Water Heaters - Setting water temperature help

Hi,

I want to bring the temperature of my oil water heater but I can't figure out how... I have a weird aquastat (or temperature control) that has both a high and low limit dial each having 2 needles to adjust. Here is a picture of it. Click here (http://www.lavastreammedia.com/photo/aquastat.jpg)
There is an aluminum and brass needle on each dial. This model is a White-Rodgers controller model# 11C30-14. I checked their website but that model number isn't there.

Can anyone help me adjust the heat setting properly? The water is so hot here that I think its just too much (it will burn you) and I could save oil by turning it down.

Thanks

Lucien

I'd set the lower limit to 100 and try to estimate the high limit to 125. 125 is the usual factory setting on new water heaters.

But which needle do I turn to adjust that? The aluminum one or the brass one? Thats whats confusing me, the fact that there is 2 needle per dial.

This is my opinion
The brass arm indicates the temperature setting. It appears the upper limit in the picture is set @ 130+- & the lower limit is at 118+-.
The aluminum one is a factory stop to keep it from being set higher than recommended.

I'm assuming that this is NOT a stand-alone water heater but a boiler that also heats your house and it has a "tankless coil" to provide domestic hot water, right?

If so, then rather than changing the aquastat settings you should change the setting on the tempering valve (mixing valve) that should be installed on the outlet of the tankless coil.

It is possible that you do not have a tempering valve and if not then you should install one.

Take a few more pictures showing the entire set up.

Hi, and welcome to DIY

Well, first off from reading your original post you have a oil fired hot water tank, and is not connected to you boiler, correct?

Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the control pictured and as you did I also looked for it on White Rogers web site to no avail.
I would look for a different number maybe on or inside the control cover.
I looked over the picture of the control as closely as possible and I think I would agree with gejandsons. It looks to me that you would not touch the silver colored pointers as they look like some kind of high limits. Only adjust the brass pointers.
It is possible the control is not working properly and need replacement, especially if this is a problem just started happening and was fine before.
One other thing to check would be if there is a mixing/tempering valve. If there is then you would want to adjust the temp there or repair that valve.
To tell if you have one of those valves, look for a valve that has hot and cold water going into it with a third (mixed/tempered) line coming out to feed the house.

Hope this helps. Let me know, Mark

It would sure help to see the rest of the control and the "heater" it is connected to.

I can not under any circumstance envision this control on a stand alone water heater.

Hi, and welcome to DIY

Well, first off from reading your original post you have a oil fired hot water tank, and is not connected to you boiler, correct?

Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the control pictured and as you did I also looked for it on White Rogers web site to no avail.
I would look for a different number maybe on or inside the control cover.
I looked over the picture of the control as closely as possible and I think I would agree with gejandsons. It looks to me that you would not touch the silver colored pointers as they look like some kind of high limits. Only adjust the brass pointers.
It is possible the control is not working properly and need replacement, especially if this is a problem just started happening and was fine before.
One other thing to check would be if there is a mixing/tempering valve. If there is then you would want to adjust the temp there or repair that valve.
To tell if you have one of those valves, look for a valve that has hot and cold water going into it with a third (mixed/tempered) line coming out to feed the house.

Hope this helps. Let me know, Mark


Thanks guys.

plumbingods, thats right I do have an oil fired hot water tank which isn`t connected to a boiler.

I moved the brass needle on the low limit 10 degrees cooler so i'll soon see how that turned out.

The tank has always been this hot so i dont think there is a problem with the control. This is a new house so i`ve never seen any different.

I don`t have a mixing/tempering valve so the control is the only way to adjust the temp. The model is 11c30-14 for sure, its printed inside the cover. Maybe their website isn`t up to date.

Thanks

Good morning :gmorning:

I would recommend installing a mixing valve for safety, and constant water temp. at all faucets, and you can gain hot water quantity.
Check out this post for a little more info

http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=344354

That is a highly unusual control for a stand-alone water heater; it is a type usually used on heating boilers that have an internal coil for domestic hot water.

That control has two independent switches, the high limit and the lo limit. Normally (with a boiler) the high limit is used to shut off the burner at the higher setting and start the burner when the temperature inside the boiler drops to the lower setting. The lo limit is used to prevent the circulator from running until the boiler temperature is above the lower temperature setting.

Since I cannot see how it is wired (the connections are behind the paper flaps) and I can't see the rest of the installation I have no idea of just what you have. I doubt that lowering the low limit setting is going to have the desired effect.