Ack-o-Matic burners won’t stay lit

[jwcrook19]

So this boiler is so old and the burners are not staying on. Replaced the thermocouple, but no issues with the pilot staying lit, so I think it might be the aquastat. I know this thing is old and efficient, but have a couple questions. The temp on top of the boiler is getting up to 220, is that ok? When I turn up the temp on the aquastat, I have it a little over 200 right now, it fires on the burners, can I turn it up more or should I be hesitant with the temp getting higher?

Would a new aquastat fix any of this? Thank you so much! I love the ack-o-matic community!

 

[Fitter30]

Do you have a volt meter? Boilers normally have two temperature controls one is a operating control the other is a high limit. Limit is set at 200° operating 180° max. Pull front cover and take a pic and boiler and piping. Does the system have a pump? Pump is probably a red B& G motor could be running but not pumping. They have coupling between the motor and pump could be broke.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[John Gayewski]

Aqua stat should be set at 180max. Your boiler should not get up to 200 degrees.

 

[jwcrook19]

Do you have a volt meter? Boilers normally have two temperature controls one is a operating control the other is a high limit. Limit is set at 200° operating 180° max. Pull front cover and take a pic and boiler and piping. Does the system have a pump? Pump is probably a red B& G motor could be running but not pumping. They have coupling between the motor and pump could be broke.

Is this the volt meter that's on top? It seems to be getting up pretty high, around 220 which is why I bumped up the aquastat to around 200, letting the boiler stay on a little longer, but seems like the burners still won't stay on. I haven't cleaned the burners or had the boiler serviced in a long time, but doesn't seem like anyone wants to touch it haha Pump is pretty new, replaced in 2021. Inserted a few more images to help. Thank you!

 

[John Gayewski]

Your gauge is broken. If your boiler had over 30psi or should be spewing from the relief valve. Unless someone put a fifty pound relief valve on it

 

[Fitter30]

Take some pics of the piping and expansion tank.

 

[Fitter30]

Your gauge is broken. If your boiler had over 30psi or should be spewing from the relief valve. Unless someone put a fifty pound relief valve on it

Name tag 100 lbs water never seen a residential boiler rated that high.

 

[John Gayewski]

Name tag 100 lbs water never seen a residential boiler rated that high.

Where do you see the tag on the relief valve?

 

[Fitter30]

Where do you see the tag on the relief valve?

Sorry name tag on boiler

 

[jwcrook19]

Your gauge is broken. If your boiler had over 30psi or should be spewing from the relief valve. Unless someone put a fifty pound relief valve on it

So youre saying that the gauge on the top is likely off and the 30 PSI and temp gauge are likely off? Is this something that can be fixed easily? Sorry for such a late reply, the boiler started working again but has since started doing the same thing, shutting the burners off prematurely since the temp gauge is getting too high.

 

[jwcrook19]

Take some pics of the piping and expansion tank.

Take some pics of the piping and expansion tank.

Here are as many pictures as I could think to take. Do you @Fitter30 and @John Gayewski think I should replace the temp/pressure gauge and that may fix the issue? Looks like a pretty old temp gauge and not sure exactly what to get. Any recs? I posted a couple below from supply house. Then would I need to drain/de-pressurize the system? I released the pressure and it went down to 15 PSI and I drained it into my sump pump just to see if the guage would go down from 30 PSI, which it did. Then I tried draining the expansion tank, but water just kept coming and coming so I assume since I didn't shut off the water anywhere water was going in the tank and then basically back out. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE HELP.

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Resideo-TD-165-1-4-NPT-3-1-8-Face-Long-Probe-Temperature-Pressure-Gauge-Tridicator?utm_source=google_ad&utm_medium=shopping_neutral&utm_campaign=Shopping_Neutral_New_users&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoKeuBhCoARIsAB4WxtfjJ1Z8eMjPya7786Ct-NG49vqhqPPssCXOEldd51HogPx3smVGcZAaAraHEALw_wcB

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Pasco-1451-75-PSI-260-F-Boiler-Gauge-Bottom-Mount?utm_source=google_ad&utm_medium=shopping_neutral&utm_campaign=Shopping_Neutral_New_users&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoKeuBhCoARIsAB4Wxtel8LVr7W_FAUmOG6ZRZTJAsZUw6HhLCGSi9nQ2jVP0jGvvPQECUBwaAm9TEALw_wcB

 

[jwcrook19]

Also, once the burners turn off, with just the pilot light lit the temp on the boiler is not coming down, so wondering if water is not being pumped out properly? So boiler burners shut off over night and then won’t come back on because the temp is staying high at around 220. The Taco pump is hot to touch, but pipes above are warm to cold. Fairly new pump installed in 2021, so I can’t imagine it’s broken but either it’s not getting power or maybe some debris stuck?

 

[Fitter30]

Pump not moving any water. Gauge could still be good without waiting for a few hours and thermostat off it would take that long for the boiler to cool down. Pasco gauge is good. The other one listed is 1/4" pipe thread for a newer boiler.

 

[John Gayewski]

Your relief valve should trip once the boiler reaches 30 psi. So either the gauge is wrong or your relief valve is bad. Both of those things need to work.


The aqua stat in the picture needs to be adjusted to 180. I think your have to take the cover off to set it.

If the pipes aren't getting hot then there's no flow. You probably need to pull the pump and check that it's not stuck or the impeller hasn't been broken.

 

[jwcrook19]

Guys I fixed it!! @Fitter30 and @John Gayewski thank you so much! Replaced the gauge and also put in a new taco pump. I initially drained the boiler and started with the gauge, which was fully rusted on, but with some wd-40, time and some very light back and forth motions, plus some light use of a hammer with the wrench, it came out. While I had the boiler drained, I removed the pump. Didn’t seem to be stuck and was freely spinning, so I had a tough time diagnosing and put it back in. Filled it back up, but when the boiler fired up. Still no water moving. So went back to get a new pump and that did the trick after some serious water splashing when I got lazy with the o rings for the pump and didn’t make sure they were in place. Used a dog door to keep the pipes up while I put in the new pump! Removed the air from the system using another YouTube video and I woke up to a warm house. So grateful for you both thank you for your help! Saved me thousands. I just got quoted for a new boiler, $20k!!! Cheers!

 

[Breplum]

FYI, you might try some cost comparisons with folks in your area about cost of heating with a high efficiency new boiler system.
could be a payoff over a reasonable time if you had a better price than $20k.