| Ahhh Haa!
I went back to study the boiler after reading a bunch of Dan Holoran's book, The Lost Art of Steam Heating. Found a huge installation error that may be the primary problem. There are low-water cutoffs installed on both sides of the boiler - the level on the left is 1-1/2" above the bottom of the glass gauge (too high) and the level on the right hand one is actually HIGHER than the mid-point, "normal" level of the glass gauge. So as soon as the water line drops after the burners turn on, the low-water cutoff shuts the boiler down.
The boiler actually fired and shutdown 40 times in an hour to get the temp from 61 to 64 upstairs. Well, that's probably why the electronic controls "wore out" or burnt out, too.
The artificial "low water" condition also explains why the boiler flooded all the radiators when they left the automatic water feeder on (and left for the evening). We had geysers from the steam vents on every radiator in the basement. What a mess!
Any comments? Suggestions? |