Heating Help

fans

@ January 16, 2007 8:05 AM in thermal shock condensing boiler

Unfortunately, once an issue surfaces, it becomes the root of everything that happens to a boiler. In this case, I would be far less likely to suspect the fan, and more prone to looking toward a flow issue. Are there zone valves on the system? Is the circulator sized correctly? Is the piping the correct size and is there a primary loop? There is a lot of heat left in the boiler even after the flame shuts down; if the flow was insufficient to begin with, the water in the boiler is hotter than expected. Upon shutdown, the latent heat boosts that up even further, causing "flashing", which is literally steam.

Flatlander

@ January 8, 2007 2:12 PM in Food vs Fuel

I am not from any farm belt-where I am, a 25 acre field has always been huge to me. What I do see is the small family farms having to become a tourist attraction in order to survive. They BUY their "farm made" preserves for resale with plain paper labels, and the corn fields are mowed into mazes for the kids. They seem to be making it, but it is NOT their Grandfather's farming. Could we, as a country, survive on what we grow (Veggies, fruit, cattle feed?) I would HOPE that eventually the American Farmer can prosper by having the market demand whatever he or she can grow, be it corn for oil or alcohol, or brussel sprouts for gas.

Hmm

@ January 8, 2007 10:20 AM in Ultra and Snowmelt

Having just read Darrell's post, I may have spoken out of turn;my knowledge of the W/M control is limited. As far as I know, the control in the boiler simply has two sets of operation built in- one single temp priority, and one reset temp. The purge feature is great, but if it is in the way, it can be worked around.

switch

@ January 8, 2007 10:15 AM in Ultra and Snowmelt

Can you make the current DHW side the HEAT side, and vice versa, thus prioritizing the HEAT? If you are using the outdoor reset, the radiant side is getting a little benefit, but in this case I would think that it is worth losing. With that, the outdoor feature would actually help in controlling the snow melt by disabling it in warmer weather. Split the new heat zone with a 2 zone priority relay, and the DHW takes full priority, followed by the heat, and finally the snowmelt.

can or should

@ January 6, 2007 10:57 AM in Stainless steel 316L

Be careful-even though a material may function well, it will not release you from liability should anything happen. The safe bet is to either use what is specified in the manual or get written consent from the manufacturer.

tank

@ January 5, 2007 10:09 AM in Munchkin to replace Laars

On the tank side, I don't really see how it can. The incoming hot water is actually used as a catalyst to heat the colder water on the bottom of the tank, so I would only see things working better. The constant circulation is something to keep in mind, as the Laars may not acclimate well to it depending on it's operating scheme. You can address that in the piping, so that the Laars stays more or less stable.

VWH

@ January 5, 2007 9:21 AM in Munchkin to replace Laars

IF nothing has changed, the VWH Munchkin has constant circulation to the tank. Toward that end, the piping wouldn't make much difference in generating a standing tankful of hot water. My concern would be under extreme use, the tank may stratify, leaving consierably cooler water at the bottom causing thermal issues, like stress and sweating. If you are cutting out the existing boiler, why not just use the piping in reverse, per the Munchkin manual? It would seem (from here) fairly simple at the boiler side.

Nozzle

@ December 30, 2006 9:50 AM in need a starting point for a weil p468 w beckett

I always had great luck with a 1.00 80*A @100psi in that boiler. Side bands at 10, main band closed. Since that unit has been "worked", I would also check the "Z" dimension (nozzle depth to head).

Cell core

@ December 28, 2006 10:13 AM in Munchkin Exhaust PVC problem - please help

I don't think that fire is the issue as much as the deterioration of the pipe itself. Any heat degradation of the pipe within a ceiling space would allow the exhaust gases to vent within the building-unseen. Not good. It is not worth risking a life to save the cost or aggravation of the correct repair.

Venting

@ December 23, 2006 10:42 AM in Ultra Burner Condensation

One aspect of venting the Mod/Con boilers that I always stress is to try and vent with the exhaust ABOVE the intake-preferably 12 inches above. The warm plume will always want to rise and disperse. The condensing ON the burner could in fact be condensing from WITHIN the burner- re-circ, poor roof drainage allowing heavy moisture in the intake air,other vents near the intake, or even high moisture in the gas supply (rare, but maybe).

noise

@ December 23, 2006 10:03 AM in Moaning and groaning

Does it seem to be a boiler noise, or is it a burner noise?

Awesome

@ December 23, 2006 10:01 AM in Christmas Present (Glenn Stanton)

Congratulations! That's one grandchild for each grandparent-no need to share! That is truly good news for THIS holiday season, and it will be even MORE fun next year, with little ones about. It was nice of them to plan the kids after the heating season, so you will have more flexibility.

drains

@ December 22, 2006 9:11 AM in boiler drains

One thing to note: Have you noticed that most OEM boiler drains now have no handle, just a screw slot? There was an incident where a child was playing in the boiler room and kicked a conventional drain handle, which spun open and burned the child. You can see where this is going- Whatever you put on the boiler, CYA-if it's a ball valve, remove the handle and hang it somewhere out of reach.

oversize

@ December 22, 2006 9:05 AM in Mod/Cons and boiler oversizing

My feeling on the Mod/Con boilers has always been that they have a huge advantage in the oversizing dilemna: The boiler will only operate at a rate commeasurate with the load. If your existing boiler (conventional) is 110K, and you replace it with a 110K Mod/Con, the new boiler will automatically operate on the actual system load. If that is 77K, the boiler will run at 77K. The other huge advantage is with indirect tanks: My heat load is a mere 78K, but with MY kids, if I want a hot shower, I need to supply my indirect with considerably more BTUs. A Mod/Con can flex like that, giving optimum performance for the HW, while offering optimum efficiency for my heating. Another note on YOUR system: Those cast iron radiators are great with a Mod/Con boiler-they can handle a fairly wide range of supply temps, making outdoor reset very worthwhile, AND, because of the volume of water that they hold, they will make the boiler condense more, thus be more efficient. With many Mod/Cons, you also dont have to worry about thermally shocking the boiler with cold return water- they love it. All that before coffee...

condensate?

@ December 21, 2006 4:09 PM in Munchkin F10

Check that the condensate drain is still free to drain. This time of year there is a lot of moving stuff about the home, and occasionally that entails something pinching the drain tubing. It could also mean something having been moved OUTSIDE the home, causing the flue gases to be drawn into the intake. Watch the vent while the unit is running. The steam plume should run off, away from the building.

cleaning

@ December 20, 2006 8:10 AM in prestige boiler

I think that the fire tube design makes the unit a bit less prone to the normal buildup, and the condensate will wash the ways further, but routine maintenance should always be done.

well

@ December 14, 2006 2:12 PM in Water Dripping from limit control

The well is essentially a capped off tube that allows the control to feel the water temp. in the boiler without actually being in the water. It allows the control to be changed without draining the boiler. Like your finger in a rubber glove-you can feel the water without actually touching it.

Smell

@ December 14, 2006 1:54 PM in novelist needs realistic details about steam boiler problems

How would you describe the smell that said cracked steam monster would emit? The air was thick with vapor, with a smell reminiscent of ......??? Fresh dirt mixed with something else comes to mind, but I just can't get my mind around it.

Sorry

@ December 14, 2006 1:47 PM in no steam

Sorry, all I could think about here is my Dad's voice saying "That hurt like heck, didn't it?" Don't do this with the system full of steam....

Wow

@ December 13, 2006 9:13 AM in Smith 28 Install

Hey-that's one of mine! Not too many Smiths make the pages here, and I am glad to see one. Nice work, Al. They will certainly be happy with their oil bill now as well- The old Mills boilers were tanks, but weren't quite as efficient as the 28s or the 28HEs.

Hmmm

@ December 10, 2006 1:58 PM in Got a Munchkin headache SE

This is a perplexing one. I would begin by DISCONNECTING the green ground wire from the boiler and try it. The flame rectification system looks to that ground as a known ZERO, then bases the rectification off of that. If there is some stray juice running through the ground, the system only sees the delta, which when dealing in micro amps, isn't much. The burner gasket is the only other scenario that I can see. Was there ever any condensate backup in this unit? That will deteriorate the gasket, if serious enough.

troubleshooting

@ December 10, 2006 1:05 PM in Munchkin F00 fault, sensor okay, but no voltage to it---no heat

Higher tech equipment is different than the old school stuff that we all were used to dealing with, and every manufacturer is going to have some high tech fault issues that defy straight line logic. The best service advice that I can give in any situation like this is to disconnect everything back to the boiler (indirect, TT, outdoor sensor),and work your way out from there. As for trusting the last guy's work....we will have to leave that for another set of posts.