Hello all,

I have an older boiler and both downstairs and upstairs thermostats are
set to 60. However, the thermostat reads just a tick under 80. The
pipes/radiators feel very warm. Is there anything I can do to correct
this, short of turning off the boiler? I would like to get this
working properly myself, but do I need to call a professional?

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I have an older boiler and both downstairs and upstairs thermostats are
set to 60. However, the thermostat reads just a tick under 80. The
pipes/radiators feel very warm. Is there anything I can do to correct
this, short of turning off the boiler? I would like to get this
working properly myself, but do I need to call a professional?

Could be a few things. Thermostat, stuck relay, stuck contacts.

You can eliminate the thermostats by simply disconnecting them. Just remove
one wire. The thermostat operates a relay that pulls in the 120 volts to
get the heater running. If the contacts stick, that will do it also. I'd
want to be assured they are working properly if you do release them from
sticking. You don't want to leave the house for the day and have it stick
again. Sometimes you need a pro.

Beyond the electrical possibilities that Ed described, it could be plumbing.
If you have a coil in the boiler for hot water, and two circulator pumps for
the heat zones, you'll also have flow check valves which can leak hot water
through the line. You may have zone valves in the system, which can stick in
the open position and cause hot water to leak through


wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I have an older boiler and both downstairs and upstairs thermostats are
set to 60. However, the thermostat reads just a tick under 80. The
pipes/radiators feel very warm. Is there anything I can do to correct
this, short of turning off the boiler? I would like to get this
working properly myself, but do I need to call a professional?

"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
Beyond the electrical possibilities that Ed described, it could be
plumbing. If you have a coil in the boiler for hot water, and two
circulator pumps for the heat zones, you'll also have flow check valves
which can leak hot water through the line. You may have zone valves in the
system, which can stick in the open position and cause hot water to leak
through

Since the furnace won't fire unless something is calling for heat/hot water
you can probably rule out the zone valve or check valves, correct? Could be
thermostat or the controlller on the furnace maybe....? Do you have a
presuure gauge and is it showing a higher pressure then normal? Anything
leaking from expansion tank(s) or relief valve(s)?




wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I have an older boiler and both downstairs and upstairs thermostats are
set to 60. However, the thermostat reads just a tick under 80. The
pipes/radiators feel very warm. Is there anything I can do to correct
this, short of turning off the boiler? I would like to get this
working properly myself, but do I need to call a professional?

If the "boiler" has a domestic coil for hot water, it will maintain tank
temperature via an aquastat in the water jacket


"jackson" wrote in message
. ..

"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
Beyond the electrical possibilities that Ed described, it could be
plumbing. If you have a coil in the boiler for hot water, and two
circulator pumps for the heat zones, you'll also have flow check valves
which can leak hot water through the line. You may have zone valves in
the system, which can stick in the open position and cause hot water to
leak through

Since the furnace won't fire unless something is calling for heat/hot
water you can probably rule out the zone valve or check valves, correct?
Could be thermostat or the controlller on the furnace maybe....? Do you
have a presuure gauge and is it showing a higher pressure then normal?
Anything leaking from expansion tank(s) or relief valve(s)?




wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I have an older boiler and both downstairs and upstairs thermostats are
set to 60. However, the thermostat reads just a tick under 80. The
pipes/radiators feel very warm. Is there anything I can do to correct
this, short of turning off the boiler? I would like to get this
working properly myself, but do I need to call a professional?

The heat will stop upstairs if I turn the knob at the bottom of the
cast iron radiater towards "CLOSE". However, this seems to stop
heating the entire upstairs. In addition, when I slightly "OPEN" this
knob, the heat seems to get uncontrollably warm again, to approximately
80 degrees.

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I have an older boiler and both downstairs and upstairs thermostats are
set to 60. However, the thermostat reads just a tick under 80. The
pipes/radiators feel very warm. Is there anything I can do to correct
this, short of turning off the boiler? I would like to get this
working properly myself, but do I need to call a professional?

Could be a few things. Thermostat, stuck relay, stuck contacts.

You can eliminate the thermostats by simply disconnecting them. Just remove
one wire. The thermostat operates a relay that pulls in the 120 volts to
get the heater running. If the contacts stick, that will do it also. I'd
want to be assured they are working properly if you do release them from
sticking. You don't want to leave the house for the day and have it stick
again. Sometimes you need a pro.

wrote in message
oups.com...
The heat will stop upstairs if I turn the knob at the bottom of the
cast iron radiater towards "CLOSE". However, this seems to stop
heating the entire upstairs. In addition, when I slightly "OPEN" this
knob, the heat seems to get uncontrollably warm again, to approximately
80 degrees.


OK, you have a water circulation problem.

Possibilities:

The circulator is stuck running. You may have one for each zone, you may
have one for the entire system and zone valves. Could be a stuck zone valve

In the system, there is a valve that is supposed to stop water from
circulating from gravity. It may be defective or not adjusted properly.

If you cannot easily find and correct these things, call a plumber. Just the
loss in fuel since you posed the original question is probably enough to
cover the cost of a pro making a service call and fixing it right.