Honeywell PA404A Steam Boiler Pressure Control Defective Right Out Of The Box

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Күн бұрын

Resideo's pressuretrol is a notoriously inaccurate control that comes from the factory set too high for running home heating steam systems.
When this particular control was set to the lowest setting (0.5 psi on, 1.5psi off), it failed.
What to do?

Пікірлер: 21

@jeffreyjohn2037 8 ай бұрын

I had a bad one out of the box in 2021. I had to go back to my shop and I found an NOS date coded from 2009. Worked great.

@gordonschweizer5154 8 ай бұрын

Had another one today, same date code as the one in the video, with the extra added bonus of the spring end being out of battery and the pivot frame was bent. Got it to work. But... I think the quality control manager at Honeywell needs to look for a new job.

@jeffreyjohn2037 8 ай бұрын

@@gordonschweizer5154 on another topic, I had a 30psi hot water boiler relief valve fail out of the box. Looked like it was made of chineezium. That was a first for me. Unbelievable!

@gordonschweizer5154 8 ай бұрын

Was it one of those really yellow brass ones that seem to be made of mostly zinc with just enough copper to barely hold it together?

@jeffreyjohn2037 8 ай бұрын

@@gordonschweizer5154 yes, fake brass.

@jeffreyjohn2037 8 ай бұрын

@@gordonschweizer5154 yes

@tani357 8 ай бұрын

Quality has plummeted on everything Honeywell. We've been seeing Mod IVs last less than 6 months, pressuretrols and vaporstats dead on arrival and valve actuators quitting after a week. It's crazy. The mod motor issue is particularly bad for us. Switching to an ASCO or Siemens just isn't feasible sometimes so we're stuck with the new junk. Very frustrating, especially with so many of the old guru reps having shuttered or retired in the last few years so getting any help from the factory is a real chore.

@tani357 8 ай бұрын

Quick update on this. The situation has gotten so bad that even OEMs are coming up with retrofit solutions. For $2200, PowerFlame will design and build you complete conversion kits to swap out the Mod IV motors on C series burners for Siemens SQM40 actuators. This includes the SQM40. For the last batch we bought, we paid $1740 + tax per Mod IV from our local San Francisco rep. For pressuretrols, we'll be switching to Johnson Controls. Still figuring out what to do for vaporstats.

@matthewbecker3674 8 ай бұрын

Sick. When backed-off enough, it still doesn't reset itself? Stamped aluminum indicator tab is the only reference. Looks like lots of room for play. How frustrating.

@gordonschweizer5154 8 ай бұрын

It's no problem. I show how to correct it in later videos. Stay tuned & hit that like button!

@matthewbecker3674 8 ай бұрын

@@gordonschweizer5154 I recall your previous vid micro-tweaking the controller. "At your own risk". Can't wait!

@dannywilkins887 8 ай бұрын

Sadly Honeywell have gone down the cheap route with their controls, same with their uk products

@gordonschweizer5154 8 ай бұрын

I don't get why they spun-off "Resideo" from Honeywell, trashing a hundred+ year old house-hold name. Somebody got paid to do that.

@bigal9556 8 ай бұрын

Quick question, i read somewhere that you should add a little water to the pigtail to avoid steam from getting to the pressuretrol is that true? Can't that anywhere else.

@gordonschweizer5154 8 ай бұрын

I used to worry about that & add a cap full of water in the pigtail, but I've since weaned myself away from such worries and it appears the water seal forms on its own fairly quickly. However, I am certainly not going disparage anybody else from adding a bit of water because it can't hurt and it may be the right thing to do.

@stevebbkny2394 8 ай бұрын

Why not install a vaporstat? I have a vaporstat and a 2 psi gauge set at 7 oz to 21 oz.

@gordonschweizer5154 8 ай бұрын

Not all steam heating systems need a vaporstat. Just about all steam boilers sold in North America come with a pressuretrol as a minimum. Generally, if you have a single pipe steam system, the PA404A is good enough (when properly tweaked so it works!). But not always. If your boiler is oversized, a vaporstat might be needed as well as down-firing to tame the beast. If you have a two-pipe system, a 16oz vaporstat is just the thing. But not always. If your boiler is undersized, there will not be any build-up of pressure and the expensive control will have nothing to do. But it looks cool!

@stevebbkny2394 8 ай бұрын

You’re right. My boiler is a tad oversized. It would be nice if it just sat at 2 oz during the entire heat cycle. I suppose when it fails one day I’ll downsize it a bit. The 2 psi gauge is great though. I could see the pressure bouncing around even though the sight glass didn’t appear to be surging. I skimmed it and the needle was steady after that. The 30 psi gauge is useless. Btw, thanks for all your videos Gordon. Wish you were closer to me in NYC.