Help

[merlyn]

Hi I am looking for information about our Stelrad wood/coal furnace. The
company we bought it from has gone out of business. It is connected to
our oil furnace and for some reason the wood furnace will not open the
bottom door when heat or hot water is needed. We are looking for someone
with knowledge one how this is supposed to work.

 

[merlyn]

This is a picture of my furnace. It is added on to my oil furnace. It supplies my heat and hot water. When the water temperature reaches 160 the bottom door is supposed to open but it is not opening like it has in the past. Is there anyone in the Windham County area that works on wood/coal furnaces?

 

[merlyn]

I could not attach this to my previous post. It explains what each number is for.

 

[Eric Johnson]

That's actually a hot water boiler, not a hot air furnace, right?

It looks like it has an Ammark draft control. The ones I'm familiar with actually close as the boiler heats up. Are you saying yours opens when the boiler temp drops to 160, or that it opens when the temp rises to 160?

 

[merlyn]

When the water temperature drops to 160 the bottom draft is supposed to open and it was closing at 180. It is a hot water boiler.

 

[Eric Johnson]

It looks to me like you have a bimetal draft door control that works on heat rather than electricity or other mechanical means. It may need to be replaced.

Usually there is a lever coming out of the device controlling a chain and opens and closes the draft door. If you disconnect the chain from the lever, does the lever rise and fall as the boiler heats and cools? If not, then you need to replace the draft control unit. If the lever moves but the chain won't open the draft door, then chances are the door is stuck in position. Or, the lever could have come loose. I believe there's a set screw that you can check. Make sure the lever is tightly in place before replacing the draft control.

I don't know anything about that boiler or the draft control arrangement, so I'm just trying to give you a couple of places to start investigating.