Heating Help

heat pump hot water heater

@ February 26, 2013 7:23 PM in heat pump hot water heater

anyone install any of these yet??? operating savings are quite good.

condensate

@ February 19, 2013 6:00 PM in Clean Steam generator

Not a water treatment expert but softened water is probably good. Also the quantity i would think is not enough to be an issue

economiser

@ February 19, 2013 5:56 PM in Honeywell economizer

Set the minimum position potentiometer to the minimum amount of outside air you want to maintain. When the unit is shut off the O A damper will close. Whenever the unit is running the damper will open to the minimum position setting. If the unit is calling for economiser operation the damper will open more to use outdoor air for free cooling if the outdoor air is suitable.

A,B,C, AND D ARE THE SET POINTS USED TO DETERMINE THE TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY THAT YOU WANT TO USE FOR THE ECONOMISER OPERATION. FOR INSTANCE A. COULD BE 70DEG AT 50% RH, B COULD BE 65 DEG AT 50% RH, C COULD BE 60 DEG AT 50%RH.
the set point determines economiser operation and changeover to mechanical cooling setpoints. refer to the paperwork for you specific controls. hope this helps

Retired?

@ February 9, 2013 8:28 PM in commercial

I have 40 years and am not retired!! Haven't got enough money yet so you must be smarter than me. Not being a wise guy, just happy to have people with a lot of hard earned experience on this site.

PH

@ January 8, 2013 7:38 PM in gauge glass erosion

yeah, just ran into the same thing with a fulton boiler about 2 years ago. check the ph of the water. we couldn't keep a gage glass in this one.
Ed

threaders

@ January 7, 2013 9:24 PM in Wheeler Rex threader

Have no experience with Wheeler Rex. There is a lot of stuff out their besides Rigid and some of it is very good. Reed, Rothenberger/Collins, Rems. Toledo and Oster are mostly gone because you can't find parts.
I think Rems is excellent stuff made in Germany. I had an Amigo threader made by Rems (until my brother borrowed?? it)
I also have (2) Toledo 41E threaders (threads 2 1/2-4") basically the same as the Ridgid 141. They need dies which I guess are unavailable (have checked e-bay).
Hate to throw them out.
Ed

stat

@ December 29, 2012 8:05 PM in old Powers pneumatic thermostat question

i agree probably a day/night setback stat. if you follow the air line back to it's source you will probably find two air pressure regulators piped in parallel each with a solenoid valve for each reg.. A time clock switched the solenoids on a day night basis. The air pressure regulators were set at different pressures. 20 psi day -15 psi night or whatever the manufacturer required. It is slightly different between control mfg, Powers, Honeywell, Johnson, Barber/ Coleman

What he said

@ December 29, 2012 7:47 PM in Moving radiator a few inches

What Boiler Wrestler said is exactly what you need to do. Jam something inside the spud so it doesn't crush and you can probably wrench it out. Cutting the nut off gives you more room for your wrench. Change the valve and you will have a new spud to use with a coupling and a nipple. Lay the rad down when wrenching out the spud.
The right wrenches, a cheater pipe and some muscles and you'll be fine.

pneumatics

@ December 22, 2012 7:08 PM in Trouble in Glencoe

The trouble may be with the pneumatic controls. Most people will probably tell you to rip them out They are the ones that don't know how to work on them.. Pneumatics are fairly simple and reliable and dependable . They usually need a little service, keeping the air lines free of oil and water and calabrating the controls once or twice a year and they will work well.
The trick is to find someone old enough to know how to work on that equipment. I have no doubt you could do it with a little training if you are unfamalier with the controls.
I'm plenty old enough but to far away to help.

gravity

@ December 17, 2012 6:10 PM in scalding water from indirect water heater on a steam boiler

Hotter water in the boiler is making the water circulate by gravity. Need a mixing valve on the domestic side, a flow check on the boiler side and check that the temperature control is operating the pump correctly

vent

@ December 12, 2012 7:16 PM in Condensate Pump Tank Vent Pipe

yes you can extend the vent.

gas tight

@ December 12, 2012 7:09 PM in underground gas pipe

for a short run gastight sleeved in pvc conduit.

no way no how

@ December 11, 2012 5:15 PM in coyote vs road runner application

Sounds like they are trying to rewrite physics. Put the boiler up top or use a heat exchanger as Carl said. It's the only way.

Probably Not

@ December 10, 2012 7:35 PM in commercial dual fuel burners

Weather the burner is running on oil or gas the oil tank must have oil in it, all valves on and the burner pump moving oil. If only gas is going to be burned for a period of time then the coupling can be removed to save ware and tear on the oil pump. I suspect someone shut off the oil, ran the tank dry or the oil filter plugged up and damaged the oil pump which froze up and caused the coupling to strip. 
I can't think of any reason the stripped coupling would prevent the gas side from going to high fire.
 The coupling replacement is basically the same as any residential burner. The I/F burners I worked on had a coupling with a 1/8" set screw (1/8" allen wrench). One end went on the 7/16 oil pump shaft and the blower wheels had a 5/8" stub shaft fitted to the blower wheel with the other end attached to the oil pump coupling. On some of their burners the blower wheel cannot be pulled out with the motor. The opening in the burner is small. To disassemble you remove the oil pump, air shroud, coupling, blower wheel and blower motor in that order.

pitch

@ December 8, 2012 5:48 PM in Close to perfect BUT...bangggg

If you pitch one end up the other end must go down. You could be making a low spot in the supply under the floor. If you bring the entire rad up slightly and then pitch the far end up it is possible it might help.

Ok

@ December 8, 2012 5:35 PM in commercial dual fuel burners

OK. It's probably an Iron Fireman Burner. Their out of business but I am sure there are plenty still in the field. They were owned by Space Conditioning, then Dunham Bush owned them and then sold them to Vapor Power out of Chicago. There is a company that has repair parts for these burners and is doing the same with Kewanee boilers. Can't remember the name but you can google it. You could probably get a wiring diagram from them and a burner manual that will help you troubleshoot it. Go to your local supplier who handles Fireye and get the paperwork for the control. (It may be available on line).
With those three things that should get you started. Do you know the burner Model # I am familiar with these burners?

just a thought

@ December 8, 2012 10:20 AM in Close to perfect BUT...bangggg

Just a thought. If some radiators were pitched up on the far end to make them drain back toward the supply (which is correct with a 1 pipe system). Could they have been pitched too much causing the supply pipe under the floor to have a low spot ?
You may have to raise the radiator on both ends slightly and then raise the far end.

install

@ December 8, 2012 10:06 AM in labor hrs

What techman said. If your boss has never done an install he will never know how long it will take. Next time you do an install make a list of every tool, every part and every fitting you use. This will take up several pages. Hand it to him it will open his eyes.

Rather than telling him show him.

unit heater

@ December 8, 2012 10:00 AM in Unit (Garage) Heater

Steam, Hot Water, Gas??????????

Commercial Burners

@ December 7, 2012 7:37 PM in commercial dual fuel burners

This is a specialized field all to it's own. Fireye has an excellent school, they are in Derry, NH I believe. There is a lot to learn here just to be semi-competent on this type of equipment. Be careful.

additional heat

@ December 5, 2012 7:27 PM in Adding additional steam heat

Do a heat loss and make sure what you are adding will do the job. You don't want to have to do it twice. Adding hot water heat is the way to go and while probably not an easy install will be easier than adding steam.
One of Dan's books (forgot which one) explains in detail how to add a hot water zone to a steam boiler.
Ed

Boiler Water Level

@ December 4, 2012 6:09 PM in why does the water level drop when burner shuts off

If a system is large in comparison to the boiler, (or if the boiler is under a heavy load) I have seen boilers shut off on pressure (or have the burner cut from high fire back to low fire) and due to the load the steam leaves the boiler quickly
 Because the boiler water has been heated to the corresponding higher pressure, the remaining water flashes into steam and causes the water level to drop. Also causes an unstable water line due to the high velocity of the steam leaving the boiler.

I'm sure that's as clear as mud.
Ed