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[hondaracer2oo4]

My buddy has a Shaver 165 that we did the altheatingsolutions kit on that included new fan and soleniod plus a ranco aquastat. When we originally insalled everything and it worked flawlessly. In the past two weeks though the aquastat has not been reading accurately and shows a significant difference in temp compared to actual temp. Today it was showing 90* while the pipes and the aquastat inside showed actual temp of 150*. The temp probe is in the supplied drywell from the kit. The kit did not come with any cover to seal the end of the drywell but he put a cap on it that seals fairly well. Any ideas what the issue may be? Like I said it worked for about a month accurately.

[AirForcePOL]

Look at RSI's response to my question I just asked the other day in this section.   You probably need the conductive paste he mentioned.   

[hondaracer2oo4]

I see the response. Looks like from my google search that it is mostly used in computer stuff. Any ideas where to buy locally?

[AirForcePOL]

I searched on the Menards website and found it online.  That might not be the problem. Just a guess? 

[ITO]

 Not sure that conductive paste can make that big of a difference, I have two of these Rancos in dry wells and never used any paste with either of them, not saying it isn't a good idea but a 60 degree difference? Are you sure the connector for the sensor is plugged in all the way at the aquastat and not loose? I would also insulate over the dry well but if it was working for a month it sounds like a defective aquastat.

[hondaracer2oo4]

I need to help him look it over. He just wanted to put the old water heater thermostat back on, I told him he was an idiot for thinking of doing that. I suppose that it could be a defective aquastat. If we can't find anything I'll have him call ranco.

[RSI]

Is there any chance the probe got pulled out part way or the water level dropped below the dry well level?

If neither of these happened, I would pull the probe out of the well and put it in a cup of hot water to test if it is still working properly.

[hondaracer2oo4]

I think he got it figured out. He pulled the probe and stuck it in a glass of hot water which was 1-2 degrees of the correct temp. What he realized while looking at the set up was that the bung that he had placed the well in was a six inch long 1 inch diameter pipe. The well is just a little smaller than that 1 inch pipe so only a small amount of water sits around the well. The six inch piece of pipe was also not insulated causing the water to cool down around the well causing a bad reading. We'll see if it fixes the problem.

[RSI]

Yeah, that will do it.
If the well is made of copper, you may be able to cut it in the middle and add a section of pipe in to make it longer.

If that won't work, something like this might http://www.ebay.com/itm/THERMOWELL-304ss-1-2-FPT-x-9-L-x-1-2-MTP-281ER21-/200340213771?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ea535100b