Heating Help

Sizing drop header

@ December 11, 2008 10:03 PM in Sizing drop header

I am going to re-pipe some poorly installed steam piping off a boiler that burns 490,000 BTU/hour. The Smith boiler has two 3-inch risers. My plan was to pipe the two 3-inch risers to loop down to a 4-inch pipe that would feed three risers to feed the three mains for the building. Will the 4-inch pipe be large enough? Larger is so much more expensive. Suggestions? Steve

@ December 2, 2008 8:51 PM in Boiler Water Still Dirty

Perfectly normal. Steam pipes and radiators have some rust inside them since they are exposed to air. Every time the condensate comes back to the boiler, so does some rust. If the water has some faint rust but you can still see through the water, don't worry about it. If it's darker, a complete draining and refill of the boiler might be in order. But add water gradually so you don't crack the boiler. Then run the boiler to a full boil for a while to help get the oxygen out of the water. You shouldn't have to do this more than once every several years.

Any way to change cutout level of M&M 94 LWCO??

@ November 30, 2008 12:37 PM in Any way to change cutout level of M&M 94 LWCO??

The LWCO on a Smith Model 19-6 starts the boiler feed pump when the water level drops to the "normal" line and then fills until it is 2-inches above normal. Is there a way to adjust this or do I need to have the device removed and installed 2-inches lower. The line on the casting is the same level as the normal line.

@ November 28, 2008 7:57 AM in Helping a poor family

I was planning on doing it. But thanks for the push. You never realize how hard life is for some people until you do something like this.

Helping a poor family with steam heat

@ November 27, 2008 6:36 PM in Helping a poor family

I have been helping a mother with three kids who are victims of abuse in Millers Falls and fled their home and father/husband. We have helped them find a flat in a two-family house here with steam heat. The boiler is a brand new WM-SGO but the two mains in the basement, with total length 30 feet, are uninsulated. I have some extra vents for the mains to make them work better, but I'm not sure, for a renter, whether they'll save enough to warrant me paying the $50 - $75 that the insulation will cost. I know its the proper thing to do, but if the oil bill will be around 1000 gallons for the winter, will they save $50 worth of oil? Thoughts?

How to properly set cut-out pressure of vaportrol?

@ November 27, 2008 12:25 PM in How to properly set cut-out pressure of vaportrol?

In all the reading of Dan's books and here on the wall, I have never seen instructions on how to determine the correct cut-out and cut-in pressure of a steam boiler. My intuition has the cut-out when radiators are half hot, since by that point, they will be all hot in another couple minutes, but I really don't know. How do the steam pros set their vaportrols?

@ November 27, 2008 11:53 AM in Can the McDonnell Miller 67W-2 LWCO be serviced?

Ed: Yeah, I know. But I really didn't care. Nor did I want to waste the time of the installer since it wasn't his fault. I just figured I would deal with it one day, eventually. Steve

@ November 25, 2008 8:26 AM in Can the McDonnell Miller 67W-2 LWCO be serviced?

Thanks. It was defective from a month after installation and I finally decided I should do something about it. The LWCO is OK, though:0)

@ November 24, 2008 8:52 PM in Can the McDonnell Miller 67W-2 LWCO be serviced?

I have a WM SGO-4. The low voltage switch on the McDonnell Miller LWCO is intermittent and powering the water feeder when it doesn't need water. I have connected an ohmmeter to the switch terminals and see that it is closing and opening even though the water level is fine. The high voltage part of the switch is fine. I can't see any way to open this device to replace the switch. Is this designed to be repaired, or disposed of?

@ November 23, 2008 10:39 PM in Radiant not radiating

I had a similar problem with my own radiant install in my home. A larger circulator did the trick. I installed a 3-speed. I have cathedral ceilings, as well, and need the supplementary baseboard on the coldest days when the temp is below 10*.

@ November 23, 2008 10:32 PM in NEED SOME DIRECTION!

Hot water or steam heat? If water, do you have more than one circulator? If one circulator, do you have zone valves or more than one thermostat?

Will a Vaportrol help

@ November 23, 2008 9:45 PM in Steam shooting out of condensate tank vent

if the pressure is .5psi, will that prevent the steam from pushing through the 24-inch column of water leading to the tank?

@ November 23, 2008 6:14 PM in Copper Piping in Steam System

Definitely replace the copper.

@ November 23, 2008 5:47 PM in Steam Venting or Firing Rate

I just checked the specs on the pressuretrol used on this boiler. It's an L404C that apparently has a minimum of 2psi pressure. So I assume that even if I set it lower, it will run to 2 psi. If the pipe to the tank is only rises 24-inches, then 2-psi would be pushing above that water column. Sounds like vaportrol my might be my solution and just run it at .5psi, which shouldn't push the 24-inch water column. Can someone confirm that my logic makes sense; or not?

@ November 23, 2008 3:45 PM in Steam shooting out of condensate tank vent

The tank may not have been needed in the past, but due to renovations that will force one of the condensate returns to use a condensate tank and pump, making this tank work properly is the best route to take. The present line (50-feet from the boiler) prevents a proper handicap access ramp, so we need to move the line.

Steam shooting out of condensate tank vent

@ November 23, 2008 3:33 PM in Steam shooting out of condensate tank vent

Condensate tank vent on 1100 EDR one-pipe system is shooting steam out when system gets hot. The pipe to the tank rises 24" from the wet return before going into the tank. Does this mean the system pressure is greater than the ~1psi that a 24" column requires to lift? I was thinking of getting a vaportrol to get the system pressure lower than the pressuretrol allows. The system never shuts on pressure, since the steam just shoots out. Will this help solve the problem? The system has good venting on the mains. There are no traps whatsoever in the system. Suggestions?

@ November 20, 2008 10:25 PM in Do I need a condensate tank and feed pump?

What do you mean by Orifices work well with low pressure.

@ November 20, 2008 10:11 PM in Do I need a condensate tank and feed pump?

Thanks for your comments. The system has no traps at all. All one pipe steam.

@ November 20, 2008 9:58 PM in Do I need a condensate tank and feed pump?

System pressure is set at .5psi. But the pressure gauge won't measure that low pressure.

@ November 20, 2008 9:57 PM in Do I need a condensate tank and feed pump?

The boiler is 10 years old.

Traps

@ November 20, 2008 8:44 PM in Do I need a condensate tank and feed pump?

A number of years back, all the returns, which were under the concrete, were replaced. I wonder if there were traps in the past.

@ November 20, 2008 8:42 PM in Do I need a condensate tank and feed pump?

There are no traps on the entire system. I added main vents.