Outdoor boiler wiring -- need help

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Brian79z

New Member
Aug 19, 2012
10
I'm trying to wire up a boiler that I received from a friend. But I cannot figure out the wiring - and he can't remember.

Attached is a diagram. Can anyone help?
It's a Big John - Johnson wood boiler. Upper and Lower fans.. Jar light for nighttime. Boiler wiring.JPG
 
You need to give us more info. Do the two fans come on at the same time? I assume the light switch is just that for the jar light, and possibly turns the fans off while you load the unit.....that is just a guess. Not many OWB users on here.

TS
 
You need to give us more info. Do the two fans come on at the same time? I assume the light switch is just that for the jar light, and possibly turns the fans off while you load the unit.....that is just a guess. Not many OWB users on here.

TS

Unsure if they come on at the same time. The switch does turn on the jar light, but it appears to be a 3-way switch..(???)
 
Typically the 3-way switch is going to kill the fans when you turn on the light. The pumps will run all the time and are usually just plugged in to a receptacle that is hot all the time in the back of the stove.

The hot leg from the switch will go through the aquastat before hitting the fans. That's about all there is to a typical OWB. I usually wire in another standard on/off switch ahead of everything so I can kill the whole works if something needs to be repaired.
 
Typically the 3-way switch is going to kill the fans when you turn on the light. The pumps will run all the time and are usually just plugged in to a receptacle that is hot all the time in the back of the stove.

The hot leg from the switch will go through the aquastat before hitting the fans. That's about all there is to a typical OWB. I usually wire in another standard on/off switch ahead of everything so I can kill the whole works if something needs to be repaired.

Thanks!!

Can you tell me where to hook up the black from the house? I assume I can wire the house white (yellow in pic) to the pump white (yellow in pic). And of course ground to ground.
 
Have you said what kind of aquastats they are? Example my L6006 - the black goes to R terminal, the R-W makes contact on temp rise (like to turn a circ on) while the R-B breaks (like to turn off a heat source). I don't think R-W-B means Red-Black-Blue, although I'm not sure exactly what they do mean. Try taking the make/model of your aquastats & googling to find the manual for them to help understand their functions. I have no experience with outdoor boilers so can't help much more. Or how about googling the boiler to find a manual?

EDIT: Or just email them and ask:

http://johnsonoutdoorwoodfurnaces.com/Home/home.htm
 
Have you said what kind of aquastats they are? Example my L6006 - the black goes to R terminal, the R-W makes contact on temp rise (like to turn a circ on) while the R-B breaks (like to turn off a heat source). I don't think R-W-B means Red-Black-Blue, although I'm not sure exactly what they do mean. Try taking the make/model of your aquastats & googling to find the manual for them to help understand their functions. I have no experience with outdoor boilers so can't help much more. Or how about googling the boiler to find a manual?

EDIT: Or just email them and ask:

http://johnsonoutdoorwoodfurnaces.com/Home/home.htm

The aquastat is labeled RED WHITE BLUE on each of the 3 screws respectively (there is no screw labeled "Black").
I guess I am assuming that most 3 wire aquastats are the same, but since nobody can answer this, then I guess I must have some oddball bastard aquastat that nobody has ever seen.

Looking at my drawing at the top of this page... I'm just going to assume that I need to hook the house black to the upper part of the lightswitch -- which goes to the screw labeled RED on the rear aquastat.

---and no... Johnson cannot help me, because they say that the rear lightswitch is not a factory part of their setup.
 
You might get more help with more info - like maybe make/model of aquastat(s)? And I can't tell from the diagrams how the front one hooks with the rear one - but maybe others can. There is a limit to how much help can be gotten over the internet without the helper actually being there (like in tracing circuits). Think I'm out of this one...

(Pictures might also be a big help too....)
 
You might get more help with more info - like maybe make/model of aquastat(s)? And I can't tell from the diagrams how the front one hooks with the rear one - but maybe others can. There is a limit to how much help can be gotten over the internet without the helper actually being there (like in tracing circuits). Think I'm out of this one...

(Pictures might also be a big help too....)


I will try to get that info tonight.
The wiring from rear to front is intact. Although I do not know which romex it connects with---that is not my issue.

I just need to know where to connect the black wire from the house. The previous owner is thinking the top of the light switch on the rear of the burner.
 
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