Tag Archives: HW

Oil furnace not turning on.

By Roger2561

Hello everyone – I have a Dunkirk oil furnace with a Beckett burner controlled by a Honeywell L8151A Triple Aquastat Relay with remote bulb. The only time the furnace comes on is when I hold down the contactor. As soon as I remove my finger it turns off. When the furnace is operating I get my hot water from the indirect HW tank I installed myself (I have disconnected the low set point per instructions shared with me by someone on this site). I can see the red light is on at the 5 zone with priority zone controller when the aquastat on the indirect tank indicates the water temp is too cold. A side note here – I have been experiencing voltage spikes in my electrical system in my home and it could very well have fried something. Trying to find an electrician with time to look at my system without waiting is nearly impossible. I have been waiting for a week now and the guy I called said it’ll be another week before he can stop by a fix the problem (He says it’s a common problem with the neutral being either corroded or lose in the meter socket – I ain’t touching it – I value my life) I’m nearly sure I’ll have to buy and swap out a new squastat. I’m willing to do the work myself and it doesn’t look too complicated. Is there anything I need watch for when I’m working around it? Or, before I purchase a new one, are there steps I can take to assure myself it is indeed dead and needs replacing? Thanks in advance for taking the time to read and add possible remedies. Roger

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Source: DoItYourself.com

What are key non-schedule settings options to have in tstat? (trying to decide)

By agoldenbee

I’m looking to purchase a z-wave enabled tstat and have basically narrowed my selection to the following:

* Honeywell YTH8320ZW1007/U Z-Wave Enabled Programmable Thermostat
* 2gig CT100 Z-Wave Programmable Thermostat
* Trane TZEMT400AB32MAA Home Energy Management Thermostat

The problem is I can’t determine which to get because of aesthetics partly (silly reason) but more importantly, they all seem to have different settings that complement each other but not such that one has all the options.

Which settings are most important to have in a tstat that will improve the efficiency and longevity of your HVAC system?

The 2GIG CT100 has very little to set:
* SWING – Setting and room temp variance before HVAC kicks in [from 0.5 to 4.0, default to 2.0]

Honeywell 8320 has more to set:
* 1st stage compressor cycle rate [from 1 to 6 times per hour, default to 3]
* 1st stage heat cycle rate [from 1 to 12 times per hour, default to 5 for gas]
* Auto changeover deadband [from 2 to 9 degrees, default to 3]
* Heat and cool temperature range stop (good for my kid and wife :P)

(I’ve read I should change the default to “Adaptive Intelligent recovery” of On to Off as it causes more headaches than helps)

Trane TZEMT400AB32MAA is somewhat similar:
* Min and max heat and cool setpoint values
* Minimum run time [1-9 minutes, defaults to 6]
* Minimum off time [5-9 minutes, defaults to 5]
* H/C Delta [3-15 degrees, similar to HW deadband]
* Delta at which cooling and heating stops and starts from setpoints

If the Trane had Cycles Per Hour, it would have more than the 2 others. Also, not sure how Honeywell controls the deltas from the setpoints at which it starts and stops heat and cold.

So is CPH more important (Honeywell) or controlling the delta from where the cool and heat start and stop from where you set them to the room temp?

Which has best “control” over how HVAC functions?

Thanks in advance.

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Source: DoItYourself.com

Boiler Overheat

By nawogcmdivad

My Grant Euroflame boiler overheated, spewed water from the system expansion tank and the limit stat on the boiler kicked in. Its a fully pumped system with circuits for upstairs heating, downstairs heating and hot water.
I replaced the dual stat on the boiler but it still overheats.
Problem seems to be that boiler is heating when no demand for heat from CH or HW thermostats (is this normal?). As there is no pump running the boiler overheats (when I force a pump to run, the stat on the boiler works properly).
So: Should the boiler be firing with no demand from the system ?
If No then the controller is broke right?
If Yes then would something like an airlock or sludge cause the overheat?

From: http://www.doityourself.com/forum/boilers-home-heating-steam-hot-water-systems/493412-boiler-overheat.html

OpenSolaris GRUB> boot failure HELP

By d_oilen

Hi,

i am running an old Opensolaris 5.11 snv_111b on an x86 server. After almost 4 years of successful service, last night out of the blue started to refuse all connections to it’s services, ssh, http,etc. The only visible solution at that time was a restart. But now instead of booting the machine stops at GRUB> prompt. Findroot returns zfs_read error : 15 File not found. Grub is 0.97 and i’m sure i did not perform any updates over night. Can i recover from this? the machine is pretty important still and i need at least eiter to be able to boot it again or recover the data there.
No hardware issues so far because i transferred the disks in an attempt to see if it is an HW error to a different identical machine and the symptom persists.
Any clues about the issue? How can i fix this?

regards,

From: http://www.unix.com/solaris/221349-opensolaris-grub-boot-failure-help.html

9KW NG Generator with 200 amp service-rated ATS

By mrsuggestion

I had two different electricians give opposing approaches to my installation request. One said no problem to the set-up and one said that 9KW is not enough for a 200 amp service-rated ATS. He said that I would need a 20KW generator or he would install a 100 amp circuit breaker box to feed 10-12 circuits. He said the risk of overload was too great and it was against national code. My worst-case (large users all on at same time) electrical demands are 2 refrigerators, one 240V oven, and one 8K BTU window AC. I don’t have central air, sump pump, pool or electric heat or hot water. My boiler is NG with an indirect HW heater. I have 200 amp service with a 200 amp panel. The house used to have central AC and an electric cook top, but no more. Please give advice. Their quotes were $3000 and $3800 respectively, so that’s not an issue. I really don’t want a 20KW unit.

Thank you,
Matt

Source: DoItYourself.com

At A Glance Coloured Real Time Bargraph Generator…

By wisecracker

Not sure if anyone is interested but I am just getting into UNIX like shell scripting…

I have great interest in pseudo-animations in text mode and accessing HW like /dev/dsp for example…

All the information is inside the code and this has been uploaded to code.activestate.com…

Have fun, I do… ;o)

Code:


# !/bin/sh
#
# Bargraph_Generator.sh
#
# A DEMO 6 bit coloured bargraph animation for a default Bash and Terminal window on OSX 10.7.5...
# A simple Shell script to display an _AT_A_GLANCE_ real time analogue bargraph generator. It
# starts off with GREEN for OK, then YELLOW for warning and finally ending with RED for danger
# with a critical beep for values 61 to 63 inclusive.
# It assumes an 8 bit value being injected into the script which is then divided by 4 to give
# a 6 bit value which is 64 spaces width inside the Terminal. The DEMO uses a random number
# generator to give a representation of an 8 bit value so you can see it working...
#
# A shell derivative of my Python code:-
# http://code.activestate.com/recipes/577612-seven-bit-colored-analogue-bar-graph-generator-dem/?in=user-4177147
#
# To run, ensure the script is executable and change if required, then type from a Terminal:-
#
# xxxxx$ /full/path/to/Bargrapth_Generator.sh
#
# And away you go...
#
# Written in such a way that kids and newbies can understand what is going on.
#
# Originally written for a Macbook Pro 13 inch, OSX 10.7.5 using the default Terminal.
# It MIGHT work on some Linux variants but WAS intended for MacOS OSX 10.7.x and above only.
#
# The Terminal colours WILL be changed to Black background and Various foreground colours.
# It will NOT be returned back to its original state although it can be easily. If you
# need to rerturn back to default state then there are a couple of easy methods the
# simplest being type:-
#
# xxxxx$ reset
#
# And all will be corrected...
#
# Issued entirely as Public Domain and you may do with it as you please
#
# $VER Bargraph_Generator.sh_Version_0.00.10_(C)2012_B.Walker_G0LCU.
#
# Enjoy finding simple solutions to often very difficult problems...

# The required _varibales_ for ease of coding, these are the colours...
# White On Black.
WOB="x1B[1;37;40m"
# Black On Green.
BOG="x1B[1;30;42m"
# Black On Yellow.
BOY="x1B[1;30;43m"
# Black On red.
BOR="x1B[1;30;41m"
# Green On Black.
GOB="x1B[1;32;40m"
# Yellow On Black.
YOB="x1B[1;33;40m"
# Red On Black.
ROB="x1B[1;31;40m"

# Set the pseudo 6 bit value to zero.
SIX_BIT_DEPTH=0

# Do a clear screen to White On Black.
printf $WOB
clear

while true
do
# Set up the screen per scan and prepare for the bargraph.
clear
printf $WOB"n $VER: Bargraph_Generator.sh_Version_0.00.10_(C)2012_B.Walker_G0LCU.nn"
printf " A horizontal, at a glance, coloured, analogue bargraph display forn"
printf " a default Terminal inside OSX 10.7.5..nnnnn"
printf " 0 10 20 30 40 50 60"
printf $GOB"n +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+"$YOB"----+----+"$ROB"----+--n"
printf $GOB" (| "$ROB")n"
printf $GOB" +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+"$YOB"----+----+"$ROB"----+--nnnn"
# If the 6 bit value is 0, zero, do no more until printing the 6 bit value and generating another 6 bit value...
# Anything greater than or equal to 1 enters this conditional branch.
if [ "$SIX_BIT_DEPTH" -ge "1" ]
then
# If the 6 bit value is less than or equal to 46 then _plot_ the green section only.
# The 'x1B[12;8f' is the ANSI 'Esc' code that forces the print position to 12 lines by 8 columns.
if [ "$SIX_BIT_DEPTH" -le "46" ]
then
BARGRAPH=$GOB"x1B[12;8f("$BOG
for green in $(seq 1 "$SIX_BIT_DEPTH")
do
BARGRAPH=$BARGRAPH" "
done
fi
# If the 6 bit value is greater than or equal to 47 then print the green section and _plot_ the yellow section.
if [ "$SIX_BIT_DEPTH" -ge "47" ]
then
BARGRAPH=$GOB"x1B[12;8f("$BOG" "$BOY
for yellow in $(seq 47 "$SIX_BIT_DEPTH")
do
BARGRAPH=$BARGRAPH" "
done
fi
# If the 6 bit value is greater than or equal to 57 then print the green and yellow section and _plot_ the red section.
if [ "$SIX_BIT_DEPTH" -ge "57" ]
then
BARGRAPH=$GOB"x1B[12;8f("$BOG" "$BOY" "$BOR
for red in $(seq 57 "$SIX_BIT_DEPTH")
do
BARGRAPH=$BARGRAPH" "
done
fi
printf "$BARGRAPH"$GOB"nnnnn"
fi
# When the 6 bit value is greater than or equal to 61 sound a system error beep.
if [ "$SIX_BIT_DEPTH" -ge "61" ]
then
printf "a"
fi
# Print the 6 bit value in White On Black...
printf $WOB" Random number generated "$SIX_BIT_DEPTH"...nn"
printf " Press Ctrl-C to stop the program...nn"
# Generate another 6 bit value as though from an 8 bit value...
SIX_BIT_DEPTH=$[($RANDOM % (256/4))]
# A practical lower limit for the sleep command is 'sleep 0.05'...
sleep 1
done

# End of Bargraph_Generator.sh DEMO.
# Enjoy finding simple solutions to often very difficult problems... ;o)


Source: FULL ARTICLE at The UNIX and Linux Forums