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Raypak floor heat boiler

J

Jimmy Buffett

Active member
I can't get my boiler to fire and its supposed to go down to 21 tonight. I read on here somewhere that it won't fire if The circulating pump is nt running and it's not. I have no idea why though. Any suggestions?
Thanks
 
No the boiler does not click. I really do not know how to check that thermostat or where it is located. The only stat I see is the return temp stat and it is very low since its not running. I'm not nearly as worried about my floors as my troughs! Hopefully the weep gets the job done tonight.
 
Once I had the Honeywell ignition module go bad. I swapped the same part from my Raypak hot water boiler and was able to keep the floor heat running. I lost hot water......but the floors didn't freeze. Also, sometimes it goes into a lockout mode. Remove all power for several minutes to reset the module. Double check your high temperature safeties to make sure they didn't pop. Push in the red button to reset.
 
But if it was a boiler problem wouldn't the circulation pump be running? Doesn't it have to work before the boiler will fire? I have never had to touch this thing before so I know nothing!
 
More than likely there's a flow switch to prevent the boiler from firing if there's no water flow. You'll need to figure out why the pump isn't running first. See if the pump motor is warm - it could have debris caught in it.
 
Jimmy Buffett said:
I can't get my boiler to fire and its supposed to go down to 21 tonight. I read on here somewhere that it won't fire if The circulating pump is nt running and it's not. I have no idea why though. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Jimmy,

My guess is that you got the Raypak System from Huron Valley Sales. If it is like mine it came with a Woods coupler between the motor of the pump & the volute of the pump. Check that ... it is easy to align properly & change ... local bearing supply houses tend to have those in stock. We always keep a spare on hand of those. Let us know what it turns out to be.

mike
 
Check the low water sensor. It should be right next to the feed and return on the opposite side of the flow switch. If it goes bad the pump will not turn on. Also check the 24 volt transformer. If it is bad you will not get the 24 volts needed to run the low water cutoff and circulating system. Just had this happen to my raypack floor heat. No power to the pump.
 
Trouble shooting should always begin with checking all connections. We have found ourselves over diagnosing problems only to find a loose connection. Our boiler had your symtoms exactly and found loose connection at module.

Ted
 
I left here yesterday after trying everything I could think of to try. I spent a very fitful night but when I got to the wash this morning it was running. I have no idea why but am very grateful for it. This is going to make it harder to troubleshoot but I'd sure rather have that problem than no heat!
 
I've had to clean out the pilot several times.
Also replaced the what I think was the the starter too.
Now every month of the year that I don't use the underground heat I turn it on 1-2 times per month for 5 minutes to make sure the pilot doesn't get crap in it.
 
Do you have an outdoor temp sensor on it?
It may not have been cold enough outside, when you were there, to let it come on.

david
 
Jimmy Buffett said:
No the boiler does not click. I really do not know how to check that thermostat or where it is located. The only stat I see is the return temp stat and it is very low since its not running.
Click to expand...

The return temp stat shouldn't have anything to do with the circulator pump. It's job is to cycle the boiler on/off based on the return temperature you have it set at. You should have another t-stat that either monitors slab temp or outside air temp. You need to locate the t-stat that starts the zone pump and start by checking it first.

To check a t-stat, it's easy to check with a voltmeter. Set to AC voltage...Check both wires (Individually) on the switch to ground. If both read voltage, either 24v or 120v depending on your system, you'll have current going to your pump relay. If you only show voltage on one side, either the t-stat hasn't reached set point or its not working.

If your getting voltage through your t-stat, you'll need to check voltage at the pump relay if you have one. This is where it gets slightly more complicated. If you don't feel comfortable with checking the relay and power going to your pump motor, time to call in an electrician...
 
The connections seem to be fine but the motor is pretty hot. I'm not sure if that is normal or not. I don't know that I have ever felt it before. Of course I guess it will run constantly (hopefully) until the temp. rises. Thats pretty hard work.
 
Jimmy Buffett said:
The connections seem to be fine but the motor is pretty hot. I'm not sure if that is normal or not. I don't know that I have ever felt it before. Of course I guess it will run constantly (hopefully) until the temp. rises. Thats pretty hard work.
Click to expand...

The electric circulating motor should be very warm to the touch, but not too hot to touch for 20-30 sec at a time. If it is that hot (where you will actually burn yourself touching it), then the problem it something with the pump itself, the power to the pump, or the coupling itself. It could also be the circulator itself is bad. The circulator if I am not mistaken has the output shaft in an oil bath that you can check (dipstick). Little or no oil could be the culprit. Usually when the motor is too "hot" , it is an electrical problem. But it could be the circulator "bogging down" the motor itself because of a bad bearing or coupling.

Try turning off the floor heat all together (just turn off the switch next to the flow switch on the cover on the side of the floor heat boiler). Let the system cool down for say 15 to 30 minutes. Check to see if the electric motor on the circulator cools down also. Once all is cool, turn on the system, flip the switch. If you have the temp on the aqua stat that tells the floor heat to turn on set low enough say -10 to -20 degrees, the floor heat should try to turn on. Listen for the "click" from the low water cutoff. If you hear it, the circulating motor will start to cycle. Then once the flow switch paddle senses water flow, the electric pilot will light and you should hear the boiler light.

If you turn on the floor heat and nothing happens at all, no clicking,no electric motor circulating, then you will never get the flow switch to sense the flow and the boiler will never light.
 
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Jimmy Buffett said:
The connections seem to be fine but the motor is pretty hot. I'm not sure if that is normal or not. I don't know that I have ever felt it before. Of course I guess it will run constantly (hopefully) until the temp. rises. Thats pretty hard work.
Click to expand...

If the system works after letting it cool down, and you notice the motor getting too "hot", you may even have a loose connection that lets the system work only "sometimes". The motor will get hot because of a bad connection. It ends up trying to draw more current than needed because of the bad connection.

All the responses here are leading you down the right path. Just not sure which one will fix the problem without more diagnostics.
 
I just had this same thing happen at one of my washes. What was happening is that the large circulating pump would get hot and it was thermally protected so that it would shut itself off until it cooled down. Then it would restart itself. When this happened the boiler over heat sensor would trip out but it did not automatically reset like the pump motor does. I would have to manually reset the boiler for it to fire up. Check the draw on your pump motor. If it is starting to draw to heavy on the amps it is probably starting to go out. If it is a large Grundfos pump be prepared by getting a new one. They can cost up to $2000 depending on the size of the pump.
 
Old Navy rule of thumb if you don't have instruments handy--motor should run at less than 140 deg F. If you can hand hold your hand on motor without getting burnt---it is less than 140.

Ted
 
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