Home Hydronic Heater Not Working in "Auto" Pics Attached


  #1  
Old 01-09-14, 12:14 PM
P
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 6
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Home Hydronic Heater Not Working in "Auto" Pics Attached

Hello, this is my first post on the forum. I have been having issues with my heating system not working when set in the "auto" position.

Background: My heating system is completely independent of my cooling system. My house uses evaporative cooling which is controlled through another wall unit. My thermostat only controls my heating.

History: As far as I know, my unit uses hot water from my water heater to heat the air in the furnace up (hydronic heater?). A few weeks ago the heater was working fine. I started to notice that in "auto" mode the heater would turn on and off rapidly out of the blue. I could tell due to the fact that I could hear the fan kick on and off rapidly (3-4 times every 10 seconds), finally it stopped turing on altogether.

I thought it might be the thermostat, so I replaced it. This seemed to do the job for a few days. The heater was once again working in "auto" mode. By "working" I mean I could hear the fan kick on and the air coming out of the vents was warm. Last night it stopped working, which means that in "auto" mode the fan no longer turns on, let alone any warm air coming out of the vents. I do hear a "click" from the wall unit when the thermostat kicks on. When I set the thermostat to "On" the fan kicks on, but no warm air comes out.

On the back of the thermostat unit, I have the switch set to "gas or oil", as this setting has been what it was set to when I bought the house. When I switch it to "electric or heat pump" the unit turns the fan on in "auto" but no warm air comes out.

Conclusion: I have no idea what is going on I have attached pics below for reference and any help would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping to do the repairs myself since I have found that fixing this stuff is quite rewarding!
 
Attached Images         
  #2  
Old 01-10-14, 12:59 AM
F
Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Wet side of Washington state.
Posts: 16,321
Received 38 Upvotes on 30 Posts
You have some nice, well-lit pictures but they tell us nothing. I ASSUME that what you have, by your description, is a water heater that supplies BOTH domestic hot water (for you to use in bathing and such) AND hot water to the coil in your "air handler" the cabinet that contains the hot water coil, room air blower and the electrical components that you pictured.

Please step back and take several pictures of the entire SYSTEM so we can see how the parts are connected. Also note the readings on any pressure gauges and thermometers and post them.

Is your water heater electric or gas fired?
 
  #3  
Old 01-10-14, 06:14 AM
NJT's Avatar
NJT
NJT is offline
Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 19,710
Upvotes: 0
Received 8 Upvotes on 6 Posts
This help at all?.....................................

http://www.allstyle.com/wp-content/u...FM-Install.pdf
 
  #4  
Old 01-10-14, 11:38 AM
P
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 6
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
OK, so I fixed it! It appears that I didn't take my own advice and double check all the connections that well... Turned out to be a faulty connector on the white wire coming out of the pump motor. I turned on the heater and noticed the pump was not running. After disconnecting and re-connecting the leads I had it turn on momentarily once I re-connected the white lead. Bought a new connector and it spun up immediately!

Thanks so much for everyone's help, I really appreciate all your info and feedback! I wish I had a more interesting fix-it story for you all, but sometimes the easiest fixes can still be rewarding

Have a great weekend everyone!
 
  #5  
Old 01-10-14, 12:32 PM
P
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 6
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
This is great! Thanks so much for tracking this down!
 
  #6  
Old 01-10-14, 12:46 PM
NJT's Avatar
NJT
NJT is offline
Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 19,710
Upvotes: 0
Received 8 Upvotes on 6 Posts
I'm not confident yet that you are 'out of the woods' with this.

You said in first post:

I could hear the fan kick on and off rapidly (3-4 times every 10 seconds),
Looking at the wiring diagrams in the manual, I can't see a way that the 'white pump motor wire' would have any affect on the fan.

There are two diagrams in the manual and I'm not sure which one applies to your unit, below is based on the first diagram.

What 'connector' are you speaking of? Is it the 'wire nut' that connects the white wire from the pump module to the white wire from the "FR1 FAN RELAY" to the white wire from the thermostat connection terminal strip?

If so, they YES, I can absolutely concur that a loose connection at that point would cause the problem you had.
 
  #7  
Old 01-10-14, 12:50 PM
P
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 6
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Yeah, it was the white wire that connects the pump to the FR1 Fan Relay. It was the conncetion onto the fan relay that was loose, so when I moved it around it would kick on. I am assuming that the opening and closing of the laundry room door would move the connection making it work sometimes and not others.

Here's hoping the woods are behind me!
 
  #8  
Old 01-10-14, 01:14 PM
NJT's Avatar
NJT
NJT is offline
Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 19,710
Upvotes: 0
Received 8 Upvotes on 6 Posts
I think they are (behind you)!

When you initially described the issue, my first thought was "chattering relay" ... "loose connection", sorry... I should have mentioned it then.

I had faith that you would find it though and you didn't let me down! Bravo!
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: