery problems, boiler not keeping up also during this recent cold snap here. The fire looks really good and I just cleaned the boiler a week ago. My aquastat is set at HL190 LL 170 delta of 10, how far up do I dare set it? I have about and inch and a half of ash at the end of the grate. Should I set the aquastat at a higher setting and adjust me feed screw to push more coal? I am heating dhw and will probably shut that off for the time being and use my electric hotwater heater. Any additional thoughts?
Leave your aquastat alone for right now. You have too much ash at the end of the grate, you want about 1/2". Turn in your feed screw to accomplish this, you're not burning enough coal.
Turned two turns in, seems to have made a noticeable difference.

 
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Post by Z10396 » Mon. Feb. 23, 2015 10:35 pm

Boy, this winter in NY has been a cold one. The coldest February since 1951. On -10 degree night like tonight, the WL110 struggles. Thermostat set point is 70 and the house temp is 59. The coal pusher screw adjustment is all the way in. I am contending with a few drafty spots but I am not sure if that is all of my problem. Any advice?

 
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Post by Rob R. » Tue. Feb. 24, 2015 5:06 am

Is the boiler not maintaining temperature?

 
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Post by Z10396 » Tue. Feb. 24, 2015 5:20 am

Rob R. wrote:Is the boiler not maintaining temperature?
It's running non stop not being able to satisfy the zones at 136 degrees. The fire appears to be hot and at full grate.

 
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Post by whistlenut » Tue. Feb. 24, 2015 8:04 am

This season is the 'perfect storm' for ANY heating apparatus. Sustained cold temps, nasty winds.....and it just does not seem to want to give us a break. Whatever type of structure you are attempting to heat is asking for ALL the BTU's you can generate. Smaller reserve boilers have a difficult time keeping up when taxed beyond their ability to satisfy demand. The 110 works just fine most of the time, and only this type of demand is the ultimate test. Remembering the ultimate goal of being warm at an affordable price, we are trying to make the impossible happen. ONLY a few days in each season like this, and when -12 outside and 59 inside..........that is 72 degrees warmer than standing outside 'enjoying' the winter season. Like they say: "GIVE ME MORE", BTU's that is.....
'Like the Little Train That Could', Mother Nature says, not so fast sonny. The ultimate design criteria is to have any heating device function at 100% operation on the WORST, MOST DEMANDING, heating degree days. That is where we are right now.
IMO, call Matt or Dave for proper setup procedures. and don't think you can outsmart Mother Nature.

 
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Post by Pacowy » Tue. Feb. 24, 2015 10:25 am

whistlenut wrote:Whatever type of structure you are attempting to heat is asking for ALL the BTU's you can generate. Smaller reserve boilers have a difficult time keeping up when taxed beyond their ability to satisfy demand.
Well.....my structure is asking for about 60% of the BTU's I can generate to hold the set temp, come back from setbacks, and generate lots of DHW in the face of outside air temps around -15 and (recently) wind chills around -35. As a known proponent of overkill, I like it that way.

Even without the overkill part, the people in this thread with systems that "can't keep up" seem to have in common the characteristic that the boiler water cools down and doesn't recover. That means the radiators are giving off BTU's faster than the boiler can generate them. Old-school specs require that a boiler be sized to carry the load imposed by the radiation to which it is attached (plus DHW, etc.) - NOT any type of estimate of heat loss. Failure to do so invites cool radiators, boiler water and possibly DHW at a time when the need for the system to perform is greatest. I don't have anything against small boilers in the right circumstances, but I would view the problems described as a byproduct of undersizing the boiler relative to the attached load.

Mike

 
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Post by EarthWindandFire » Tue. Feb. 24, 2015 10:55 am

I have to agree with Mike, the capacity of this boiler in both BTU's and water capacity simply isn't enough for the demand. Based on the information posted in this thread, the Leisure Line WL220 would have provided a more comfortable BTU cushion.

The only recourse, without buying another boiler, is to install more reserve water capacity with another tank. Another option might be to tie-in a tankless water heater. The tankless water heater could "pre-heat" the tap water before it enters the boiler. Does anyone agree with this or can offer more information?


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