Total newbie, completely fubar system.

[1kzwoman]

Thank you for helping someone we know needs it.

 

[salecker]

I hope so. Im going to buy alot of wood this year, dry wood and have it ready for the winter, I just need to get thru the next few months on the crap I have.

Hi Cold
You could get some dry chunks to add to your wood to help.See if you have a roof truss manufacturing plant close by.They always have a pile of kiln dried scraps.When i picked up the trusses for our house in Edmonton they had a bin by the road with a sign Free Wood.Keep a wheelbarrow full next to the boiler and toss a bunch of them in with your not so seasoned wood and it should help.For the last few years i always had a barrel of scraps from building our house.If we went to long between loading the boiler,a shovel full and some logs on top of them and it would be gasafing within seconds.
Thomas

 

[ColdInMichigan]

Thank you to everyone who is able to contribute in anyway to helping me with my boiler. My family definately appreciates the warmth!

 

[GENECOP]

Also check out the area for a Pallet Manufacturer....lots of cutoffs for free there...

 

[ColdInMichigan]

There is a pallet recycling plant on the NE side of Grand Rapids right along the expressway. If I can figure out what it is called I can go there.

 

[1kzwoman]

Here y's go

 

[stee6043]

Hey, ColdInMIchigan, I have two thoughts for you this fine day. Post a picture of that Watt's valve you have on your house plumbing to see if anyone on this board knows what it might be. If that is a pressure reducing one way valve you may be in good shape on your house plumbing. It doesn't look like any backflow preventer I've ever seen but that doesn't mean much.

You may also want to post a description of the wiring on that main plug. I'm beginning to wonder if that is 220V we hooked up to the controllers which is why they popped. It seems possible you have two hots (110V each) and a neutral, no ground. It's possible the prior owner was using that relay block to isolate one leg of 110V for the controller and fan.

 

[ColdInMichigan]

Found a place in GR that has cheap pallet scraps. Said the sell them by the "bunk" I guess its a pile like 4X4X3 for $5. Not sure if that's on par with other places yet but I am calling around. Stee and I are still diagnosing the electrical problems with my unit and I have an electrician coming out tonight to tell me why we fried 2 control units this weekend. I do have heat by running my pumps full time and just keeping a fire in the box, it just takes forever to heat up and I have to constantly monitor the water temperature with a temp gun. Better than freezing!

 

[1kzwoman]

Hey guys www.watts.com includes op manual in their product details

 

[ixlr8]

Stee and I are still diagnosing the electrical problems with my unit and I have an electrician coming out tonight to tell me why we fried 2 control units this weekend.

Hey CiM, any success in diagnosing/repairing the electrical problems??

 

[ColdInMichigan]

Yes. The fan runs on 240v and the controler runs on 120v. There was a relay of sorts to down the voltage for the controller to work. So when I removed the relay which I had thought was only there for the fan, I over volted the controller and burned it up. Mystery solved.

 

[huffdawg]

Step down transformer

 

[ixlr8]

Sorry you burned up the controllers, glad to hear you now know why and when you get a working controller hopefully your boiler will work better with less manual intervention.

 

[ColdInMichigan]

I hope so

 

[Clarkbug]

Stee, do you think you can fix your blown controllers?

 

[1kzwoman]

Yes. The fan runs on 240v and the controler runs on 120v. There was a relay of sorts to down the voltage for the controller to work. So when I removed the relay which I had thought was only there for the fan, I over volted the controller and burned it up. Mystery solved.

Ouch! I'm glad it was only controller not house that burned. A lot of people aren't "sparky" by nature. I gladly pay an electrician and a painter. Hope you get things lined out soon

 

[ColdInMichigan]

Would have been the shop that burned if anything, boiler is out there. Yea, hopefully I can get something working. Its kinda in limp mode right now since I cant control it.

 

[stee6043]

Stee, do you think you can fix your blown controllers?

A capacitor replacement worked for me, thankfully. ColdInMi was not so lucky.

 

[ColdInMichigan]

I changed my capacitor too and it turns on but no display. Oh well, live and learn!!

 

[1kzwoman]

Are you up and running?

 

[ColdInMichigan]

Sorta. Its in full manual mode. I have a combination pressure/temperature gauge to monitor everything and the fan is wired full on. Also have the system plumbed thru those stupid barrels (tho I have removed 2 of them) to keep it from overheating. A new controler is in the works as is a complete replumbing job this summer. At least I have heat now although not as good as it would otherwise be.

 

[ColdInMichigan]

Alright! So thanks to generous and totally unexpected donations I will be able to get the controler I need to make my system run properly! Now what I need is an electrician to tell me how to wire it without frying it. I have a 240v fan on the boiler that the 120v ONLY controler has to run. Anyone know how this can be done?

 

[ixlr8]

Is the controller suppose to "control" that fan? Is that the correct fan for your boiler?

 

[ColdInMichigan]

Its whats on it. Looks original. New Horizons website doesnt list a fan for it so im not sure where id get a replacement 120v version.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Here's what the stock fan looks like: