Adding LED to Taco Circulator (007)
- CoalisCoolxWarm
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- Location: Western PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: old Sears rebuilt, bituminous- offline as of winter 2014
- Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
- Other Heating: Oil Boiler
I'm thinking about adding LEDs to each of my Taco 007 zone circulator pumps. Now that I have a couple running and they are very quiet and barely hum- and are connected by rigid copper plumbing- I have difficulty telling which pumps are running.
My zone controller lights up, but that tells me which zones are calling for heat and is not really all that visible from the front of the furnace, now that I've added supports and plumbing. I can walk around, but in retrospect, I should have mounted the controllers upside down so the LEDs pointed outwards
I was thinking about drilling a hole in the side of the electrical box on the pump and mounting one of these 120v green 9mm panel mount LEDs in each one, then simply cutting and adding the wire to the wire nuts of the pump.
What do you think? See any problems with it?
My zone controller lights up, but that tells me which zones are calling for heat and is not really all that visible from the front of the furnace, now that I've added supports and plumbing. I can walk around, but in retrospect, I should have mounted the controllers upside down so the LEDs pointed outwards
I was thinking about drilling a hole in the side of the electrical box on the pump and mounting one of these 120v green 9mm panel mount LEDs in each one, then simply cutting and adding the wire to the wire nuts of the pump.
What do you think? See any problems with it?
- coalkirk
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Nope. I did it to mine a few years ago. Works fine. Mine happen to be orange cause that's what Radio Shack had.
- windyhill4.2
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I have all of my taco 007's wired with cords that plug into a duplex receptacle that is t- stat controlled,i installed a little nite lite in the other rec .When I walk into the boiler room,i can glance at those rec's to see which units are calling for heat.I went with cords on the circulators as that was the way that some other forum member posted doing.I have spare circulators with cords attached & on standby,if a circ fails,unplug,unbolt from the flanges,remove ,do the opposite with the replacement.Your idea of a monitor lite is a good one,even if I did do it first.
- CoalisCoolxWarm
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- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: old Sears rebuilt, bituminous- offline as of winter 2014
- Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
- Other Heating: Oil Boiler
Thanks, Coalkirk, I'll go ahead and order the LEDs.
Windyhill- I am not above copying ideas that work, that's for sure!
Thanks for the quick replies, fellas!
Ordered from ebay. $15 shipped for a lot of 10. I ordered 2 lots, some for another project
Windyhill- I am not above copying ideas that work, that's for sure!
Thanks for the quick replies, fellas!
Ordered from ebay. $15 shipped for a lot of 10. I ordered 2 lots, some for another project
- windyhill4.2
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- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
Like I posted b4 b,i copied the cord idea from another members set-up,i thought that is what this forum is for..... to copy the best ideas from others & when finished ,have the best system on the forum.CoalisCoolxWarm wrote:Thanks, Coalkirk, I'll go ahead and order the LEDs.
Windyhill- I am not above copying ideas that work, that's for sure!
Thanks for the quick replies, fellas!
Ordered from ebay. $15 shipped for a lot of 10. I ordered 2 lots, some for another project
- CoalisCoolxWarm
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- Location: Western PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: old Sears rebuilt, bituminous- offline as of winter 2014
- Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
- Other Heating: Oil Boiler
Daughter and I put two of these on tonight. Here are some pics.
I like the position of the second LED better, but it had a smaller capacitor and a little bit more room. Changed to the smaller (yellow) wire nuts to squeak a bit more, too.
Tip: move the wires out of the way. Drilling at an angle is tough and it wouldn't take much to skin a wire. I bumped the ground in the first one, but not a big deal.
Drill bit for these was 13/32" and hole was perfect!
I like the position of the second LED better, but it had a smaller capacitor and a little bit more room. Changed to the smaller (yellow) wire nuts to squeak a bit more, too.
Tip: move the wires out of the way. Drilling at an angle is tough and it wouldn't take much to skin a wire. I bumped the ground in the first one, but not a big deal.
Drill bit for these was 13/32" and hole was perfect!
- windyhill4.2
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- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
Very nice .
- CoalisCoolxWarm
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- Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
- Other Heating: Oil Boiler
Thanks, guys!
SUPER EASY to do, too
If anyone wants the ebay info, I'd be glad to share it.
The biggest problem I have is fitting the drill and bit in the limited space I left between zone plumbing, requiring me to drill on an angle. I have a right angle drill and snubby drill bits, but not in that size.
They look really good with the lights on or off. Even the one facing the "wrong" direction is easy to tell as it reflects off the pipes.
...and we need to dust and clean soon. Better ash handling and surely some from moving out the old hand fired furnace in the room on the other side of the fan.
SUPER EASY to do, too
If anyone wants the ebay info, I'd be glad to share it.
The biggest problem I have is fitting the drill and bit in the limited space I left between zone plumbing, requiring me to drill on an angle. I have a right angle drill and snubby drill bits, but not in that size.
They look really good with the lights on or off. Even the one facing the "wrong" direction is easy to tell as it reflects off the pipes.
...and we need to dust and clean soon. Better ash handling and surely some from moving out the old hand fired furnace in the room on the other side of the fan.
- windyhill4.2
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- Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
This is the way I put circulator monitor lites on mine b4 CCW did his LED lites. Mine are not as pretty & don't have the same dazzle as his,but they have been doing their job for over 1 yr.When the lite is on,the circulator is running.
Attachments
- SMITTY
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Excellent idea. I did mine 10 years ago - could never hear the damn thing to tell if it was running or not. The LED solved that problem.
- CoalisCoolxWarm
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- Joined: Wed. Jan. 19, 2011 11:41 am
- Location: Western PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: old Sears rebuilt, bituminous- offline as of winter 2014
- Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
- Other Heating: Oil Boiler
Effective and functional, good job!windyhill4.2 wrote:This is the way I put circulator monitor lites on mine b4 CCW did his LED lites. Mine are not as pretty & don't have the same dazzle as his,but they have been doing their job for over 1 yr.When the lite is on,the circulator is running.
Smitty- I like the position of your LED better than either of mine. I thought about putting it in the cover and have the wire length, but I'd have to put a chain or something on it to not pull the very thin wires (maybe 28ga?) of the LED when removing the cover.
Granted, it wouldn't be very often, but with my luck....LOL.
Looks good on your install.
- CoalisCoolxWarm
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- Joined: Wed. Jan. 19, 2011 11:41 am
- Location: Western PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: old Sears rebuilt, bituminous- offline as of winter 2014
- Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
- Other Heating: Oil Boiler
Were you keeping this very excellent idea a secret? LOL.SMITTY wrote:Excellent idea. I did mine 10 years ago
I came across some thread a little while ago the mentioned LEDs and thought it was a great idea, too.
Especially as I am adding and changing things, I can see this coming in handy. If I'm away and something goes wrong, my wife can quite easily verify the zone relay controller lights against the light on the pump, and then read the boiler temp and fire condition.
Very simple and pretty cool when the lights are out, Haha!
- Sting
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bells and whistles are fun and entertaining - extraneous at best
led's are all the rage now
but back in the old days we just used Leviton lamp-holders on metal bell boxes with 7 or 15 watt bulbs to do the same
one occasion; I hung 6 under a building soffet in a place where the owner could look out his bedroom window at night and see if the heaters were running
It Depends!
led's are all the rage now
but back in the old days we just used Leviton lamp-holders on metal bell boxes with 7 or 15 watt bulbs to do the same
one occasion; I hung 6 under a building soffet in a place where the owner could look out his bedroom window at night and see if the heaters were running
It Depends!