I Regret Guessing the Boiler Flame Sensor was Bad
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
- Our day begins with a seemingly routine call for "No Heat" in a steam boiler. Upon inspection, we discover the spark igniter sparking after the pilot is lit. The logical step is to replace the igniter assembly, but here's where the plot thickens-it doesn't fix the problem. The issue lies deeper, residing within the ignition control board.
Dive into the troubleshooting process as we address the root cause, realizing that the spark issue originates from the ignition control board. Witness the meticulous steps taken to replace the faulty component, allowing the boiler to finally run normally. Gain insights into the importance of thorough diagnostics in identifying and resolving complex HVAC challenges.
But the day's challenges don't conclude there. Join me as we follow up with a gas meter replacement, transitioning from a 275,000 BTU meter to a hefty 1.5 million BTU meter. However, even this significant upgrade fails to rectify the problem. Witness the attempt to wire the new meter with a switching relay, only to face yet another setback-it doesn't work either.
Through this comprehensive narrative, my goal is to provide viewers with a firsthand experience of the unpredictable and multifaceted challenges encountered in the HVAC profession. Whether you're a seasoned professional seeking relatable experiences or an enthusiast eager to understand the intricacies of HVAC troubleshooting, this storytelling promises an engaging and educational journey through the twists and turns of "Steam Boiler No Heat, Ignition Control Board Woes, Gas Meter Upgrades, and Relay Dilemmas."
#hvac #apprentice #boiler
It is great to see you admitted your error by not checking the flame sensor and putting the old one back in and testing. I admire your integrity and your enthusiasm in the work that you do.
Flame sensors rarely go bad. Most of the time, they’re just dirty and can be fixed by a light sanding. Only real time to replace the FS is if theoribe is rusted (happens a lot with Trane OEM sensors on LP), the ceramic is cracked, or the wire is damaged. Did you actually check your inlet and outlet gas pressures at the appliances? There may be a regulator on the inlet line between the meter and the appliances that’s bad or out of adjustment. It may be a high pressure line coming into the building with a regulator to step in down, kind of like what you see with LP.
it feels like every room you work in has a smoke alarm with a dying battery in it
Makes me wonder how many actually have batteries that would alert if there was a fire…..
Switched from oil to a natural gas blower for a 1926 Kewanee 50 HP low pressure steam boiler. 2.5M BTU max but we set at approx. 1.5M. Occasionally, it misfired. We were pulling our hair out trying to figure out the problem. Location is a small town high up on a mountain. Gas company showed up one morning and told us when our boiler fired up, many of the town's pilot lights were going out. They received permission to increase the entire town's gas pressure while they ran a larger line 4 miles up the mountain. A properly sized meter does not guarantee volume is available.
Absolutely. He may also have a high pressure line coming into the building with a regulator to step it down. I’ve seen this a few times where the regulator was bad or out of adjustment. He didn’t appear to have checked his pressures. That would have told him a lot.
Did you check the gas regulator output to each unit? Now that you have more volume coming from the city, you can increase wc inches on the units gas regulators to max allowance.
When I did field service my van looked like that after a week. It would be like that for a month then I straighten the van up. Rinse and repeat. That is how I know a true service person is the state of their van or truck. Keep up the good work. BTW we all make mistakes by jumping to our first thought without doing a check of everything.
check for stable voltage in the thermostat wires to verify the call voltage is just not dropping out due to a bad thermostat or wiring.
Hard to see how you wired the rib relay, But the brown cable you hold looks almost like the 24v coil voltage is wired in series instead of parallel. If thats the case thats the problem, you are dropping the voltage and thats why its acting funky...not working ect.
One more thing to verify is the gas company regulator has enough capacity to supply all of the gas meters on the meter manifold.
The board would probably require at least 1 Mico amp Dc flame rectification signal to keep going but you would feel a lot better seeing 2 plus micro amps to know that you have good flame contact on the rod
Thanks for the video. What is the part number for that flame sensor assembly.
Thank you for watching! the part number is Weil McLain 511-330-273
Great job on organizing the van!
The board sends an ac voltage current into the flame where at that point the current gets rectified to a Dc current and a Dc micro amp signal is read by the board to establish it is a real flame and not just a jumped signal from something else. Don’t want gas flying out if there is not a real flame present to ignite the gas
The gas piping is way to small it appears that that amount of heating, what I could see over your shoulder! 🤠👍
Nice job! What is your opinion on electric anode rods? Thank you. Happy New Year!
I like the music in this, your working but relaxing at the same time yk?
What exactly was the issue at the second call you were trying to overcome?
Your 360 degree condensate looked blocked bud 😊… Nice Knipex Plywrs you got too … they make those silly things called wrenches too…Happy New Year New subscriber get the Benney’s!!
Flame sense is checked with DC micro amps not Dc milivolts
Has this equipment worked before? Whats changed?
Which one? someone just shut off the power to the steam boiler (idk why) at the emergency shut off. the not water boiler worked as well, just seeing the pilot tube on fire rose a red flag and i couldn't walk away and leave it like that
Did you do a exhaust analysis Mikey pipes would
Not dc volts but micro amps when testing up and running all that matters your a hard working tech for 2 yrs in the business doing quite well would hope your boss sees that how could he not
We Dig It!
Van Life! Thanks for the sneak peek! Looking good!
Double check the main gas pipe size and lengths and reference the gas charts
If I understand your eternal properly, it shows millivolts which is wrong for flame senor test. You need to use
Microamps for testing flame current.
Had this problem before we needed to run the drop going into the water heater a pipe size up a 18” before going into gas valve to have enough volume for the ignition process
Check your micro amp signal first before cleaning or replacing
You did a great job. I am 78 still working and still make boo boos🙂
I thought you did that to show us new gas guys what not to too always test before replacing parts 🤣Mikey Pipes says if your not testing your guessing
Can’t wait to find out?
A preference switch
That relay probably would’ve worked if you paralleled the relay coil with the ignition circuit instead of running it in series
If you ain't testing your guessing
u workin 4 mikey putz now
@@JamesBrown-db9pk but he didn't test he assumed
Who’s here Mikey pipes
@Voltrondefenderoftheuniverse nope I am I see you on his and Daniel's video
Its Mikey fucking pipes.
The relay was a good idea though.
use a wrench stud not plyers
It's a wrench... a pliers wrench.. That's what it's made for.
👍👍
I mean multimeter 😂
I must say, I've never seen anyone check the flame signal with the meter set to millivolts instead of DC microamps.
Reading milivolts is more consistent and accurate than mili amps in my experience.
Good point. The ignition control is looking for amps, not volts.
COFFEE
anyone else see that mega roach
Always test suspected failed parts before replacement. otherwise you will just be a parts cannon.
No different then being married. Right when you should be right, you are still wrong
You need more training!
I’m a retired HVAC tech with 25+ years experience. I’ve seen several of his videos and thought the same thing.
👍👍