You’re a lifesaver! (Literally) I inherited a 60-year-old Bryant with my home when my dad passed. He taught me a lot, but he’s not here to advise me anymore. I stumbled across your channel and you’re now my “furnace dad”. TY for your posts, you saved my sanity and, more importantly, my wallet!!
Thanks for making this video. I did not know what this was even called before. My furnace is from 1963, and still goes strong, with good maintenance of course. I do not have any problems with this part, I just wanted to know more about it. Cheers!
Yes. If yours is a Honeywell and has wrinkle finish on the cover, they were supposed to trip at 90 sec. They stopped making them about 1960. Still some of them running out there.
I am uploading a short one on oil stack switches. Gas burner wiring is a little different. The oil burner is a separate assembly and can be wired as a complete component. Gas burners are part of a complete furnace assembly and separating the burner is not really probable. Grayfurnaceman
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! I HAD BLOWN DOWN THE ELEMENT DID'NT COME ON AFTER I HAD HIT THE RED BUTTON.TRIED IT THREE TIMES,FOUND YOUR VIDEO,THE EXPANSION PIECE WAS STUCK IN POSITION SO I PULLED AND PUSHED IT AND HIT RED BUTTOM BOOM FIRED UP. THANKS AGAIN
Thanks for the great video.... i have the old stack switch and it started cutting off after about 2 minute of burn. I will pull it out an clean it and see how it goes.
Thanks! Just saved me from calling furnace tech. My stack relay always needs to be put back in sync. Wonder why. Not excessive soot. it started happening literally when the guy installed a brand new stack switch.
I have a friend whose Bruner goes out and has to be reset but this is an intermittent condition it can be ok for several cycles and trip. why would it be? I don't know if she has a stack sensor of a cad cell relay.
hi GFM, boiler comes on, after about 30-40 seconds it shuts off, once the step lever returns to cold position it tries again and boiler runs normally. this short cycling happens about 50% of the time, otherwise boiler runs normally. sometimes the short cycling happens a few times within a minute ( on/off cycle a few times). cleaned the sensor and put back in step like you said, but it still short cycles, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
I working on a 1959 Carrier Weathermaker furnace with a stack control as well as a fan control center. I know that the stack control operates separately from the fan control and at one time this unit had a outside compressor for AC which explains the fan center. It also had two limits not including the stack. I could not locate one of the old limits but it still has a fan and limit control and the stack . I installed a White Rodgers thermostat because the old one had been removed and a section was lost.I am not sure how that happened but anyway, I am not sure where to place the low voltage wiring on the thermostat. I need to use the red and green on the fan control which sends power to the thermostat and if the stack has its own transformer wouldn't that cause a possible short in the Thermostat? I had made a detailed diagram of how this nightmare was wired before I touch it, but someone took it and now I am trying to take it one part at a time. If you have any type of diagram or manual I would be very grateful!!!! Paul Cauthen
Paul Cauthen Probably the easiest way is to use an isolation relay. If you connect the 24 volt from the fan center, it will destroy the stack switch. This video may help. ruclips.net/video/f0v3FeDZBeY/видео.html Hope this helps. GFM
You can install a cad cell relay and cad cell, but there is quite a lot of rewiring. Also, you will have to fabricate a mount for the cad cell pointing toward the flame. You need to consider if it is worth the trouble, as any burner that has a stack switch is much lower efficiency than modern burners. GFM
No, the control will only safety out if it does not heat the element within the prescribed time. The unit will not allow the burner to start until a cool down of the element has occurred. GFM
The stack switch is obsolete, although they are are still available. That said, if you have one, it means you have a very old burner, and I would not recommend retrofit to a cad cell. Instead at the least, I would replace the burner with a retention head burner or better yet, replace the entire furnace. GFM
First, how it works. When the burner fires up, the hot gasses will be sensed in the vent piping. That heat allows the burner to keep operating. Nuisance tripping can be from the element not sensing the heat(pull out the assembly and clean). It could be from the burner not firing up (Plugged nozzle, bad transformer ,intermittent los of oil supply). There are more possibilities. GFM
The 2 types are stack and cad cell relay. The furnace would have to be 40 years old to use a stack switch. Intermittent trips could be dirty cad cell. Stack switch could be clogged with soot. GFM
Ok thanks .i tried diferent wiring but cant figure it out yet .i work with gas furnaces at work but i bought a house with oil and look like a whole diferent story .
You’re a lifesaver! (Literally) I inherited a 60-year-old Bryant with my home when my dad passed. He taught me a lot, but he’s not here to advise me anymore. I stumbled across your channel and you’re now my “furnace dad”. TY for your posts, you saved my sanity and, more importantly, my wallet!!
I would be proud to be your "furnace dad".
GFM
Thank you. Concise, pertinent, well explained information without superfluous junk. Perfect.
Thanks for making this video. I did not know what this was even called before. My furnace is from 1963, and still goes strong, with good maintenance of course. I do not have any problems with this part, I just wanted to know more about it. Cheers!
I have seen these controls installed in the 1940s and still operational in the 1980s.
GFM
Glad it helped. Good to hear that I am doing something useful
Grayfurnaceman
Yes. If yours is a Honeywell and has wrinkle finish on the cover, they were supposed to trip at 90 sec. They stopped making them about 1960. Still some of them running out there.
I am uploading a short one on oil stack switches. Gas burner wiring is a little different. The oil burner is a separate assembly and can be wired as a complete component. Gas burners are part of a complete furnace assembly and separating the burner is not really probable.
Grayfurnaceman
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! I HAD BLOWN DOWN THE ELEMENT DID'NT COME ON AFTER I HAD HIT THE RED BUTTON.TRIED IT THREE TIMES,FOUND YOUR VIDEO,THE EXPANSION PIECE WAS STUCK IN POSITION SO I PULLED AND PUSHED IT AND HIT RED BUTTOM BOOM FIRED UP. THANKS AGAIN
Thanks for the great video.... i have the old stack switch and it started cutting off after about 2 minute of burn. I will pull it out an clean it and see how it goes.
cleaning all the soot out...and all is well...nice n toasty... thanks for this video
Great vid ,,Is there a up to date replacement for this ?
Thanks! Just saved me from calling furnace tech. My stack relay always needs to be put back in sync. Wonder why. Not excessive soot. it started happening literally when the guy installed a brand new stack switch.
I have a friend whose Bruner goes out and has to be reset but this is an intermittent condition it can be ok for several cycles and trip. why would it be? I don't know if she has a stack sensor of a cad cell relay.
hi GFM, boiler comes on, after about 30-40 seconds it shuts off, once the step lever returns to cold position it tries again and boiler runs normally. this short cycling happens about 50% of the time, otherwise boiler runs normally. sometimes the short cycling happens a few times within a minute ( on/off cycle a few times). cleaned the sensor and put back in step like you said, but it still short cycles, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
You might check stack temp. Should be 500F +. Too small nozzle could be it. Or just a bad stack switch.
GFM
I working on a 1959 Carrier Weathermaker furnace with a stack control as well as a fan control center. I know that the stack control operates separately from the fan control and at one time this unit had a outside compressor for AC which explains the fan center. It also had two limits not including the stack. I could not locate one of the old limits but it still has a fan and limit control and the stack . I installed a White Rodgers thermostat because the old one had been removed and a section was lost.I am not sure how that happened but anyway, I am not sure where to place the low voltage wiring on the thermostat. I need to use the red and green on the fan control which sends power to the thermostat and if the stack has its own transformer wouldn't that cause a possible short in the Thermostat? I had made a detailed diagram of how this nightmare was wired before I touch it, but someone took it and now I am trying to take it one part at a time. If you have any type of diagram or manual I would be very grateful!!!!
Paul Cauthen
Paul Cauthen Probably the easiest way is to use an isolation relay. If you connect the 24 volt from the fan center, it will destroy the stack switch. This video may help. ruclips.net/video/f0v3FeDZBeY/видео.html Hope this helps.
GFM
can you do a video on oil&gas burner wiring
to get it "back in step", is it pull, push or both, thanks!
Generally, push but if that does not work, push and pull until it does.
GFM
I Was wondering I press the reset switch and dont come on and reset again and still wont turn on you think it might be the aquastat ?
The stack switch is still available.
The switch could be out of step. At about the 4 minute mark, I explain placing the switch back in step.
GFM
Can I replace the stack switch with something more recent with a cad cell relay ? Thanks.
You can install a cad cell relay and cad cell, but there is quite a lot of rewiring. Also, you will have to fabricate a mount for the cad cell pointing toward the flame. You need to consider if it is worth the trouble, as any burner that has a stack switch is much lower efficiency than modern burners.
GFM
@@grayfurnaceman so the best option is to change the burner completely ??
or to keep it like that. Thanks.
@@genevieverivard6378 Yes, a flame retention burner will save a minimum of 20% in fuel usage.
GFM
Would the button pop if you tried to start the burner hot?
No, the control will only safety out if it does not heat the element within the prescribed time. The unit will not allow the burner to start until a cool down of the element has occurred.
GFM
@@grayfurnaceman Safety out means the button popping out?
Yes
GFM
So does the cad cell relay obsolete this? Meaning, can you remove this, and rely upon the cad cell relay to do the same thing?
The stack switch is obsolete, although they are are still available. That said, if you have one, it means you have a very old burner, and I would not recommend retrofit to a cad cell. Instead at the least, I would replace the burner with a retention head burner or better yet, replace the entire furnace.
GFM
@@grayfurnaceman The burner is a modern Beckett AFG. I just think that no one removed the old junk when they did the upgrade.
Sometimes they leave the stack switch in and use it as a junction box.
GFM
What would cause the safety to periodically pop out?
First, how it works. When the burner fires up, the hot gasses will be sensed in the vent piping. That heat allows the burner to keep operating. Nuisance tripping can be from the element not sensing the heat(pull out the assembly and clean). It could be from the burner not firing up (Plugged nozzle, bad transformer ,intermittent los of oil supply). There are more possibilities.
GFM
Do I need to replace with the same model our are they pretty much interchangeable? Mine is a Honeywell RA 816A
+Wil Morris My thought is they will all work.
GFM
Are there different types of stack switch.
The 2 types are stack and cad cell relay. The furnace would have to be 40 years old to use a stack switch. Intermittent trips could be dirty cad cell. Stack switch could be clogged with soot.
GFM
i installed a new one last year on my old oil furnace and it went bad already. is that normal it was working until i cleaned my entire furnace .
It is probably out of step. The video shows how to get it back in step.
GFM
i replaced mine but now the burner is always on ,what is the problem???
+Hector rodriguez You have almost certainly wired it incorrectly.
GFM
Ok thanks .i tried diferent wiring but cant figure it out yet .i work with gas furnaces at work but i bought a house with oil and look like a whole diferent story .
the spring clip at the end of the probe is snapped on mine. Are there replacement clips or do I have to replace the whole switch?
+Wil Morris I'm tallking about the bi-metal element. It is broken at the set screw. Is it replaceable? It looks pretty simple to replace.
+Wil Morris You can try a local supplier. They used to be commonly available, but I have no idea if they are still available.
GFM
+grayfurnaceman ok will do thanks
oil & gas furnance i meant