Heating Help

Hot water boiler maintenance

@ June 13, 2013 6:33 PM in NEED User/Owners Manual for Old American Standard Boiler

It looks like our previous steam boiler minus a couple of sections. When the thermostat opened the gas valve, the air intakes of the burner tubes would whistle.
A yearly maintenance should include:
1.removing the burner tubes, and brushing, or blowing out any dust/cob webs from the burner flame grids. When reassembling the burner, the air mixture can be adjusted by screwing in or out the air shutters at the front ends of each burner tube. If they were not so crude,in their adjustment, I would suggest getting someone with proper equipment to do it for you.
2. Using a mirror and light to inspect the sections for any obvious leaks.
3.checking the standing pilot flames for correct color, and impingement on the thermocouples. (the pilots will use about $30.00 of gas a month).
4.check the chimney flue metal for rust holes, and the bottom of the chimney for obstruction.
5.keep the automatic fill valve closed except when actually refilling the boiler. The tridicator gauge should show about 12 psi for a 2story building.
6.keep the water temperature set above 140 degrees at a minimum, and 180 degrees max. In the shoulder seasons, you can play with the settings, as warmer weather suit lower water temperatures for lower fuel consumption.
7. Check the thermostat for proper anticipation settings. Probably a Honeywell visionpro with a remote indoor sensor would enable the control unit to be in a locked storeroom away from prying fingers, if this is an apartment house.
8. Make sure there are no chemicals stored near the boiler-especially water softener salt, or detergents.
Is this boiler making any domestic hot water?
Anyone else see anything I missed?--NBC
6.

Any specific questions?

@ June 13, 2013 11:47 AM in NEED User/Owners Manual for Old American Standard Boiler

Is this a hot water boiler, or steam? If steam, then repost in the steam section.
General knowledge could be had from the books in the shop here.
Post some pictures here to further identify the model.--NBC

Important attendee

@ June 11, 2013 10:59 PM in Steam Assoc Planning Meeting...June 21, Chicago

Will Dan be at this meeting, maybe with his books?--NBC

Video conferencing

@ June 11, 2013 7:05 AM in Steam Assoc Planning Meeting...June 21, Chicago

If video conferencing were available, the audience participation could be greater.
Will any reps from the manufacturers be there ie. Hoffman, gorton, Honeywell, peerless, burnham, Weil-maclain, slant-fin, M-M, etc?

Gerry, if this is "swimmers ear", a little rubbing alcohol poured into the ear will dry out the trapped water.--NBC

Oversized boiler

@ June 10, 2013 6:48 AM in Downsizing boiler

With such an oversized boiler, maximumum main venting would reduce the short-cycling. A 0-3 psi gauge would tell you when you had reached the open-pipe equivalent. Making sure the radiator vents were slower Hoffman 40's would help.--NBC

As if we had been there

@ June 10, 2013 6:44 AM in Steam Assoc Planning Meeting...June 21, Chicago

Could a video of this meeting be made so all of us here who might not be able to attend, could see see it and benefit?--NBC

Sealed with salt?

@ June 6, 2013 11:26 PM in Radiator - can I use for FHW?

Can you elaborate on the salt treatment for leaks please.--NBC

Old boiler deposits

@ June 6, 2013 11:17 PM in 1940ish boiler

How could that boiler have accumulated so much debris, even after 70+ years?
Surely it's a closed system.--NBC

Good lawyer-or good contract?

@ June 5, 2013 11:04 PM in Steam to hot water radiator conversion valves

In this case the contract of installation would be the most important. The problems of leaks may not show up right away, but a few years down the road. Therefore the installation contract should specify the length of warantee, so thet a leak in 2 years is not covered, either for it's repair, or it's damage.
This should not be in the fine print, but an up front clause, to prevent annoying calls from the customer,or his insurance co.
A pressure test would be a good idea in this case, to pinpoint any weak spots in the piping.--NBC

Storage bins?

@ June 3, 2013 11:50 AM in Anybody seen these

Try harbor freight--NBC

Main vents

@ June 3, 2013 10:48 AM in airvents ?

Definitely put on a 0-3 psi gauge (gaugestore.com) along side a new 0-30 gauge, as that will show you the back-pressure of main venting. You want the new main venting to approximate the low back-pressure of an open pipe as possible.
As you won't probably be able to run the system much before next winter, I would suggest some gorton 2's as a replacements. Leave the present radiator vents in place, as they seem to last longer than the mains even when over-pressured. At the start of winter, you can see if there are obvious signs of non-working radiator vents.
Set the pressure as low as you can on the pressuretrol, and check the pigtail for obstruction as you mount the gauges.
A full-port ball valve could serve as the new boiler drain.--NBC

Buy American ! Or buy cheap

@ June 1, 2013 11:17 PM in Buy American

The problem is that those fittings, even though having been shipped thousands of miles, are still cheaper than the domestic fitting-because the American Consumer demands the lowest price! Quality of manufacture is rarely an issue, and as we have seen here, the desire for a low price continues into the shoddy installs we have seen on display here, as we try to diagnose various problems with badly/cheaply installed systems.--NBC

twin boilers

@ May 27, 2013 12:03 AM in TwinBoiler Schematic

would a Gifford loop, be better at keeping the boiler levels under control?--nbc

What type of system?

@ May 26, 2013 9:43 AM in Need to replace Oil Burner - Gonna have to spend anyway what is the best brand for reliability and efficiency I should look at?

Hot water or steam?

Heat loss calculation

@ May 20, 2013 11:36 PM in Direct Return Pump Question

Will the new boiler be sized to the heat loss?--NBC

Alternative chimney

@ May 19, 2013 11:55 AM in Ideal Gas Boiler (American Radiator Company) conversion

The existing chimney is probably much larger than needed for a correctly sized modern boiler, and could be replaced with a smaller diameter flue pipe up through the roof. Having a chimney of the correct size would make the boiler more efficient as well.
I would think that the whole chimney will have to be removed from top to bottom, and not just at the kitchen level.--NBC

Degree days

@ May 19, 2013 11:48 AM in What is the most effective heating system for Schools & Intermittent use buildings?

My suggested test is probably too short to use degree days, in which case it could be comparing a weeks run at constant temperature with a weeks worth of daily setbacks. Then the degree day information would make the correction.
I wonder what the temperature is in those Canadian school rooms on a Monday morning! It might require a higher thermostat setting for being comfortable in a room with cold walls, as I said.--NBC

Setback fuel consumption

@ May 19, 2013 11:27 AM in What is the most effective heating system for Schools & Intermittent use buildings?

This may be a way to measure any savings which result from a setback.
1.turn off the setback feature on the thermostat.
2.set the thermostat to the normal high temperature you use, and read the gas meter, and write down the time. Let the boiler run normally for a couple of days.
2. read the gas meter, and note the time. Set the thermostat down to the lower setting, and let it run for 8 hours or so.
3.reset the thermostat to the higher setting, and as soon as the thermostat turns the boiler off, read the meter, and note the time. You have to be vigilant here to catch the exact moment.
4.calculate the cubic feet per hour of the first run at the higher temperature, and compare that figure with the cubic feet of gas used during the lower plus the recovery period. The consumption figures should show how much fuel was saved or not. Unfortunately I do not know how to make allowance for the vagaries of weather in this formula, but maybe someone else has an idea.--NBC

Pumping away, or backwards?

@ May 19, 2013 11:08 AM in Gas Boiler Pump and Zone Locations

Why not put some tape on all the pipes, and arrows marking the direction of flow, including the inlet and outlet of the boiler.
Then take another picture, and repost so it will be easier to see.--NBC

Catagories

@ May 19, 2013 11:05 AM in Order of Catagories on the Wall

When I first suggested putting strictly steam at the top it was to discourage newbies from asking steam questions in the wall. Invariably they would be told to repost in strictly steam.
If they had seen that at the top, then they would have gone there first.--NBC

perception of comfort

@ May 18, 2013 10:32 AM in What is the most effective heating system for Schools & Intermittent use buildings?

one point to consider is the perception of comfort.
in a room whose walls have cooled down during the setback, the heating will have to be set higher to compensate; whereas if the walls are kept warm, the constant temperature can be lower, without making anyone feel cold.--nbc

Venting suggestions

@ May 15, 2013 6:14 PM in Sizing main vents

In addition to Steamheads comments, I will suggest that you do not change the radiator vents until the main vents have been replaced.
Slow radiator vents coupled with fast, and capacious main vents works best to fill all the supplies with steam before the steam starts up the risers to the radiators.
Post some pictures of your boiler piping so we can see if there are any other factors here causing poor performance.--NBC