baseboard zone problem

[jmnklc]

Hi,

I recently had a third zone (basement) added to our hot water oil fired baseboard heat. So now we have a 2nd floor, 1st floor, and basement zone . The problem is when the basement zone is on, heat is still getting to the first floor zone, even though the valve/relay for that zone is closed. The plumber who installed the new zone checked it out and was puzzled too. Any thoughts?
Thanks a lot!

Jon

 

[Chris75]

Hi,

I recently had a third zone (basement) added to our hot water oil fired baseboard heat. So now we have a 2nd floor, 1st floor, and basement zone . The problem is when the basement zone is on, heat is still getting to the first floor zone, even though the valve/relay for that zone is closed. The plumber who installed the new zone checked it out and was puzzled too. Any thoughts?
Thanks a lot!

Jon

Probably wired wrong, or the zone valve is installed in the wrong place... If he cant figure it out just call another plumber that is smart enough.... this should not be difficult...

 

[Sponsor]

 

[jmnklc]

The valve is in the same place as the the other two valves for each zone. And I can see the other two Honeywell valves are closed when the basement valve is open.

Jon

 

[Chris75]

The valve is in the same place as the the other two valves for each zone. And I can see the other two Honeywell valves are closed when the basement valve is open.

Jon

If the other two valves are indeed closed, then your first floor would not overheat, you have two things to look at, the first floor valve is either manually or stuck in the open position, or its piped wrong... Are you using zone valves or circulators for each zone? Where are the check valves?

 

[jmnklc]

There are three zone valves - one for each zone. what is the check valve? By the way, the system worked fine when there were just two zones - the first and second floors.

Thanks,
Jon

 

[BigLou]

Jon,
do a search on the forums for ghost flow. I seems like a good candidate to me

Lou

 

[jmnklc]

Lou,
Read some stuff on it. Could it be that the pipe narrows from a 1.5 inch feed to a 3/4 before it gets to the new basement zone?

Thanks for the lead,
Jon

 

[Chris75]

The firstfloor only overheats when the basement is calling for heat correct? If you turn the basement t-stat up can you feel hot water flowing past the 1st floor zone valve? If so, is it only when the basement t-stat is calling?

 

[jmnklc]

Hi Chris,

Yes, the beginning of the first floor zone pipe heats up when the t-stat is up for the basement (the 2nd floor zone doesn't heat up at all), but by the time the first floor loop returns to the zone valve, which is just before rentry to the boiler, it isn't warmed up. Some one suggest "Ghost flow", where some hot water is making it's way up the 1st floor loop, even though the valve is closed. I noticed that the main feed pipe for the system is 1.5 inches as it goes past the 1st floor loop feed, but narrows to 3/4 by the time it gets to the basement loop. Could this create a pressure imbalance problem??

Thanks,
Jon