trouble getting Rion louvres regulated

continuting my thread about my greenhouse being too warm, I keep going out to check the temperature throughout the day and I notice that I cannot get the windows and louvres to open when they seemingly should be. For instance, today is was 86 degrees and the roof vents were not open. I have twisted the knob on the top of the louvre operating mechanism all the way down and all the way up. Anyone else had trouble getting theirs in the right position? Thanks,
Annie

Are you sure they're mounted correctly? On my openers, the control knob is at the bottom, not the top. Also, seems a silly question, but did you remove the manual openers, before installing the automatic ones? A photo of your vent openers would be most helpful.

Is this the photo that you need? Thanks,
Annie

Ahh, ok. I misread what you were having the trouble with. I wrongly assumed you meant the roof vents. That's a different setup than I have for my louvers, but the principal is the same for automatic-opening roof vents.

They are obviously open now, and is the piston what is holding them open? Did you manually push them open, and then adjust the control knob to hold them in that position? Or, is (what appears to be) the lever at the bottom of the piston, angled slightly downwards, what is used to open them manually?

Turning the knob clockwise should open the louvers by increasing the pressure on what the piston is filled with (perhaps something as simple as wax). If it doesn't, and they are properly installed (they appear to be), the opener may simply be defective. Have you contacted Rion about this issue?

They do open and close by themselves, both the roof vents and the louvres. What I am having difficulty with is that if I go out to the GH and it is 79 degrees and they are still closed, that is a problem because my temps are getting into the upper nineties in the GH. So, I am trying to figure out how far you turn the control knob to get it to open , say when the GH is 70, instead of what it is doing now, 80. I have not contacted Rion yet because I figured I am just doing something really stupid and I would rather you guys tell me instead of them! I might have to place that call, though. Thanks for taking the time to answer me.
Annie

What I do, with my roof vents is:

Be there when it's the temp I'd like them to open, and at that temp, open them ever so slightly by hand, then turn the knob clockwise just enough to hold them open.

What is their operating temperature, according to the manual? 70 degrees may be below that threshold. My louvers open automatically, when my exhaust fan turns on, so I can't be any more specific about your setup, sorry, but my roof vents have a similar setup as your louvers.

Just curious, but why do you want them opening at 70 degrees? If you're wanting to hold a temp of 70 degrees, in your locale, you're probably going to need a cooling source, rather than trying to rely on louvers to keep that temp. Do you have an exhaust fan on a thermostat?

My GH is new and is about 400' from the house, and electricity. I had an electrician come out yesterday to see about getting power down there and if that goes well, I will be able to get an exhaust fan in there. Thank you though for the tip on opening them ever so slightly. When it was seventy degrees, I manually opened them by hand and truned the knob clockwise all the way. I will go do it as you suggest. My vents and louvres won't open on a thermostat with the exhaust fan so I really need to get them regulated otherwise the fan will come on and the ventilation sources won't be open.

Don't forget you can also use a photovotaic cell and DC motors on you exhaust fans. might run around a grand, so to consider after getting a estimatel from the electrician.

Did you have to turn the knob "all the way" just to get them to stay at that "slightly open" position?

When you have them slightly open, you should only have to turn it until they *stay* in that position. You should feel a bit of resistance when turning the knob, when it reaches the point that it will hold open the vent. This will be the temp at which the vents begin to open. From there, as the temp rises, the vents should gradually open wider.

If you're feeling no resistance, or you have to turn the knob all the way, simply to get them to stay open slightly, I'd venture that something's wrong with the piston.

They work quite simply. The cylinder is filled with something that will expand as it warms, pushing the rod out of the cylinder, and opening the vent. As the temp falls, the substance contracts and draws the rod back in. As I said, it may not be designed to open at such a low temp. The knob allows you to adjust how much initial pressure is applied on the rod. Turned all the way in, it should be able to hold the vents fully open.

HTH,
Eggs