Heating Help

@ December 19, 2005 9:42 PM in sight glass water high, boiler water low

Interesting, Do you know what cutoff is shuting burner circuit, I see mm150 and a probe type, is the 150 calling for water on shutoff or you shutting down on probe. Is there an additional cutoff on opposite side of boiler from glass, you may be bending the water line in boiler with all that surging. You mentioned building used to be h.p., that means piping was much smaller, just a thought Very important to have the firing rate checked on that Powerflame, does the same problem occur in low fire

@ December 19, 2005 9:12 PM in vent

You can use the most common yet least favorite of mine and install were hot water vent would go, or you can us the unused 3/4 tapping at opposite end of supply. 6' gets kinda hairy using with steam, if its a first floor rad and you can install a drip back to basement that would help deal with condensate. Rad would be pitched away from supply and drip down. Have seen it done with soft copper tube, also not my favorite way but effective

@ December 12, 2005 9:45 PM in Piping relief valve for a high temp. and high pressure boiler

Didn't say what the high temp boilers were for. Do they really need 280. If they can settle for under 250 it can be kept as a low pressure application. Cover your tail and let a good heating engineer write it up in detail Let us know what its being used for

@ December 12, 2005 9:33 PM in boiler flood

Doesnt sound right, no relation to open air vent and steam boiler flooding. Have it checked out

@ December 12, 2005 9:30 PM in Copper pipe for hartford loop?

Here's my opinion with brief explaination, make your own decision. I prefer blk pipe all around however copper is acceptable to me on returns in residential applications providing they are wet the whole time. Heres why, copper expand and contracts at a great rate with temp, so if wet temp diff will not be too great during heating season. If not wet, above water line or carrying steam every cycle will cause much movement in copper and the joints will eventually fail. If you have a reputable contractor, trust them.

@ December 12, 2005 9:17 PM in Steam-heat -I can't figure out how to heat!

The relief valve you are referring to is a main air vent that needs replacement. Open all radiator valves, they should also have vents on the side of rads. Do these vents hiss or whistle a little when steam is up, if not replace all radiator vents. They should hiss untill radiator is hot. Call a local in to take a look. And of course don't forget to insulate

@ December 12, 2005 8:52 PM in Steam vent on top of radiator or side, which is better and why.

Lower tapping for steam upper for hot water. Steam is lighter than air and will travel up and push the air down and out. On top vent may close off too early

Ground Zero

@ August 29, 2002 10:22 PM in Ground Zero

Frank, I too was down there shortly after the attack and I must agree with you that the most disturbing thing was the spray paint on buildings. The demo crews were awsome, trucks lined up like soldiers for blocks. It also hurt watching truckloads of mangled steel pulling through the D.E.P. truck wash station. The truck wash station was there to remove the dust and possible contaminates from all trucks. Never ever forget

Gauge

@ July 29, 2002 9:49 PM in Steam Pressure gauge

A 30lb steam gauge is a must on low pressure steam boilers, this is an a.s.m.e. code requirement. Double the max working pressure. But by all means you can add another gauge at a lower pressure to get a more accurate reading. A residential boiler with a 30lb gauge will barely move the dial if setup properly.

Pump controllers

@ July 28, 2002 9:21 PM in old school, newboilers

Check your Mcdonald Miller catalogue. The controllers I'm most familiar with are the 150 & 157 these are basically the same unit with the 157 having a built in water bottle. These units are dual purpose, pump controller and LWCO, 2 switchs tripping at different levels. This is the way to go but if your using 2 controllers you'll have to isolate the common return and make each boiler feed independent. One control per pump/boiler I set pump on 1.5-2" below normal water line on larger boilers. Be carefull if there scotch marine boilers with coils, the normal water line barely keeps coil submerged. This is a common problem in N.Y.C. where steam boilers and coils are the norm, forcing a higher water line and affecting steam quality. In addition to your pump control/ Cutoff an additional cutoff is required and it may have to be a manual reset type MM 63m popular here. Check with your MM Rep they'll be more help than me Good Luck Larry