Pump running all the time for EKO 40

[Damammel]

So I have been burning for a few weeks now and things are good but my 007 pump runs all the time because the 40 never cools enough to shut the pump off. It continues to pull the water from the tank back to the boiler which keeps the temps up. I currently have an aquastat on the top of the tank that is wired as the room thermostat on the back of the controler so the boiler will idle when there is not a call for heat in the tank. I would like to leave it hooked up to the controler for the boiler but I am thinking that I may have to rewire it so the pump is controled by the Taco 503 controler. My concern is the recomendation to have the pump connected to the boiler controls incase of an over heat situation. Any thoughts would be great.

Derek

 

[taxidermist]

what is your pump launch set at? 140*?? I set mine to 170* that way it will shut off the pump and not pump my tank water back out to the boiler and back. I do change it from time to time.... Like if my tanks are at 130* I will set it to launch(turn on) at 140* so it starts putting water to storage. Then when I have a good fire going I switch it back to 170*

 

[Damammel]

I have the pump set at 170 for the launch temp. So the pump is shutting off at 168 since it is 2 degrees below launch temp. If the pump could be set to shut off at 180 I would be all set.

 

[leaddog]

I'm not sure but it sounds like you have your storage fully charged all the time and have your boiler idleing. If that is the case you aren't getting the use out of your storage. Let your fire go out, use the btu's in the tank and then recharge. Or if the reason you are burning all the time is so it is easier to start fires put in less wood so you rstorage isn;t fully charged.
leaddog

 

[Damammel]

Thanks leaddog. I'll give that a try. How far do you let your storage go down before firing again?

 

[leaddog]

I don't have guages set up to tell on my tanks yet as I got it buttoned up in nov. But i've not burnt for a day and still had lots of heat. I have baseboard so I need to keep the temps up but after a day the top of the tank was still 160*. My return was 120*. My son takes his down to about 130* You can just try different temps and see just what temps you need. Nofossel takes it real scientific and has a program that tells him when he will need to start a fire.
leaddog

 

[leaddog]

Because of the shift my son works he wanted to have his tanks FULLY charged on his days off before he had to go to work so he is putting in a temp controller so when the bottem of his tanks are 180* his boiler will shut off. He has his pump running full time for over heat protection off a bat. and has a modulating valve on the outlet of the boiler so the temp leaving the boiler has to be 180* or it just cycles keeping the boiler warm. Once the boiler shuts off it won't come back on untill he resets it which is on his days off and he will fully charge it again.
leaddog

 

[in hot water]

A differential control might work better than the aquastat. It watches boiler and storage tank temperatures. When the boiler is 10 degrees, for example, warmer than the tank, the circ turns on. When the boiler drops to within lets say 6 degrees of the tank, the pump turns off. this prevents the tank from using the boiler as a cooling tower.

but it does depend on how you have things piped to make that control work.

hr

 

[Damammel]

Thanks hr for the info. Is there a controller that you would recommend? I am definitely trying to avoid using the boiler as a cooling tower. I have the boiler piped directly into the tank and back to the boiler. The water to and from the house is on separate piping.

I did try to wire the pump off the 503 but the temps get to high in the boiler if water in the tank is not needed. I was thinking to use the UM-1 module to activate the pump once the temps get up to 195 to avoid the overheat situation and use that extra heat. I would set that as the priority zone so it would take control of the pump even if it was already running. I am wondering how available and how much the UM-1 is to purchase.

Derek

 

[Rory]

I have a Stiebel Eltron controller that works as IHW describes. It also has a parameter for maximum tank temperature, which you could use to stop circulation, which would cause the boiler to shutdown for overheat protection sooner than it might otherwise.