Pressure Problem - New Boiler

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Figman

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Hi all, First time on this forum. Lots of good information. Hopefully someone can give me some advice. Here it goes, previously My house had a Slant Fin Galaxy GX-100 gas boiler with a tankless heat exchange, it ran for over 25 years without a problem until the last 2-3 years when started to leak. I know the company went Under or got acquired by another company but still went on and bought and installed this past March 2023, the newer version Galaxy GXHii-115 which was almost a direct replacement with minor pipe modifications. The contractor installed the unit, put in a new expansion tank, PRV and water inlet valve, it went through the testing process but here in NY during March and April was a bit warmer so the boiler will run very little but not like winter time, the test was probably not very complete, tested the baseboards, hot water but not sure if it needed longer time. The unit came in with the electronic control Aquastat 3200, which the installer did not have much knowledge on the programming side of it. At the beginning the hot water was not very hot So I did some reading and finally setup the low limit at 180 and high at 200 instead of default of 190. After the final setup it ran beautifully since March until last week. During this entire time the unit will to the same: the heat tubes will come on every 1 hour and 15 minutes, for about 2 minutes, it will bring the boiler to 180 then will shut off but the temp on the electronic display will keep rising to 203-206, the upper limit light will come on, it will stay there for a 45 minutes or so and eventually start to decrease, as it went down the upper limit light will go away and the will go continue to decrease to 170 which is10 degrees below the low limit and then the process will start again.

Here is the problem: during all this time I never paid attention to the temp/pressure gauge on the side of the unit, last week I engaged the boiler for the first time and came on at 70 degrees. It ran for a short while, all baseboard heaters were hot and working, continue to run the unit for about 15 minutes, soon after the PRV started leaking water and noticed the gauge marked 30 PSI. My first inclination was the 180 -200 setup and brought down to 170-190 degrees but the unit continued to expel water though the PRV not matter the setup on the electronic controller. as I was playing with the different setting notice the pressure go all the way down to 0 or close depending on how long the boiler recovers from the previous warning cycle. Called the installer and explained the situation, first thing he mentioned was the expansion tank which I reminded him he put a new one, the he mentioned 2 3 other things that could be causing the over pressurization of the unit, the second time I spoke to him then he gave other reason but still waiting for him to show up and it is getting colder in NY. I apologized for the lengthy post but wanted to provide as much detail as possible.

Your help is greatly appreciate it,

Thanks,

Figman
 

Fitter30

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Single story house 10-12 lbs of water pressure, pumps and boiler off system water under 100°. Drain boiler to get down to that pressure. If pressure comes up close fill valve, drain down to pressure. Back adjustment screw on fill regulator ccw 1/2 turn open fill see if the pressure comes up. If it comes up another 1/2 turn. Expansion tank opposite the piping end, remove plastic cap. With a 50 lb tire gauge and a tire pump depress the schrader water come out tank is bad. Match air pressure with boiler pressure. Turn boiler and pumps back on.
Aquastat 3200 have a outdoor air sensor for outdoor reset? How many zones don't include indirect water heater. If u have a indirect wh need to know.
 
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Sylvan

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1-Check the automatic feeder
2- remove the expansion tank from the system CAREFULLY after isolating it to check the actual pressure.
3- if you have a tankless coil that could have a pin hole leak

I live near in Riverdale the Bronx and I very seldom set the water to 190

The only time I ever set the temperature higher was in an older home in Scarsdale that someone installed an undersized boiler.
 

Figman

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Hi Guys, I did not realized I had two threads going and you replied to this one. On my other one I provided some pictures of the install and gauges showing the behavior of the boiler. something is definitely wrong, still pushes water out of the PRV in no particular order or sequence. I bought the unit brand new, wrapped up and everything from a local reseller, I know Slant Fin is not around anymore I knew I was taking a chance with parts and warranty but not expected the unit to be faulty. I really hope is not the tankless coil that has a leak, at the moment unit is providing heat to the entire house. I have a single family house (ranch) with lower and main floor, not a tall house so the unit doesn't have to push to far up. The installer put a new expansion tank, PRV and water Inlet feeder valve, everything looks ok, I live in Yonkers not too far from you Sylvan so as you know this past March into April when they installed the unit was not too cold. They installed, and ran the unit for a few minutes, all the baseboards worked and had hot water, but don't remember the unit doing much, I ran the hot water the entire summer and never released one drop of water via the PRV. As soon as I turned on at the beginning of November and the thermostat called for heat is when the problems started. I am reading your comments as I type the reply, will read carefully and see if can figure out what is going on. Your advise is greatly appreciated.
 

Figman

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Sylvan, one more question, during the summer I had the lower limit set at 180 and upper to 200; the unit came setup at 190 upper. when the problem started I put it back to the original setup of upper 190 and dropped the lower to 170. Not sure if this makes a difference, I know very little about boilers. My previous unit was also a Slant Fin GX-100 with the tankless coil, this thing ran for over 25 years and never gave me a problem until started to leak two years ago. I figure install the newer and direct replacement of the original model and I will be ok, my luck might be with me at this time, thanks again.
 

Fitter30

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Pic 47 png last two number ex tank coming off the top of boiler? Can't tell. Lowest piping to the highest height of the water?
 

Figman

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Hi Fitter30. That is correct the picture is for the expansion tank. Anything in particular you would like verify on it. Or what other info should I check. If you look at picture 56.png you can see the exp tank behind the hood and in between the pipes in the center to the right you can see the water pipe all the way to the back in bronze color. The water line is one of the higher one.
 

Figman

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Fitter30. my house have a lower and main floor on a single zone setup. I remember Reading about the external sensor option For the 3200, not sure if the sensor can help me
 

Sylvan

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I found the pictures.

What you may want to do is shut the water supply to the boiler and see if the pressure rises.

If it does it is a good indication you have a pin hole leak on the coil.

Also, the best way to recharge an expansion tank is having it removed from the piping then check the pressure .
 
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Figman

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Hi Sylvan, by mistake I create another entry on this forum. see if you can review this other thread. Thanks again

 

Sylvan

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I found the pictures.

What you may want to do is shut the water supply to the boiler and see if the pressure rises.

If it does it is a good indication you have a pin hole leak on the coil.

Also, the best way to recharge an expansion tank is having it removed from the piping then check the pressure .
 
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