Heating Help

PRV

@ April 1, 2011 2:15 PM in Fill Valve Location Pressures

Icesailor is talking about pressure reducing valve or fill valve, not pressure relief valves. I know, kinda confusing. The best and ideal place for the make up water is to cap it before the tee going in boiler #1 and tie it in on the line going to the expansion tank 

Try running blower

@ March 31, 2011 3:03 PM in Can't get warm

Try flipping the lever to the fan setting to on, instead of autoand let the blower run constantly to try to balance the levels. This allows the blower to move the hot air on the upper level and distribute through out the duct system and the heat will come on as needed to inject heat into the airflow. If nothing happens when you move the lever it may not be wired to do this. You would need three wires from the furnace to do this,  Red for R, White for W and green for G.  If you do this, the filter will be need to be replaced more often.

should have a packing nut

@ March 30, 2011 1:19 PM in Watts Isolation Flange stem leak

That iso pump flange should have a packing nut if you remove the handle and it should be right there. I'm not aware Watts made any without a packing nut but have run into other cheapo ball valves that didn't. It's very frustrating when that happens but at least you have a chance to get more work out of it by replacing.

Wow

@ March 24, 2011 3:33 PM in Hydropulse A-100

A Hydropulse that lasted 30 yrs, I'd say you got your moneys worth. Why go to all the trouble on a piece of equipment at the end of its expected service life? A Hydropulse is a primitive boiler compared to all the features of a new mod con. Put in a new mod/con, hook up the outdoor reset,  pri/sec it and add an ECM pump for your radiator loop and you have a top of the line system. Plus, you would sleep better without that tug boat sound resonating though out the house.

success?

@ March 23, 2011 10:11 PM in NTI boiler lacks DHW

Well, did they fix it?

Too much flow?

@ March 22, 2011 4:09 PM in NTI boiler lacks DHW

I take it you have the combi unit? NYT recommends a flow reducer on the DHW inlet. The orig. installer may have used a ball valve to throttle down flow to meet flow rates and someone opened the valve all the way open? The first thing would have been to figure out what the flow was going thru the flat plate heat exchanger. Perhaps your service guy did that and determined the HX needed cleaning. Get on the horn with NYT tech support if you still have problems, they're very helpful.

replace target wall!

@ March 19, 2011 3:35 PM in Exploding Peerless Pinnacle Boiler

Yes, replace the target wall. That is the dirtiest Gionnoni I've ever seen and you would need to remove the target wall to give that heat exchanger the cleaning it needs, How did you clean it? I use Rydelyme when they're that bad or you can use CLR, just let it soak a while. You should have vacuumed as much crud as possible before flushing heat exchanger. The screw and washer holding the target wall can be tricky to remove. Just make sure you don't breathe the fibers from the target wall, wet it down before removing. To install a replacement target wall, I use my shop vac and suck up the target wall against the end of the hose and guide it into the heat exchanger and cut the power once in place. When flushing, make sure you're getting good flow thru the condensate line, you may need to squeeze the rubber Ptrap to loosen debris. Also, I've used the shop vac to blow air backwards thru the P trap to break loose. if you can't find a Peerless target wall you can use a Munchkin, Lochinvar Knight, NYT target wall, they're all the same size. Good luck! 

Check burner

@ March 19, 2011 12:17 PM in Exploding Peerless Pinnacle Boiler

If you have the Pl - T50 or Pl-T80 you may want to check the burner. It should be tight with no movement. If not, remove it and clean the screws incl. below the screw head where it mates up with the burner. Also rinse out the burner under a faucet and clean the flange where the screws fasten. It rectifies the flame sense through the burner so it's important to make sure the screws holding the burner are clean and tight. Also you will need to replace the burner gasket during all this. Not sure if this could have caused the explosion. I would check your combustion set up again.

Lockout on ignition failure

@ March 15, 2011 9:19 PM in Need Laars Master

The Fenwal ignition control will lock out and needs reset on an ignition failure. Get a hold of the manual it gives the info you need for things to check, CO2 readings, manifold gas press, ohm readings of igniter. You might look at the heat exchanger too. You can remove the igniter and sort look thought the opening to see if the coils are clogged and perhaps effecting flame rectification. The Laars tech guys are great help too.

Bad #60 Extrol

@ March 13, 2011 3:54 PM in X-TROLL TANK

I replaced a #60 along with a new #30 relief valve last month at an apartment complex. Fortunately when I replaced the tank I installed a ball valve and boiler drain so I wouldn't have to drain the whole building during a future service call. Anyway I was called back the following day with water coming out of the relief valve. Isolated the tank and drained the pressure off the tank and found 0 PSI on the bladder. I know it wasn't the scrader because I always check to make sure it seats. Replaced the tank and was back in business. Not bad considering I bet I've installed 300 or 400 tanks in my 25 yr. career without a failure.

Regulator

@ March 12, 2011 9:43 AM in ORANGE GAS FLAME

You may have a regulator on the street side of your gas meter going bad. Have your utility company come out to look at  it. 

"seems"

@ March 10, 2011 9:23 AM in NTI Boiler drawing constant water??

It will seem to work fine until the heat exchanger fails from low flow and lack of cleaning. You said you'd post pics and that we might get a good laugh. Well to us professionals on here its no laughing matter. We like to focus on being safe, making sure equipment is working to its potential. We don't quote prices on here but I would take that company up on their re-piping quote.  

Piping issues

@ March 10, 2011 12:15 AM in NTI Boiler drawing constant water??

I don't mean to bust your chops on your system but you did post it for all to see.
I see a few things that could make your system perform b etter. The supply and return to the indirect tank is on the supply of the primary loop within a few inches of each other. I don't see the boiler or indirect tank getting proper flow. When there is a DHW call, the Sentry 2100 control shuts off the primary pump and powers the indirect pump only. I don't see enough water going thru the boiler with those tee's so close together.  Next, the supply and return to the radiant should be closer together off the primary loop .Personally I would have used the closely placed tee's for my primary loop and used the run of the tee's for the secondary. I don't see enough isolation and boiler drains to purge the radiant as well. Also I don't see a hole drilled on the PVC exhaust vent for a combustion test. The discoloring of the PVC on the exhaust tells me it running hot. Possibly from too rich of gas mixture, dirty heat exchanger or poor flow on DHW and radiant pumping. Not sure if the pumps are sized correctly since you haven't given that info. Oh yeah, one of the pumps has the cartridge pointing down, it should be horizontal for proper cooling.

Don't worry, I've seen worse, it won't take too much to make changes for the better

Check filter

@ March 5, 2011 3:55 PM in furnace not staying on

Sounds like its going off on high limit and I bet your filter is clogged. Also make sure all the registers are open.

maybe

@ February 27, 2011 7:54 PM in Munchkin T80 problem

With concentric vents,  it will pull in exhaust gases on low fire. If you can insert a extension of 12" on the outlet of the concentric, do it till you can revent it. Depends on what kind it is, you can't do it with the flush termination concentric. 

What Tony said

@ February 10, 2011 11:58 PM in Trianco Heatmaker HW-series

I've been meaning to chime in on this but have been super busy. The TCO I believe is only on the pre Mark II models and it's probably doing it job. The outside of the heat exchanger coil does get dirty and clogged, especially on one that old. They especially get clogged if the vent isn't pitched down toward the termination cap and a combustion analyses hadn't been done. Back in the day I used a the old Bacharach barbell tester with the red fluid for the CO2 and the green for O2.

To clean the coil, you need to remove the inducer, igniter, and flame holder. Don't lose the white piece of insulation material on top of the flame holder. You may have to stick it on with some red silicone when you reinstall it. You will also probably need to replace the flameholder gasket. You will need to remove the 5" intake and the 3" exhaust, just lift it up and push is aside. Then remove the 3 screws and nuts to the chrome bonnet of the coil and pop off the bonnet. Have a shop vac, good dust mask and a wire brush ready to go and get to scrubbing while the shop vac is running. You don't wanna breathe the dust. Be careful not to damage the refractory material on the bottom. Put it all back together, fire it up, use a gas detector on the gas union you had to break apart. Bust out your CO detector and sniff around where the inducer connects to bottom of the flame holder and use your combustion analyzer to check combustion. While doing this, have your manometer hooked up correctly and make sure your gas pressure is negative and within specs. You may need a new gas orifice and a lettered drill index A to Z. I think it comes from the factory drilled out with a D. I've had to drill out the orifice a couple sizes to get my combustion numbers right.

I would not advise doing this without the proper testing tools, experience and availability to parts. It being a pre Mark II, you need to suck it up and replace it. May I suggest a Triangle Tube Prestige Excellence?

What Tony said

@ February 10, 2011 11:51 PM in Trianco Heatmaker HW-series

I've been meaning to chime in on this but have been super busy. The TCO I believe is only on the pre Mark II models and it's probably doing it job. The outside of the heat exchanger coil does get dirty and clogged, especially on one that old. They especially get clogged if the vent isn't pitched down toward the termination cap and a combustion analyses hadn't been done. Back in the day I used a the old Bacharach barbell tester with the red fluid for the CO2 and the green for O2.

To clean the coil, you need to remove the inducer, igniter, and flame holder. Don't lose the white piece of insulation material on top of the flame holder. You may have to stick it on with some red silicone when you reinstall it. You will also probably need to replace the flameholder gasket. You will need to remove the 5" intake and the 3" exhaust, just lift it up and push is aside. Then remove the 3 screws and nuts to the chrome bonnet of the coil and pop off the bonnet. Have a shop vac, good dust mask and a wire brush ready to go and get to scrubbing while the shop vac is running. You don't wanna breathe the dust. Be careful not to damage the refractory material on the bottom. Put it all back together, fire it up, use a gas detector on the gas union you had to break apart. Bust out your CO detector and sniff around where the inducer connects to bottom of the flame holder and use your combustion analyzer to check combustion. While doing this, have your manometer hooked up correctly and make sure your gas pressure is negative and within specs. You may need a new gas orifice and a lettered drill index A to Z. I think it comes from the factory drilled out with a D. I've had to drill out the orifice a couple sizes to get my combustion numbers right.

I would not advise doing this without the proper testing tools, experience and availability to parts. It being a pre Mark II, you need to suck it up and replace it. May I suggest a Triangle Tube Prestige Excellence?

What Tony said

@ February 10, 2011 11:51 PM in Trianco Heatmaker HW-series

I've been meaning to chime in on this but have been super busy. The TCO I believe is only on the pre Mark II models and it's probably doing it job. The outside of the heat exchanger coil does get dirty and clogged, especially on one that old. They especially get clogged if the vent isn't pitched down toward the termination cap and a combustion analyses hadn't been done. Back in the day I used a the old Bacharach barbell tester with the red fluid for the CO2 and the green for O2.

To clean the coil, you need to remove the inducer, igniter, and flame holder. Don't lose the white piece of insulation material on top of the flame holder. You may have to stick it on with some red silicone when you reinstall it. You will also probably need to replace the flameholder gasket. You will need to remove the 5" intake and the 3" exhaust, just lift it up and push is aside. Then remove the 3 screws and nuts to the chrome bonnet of the coil and pop off the bonnet. Have a shop vac, good dust mask and a wire brush ready to go and get to scrubbing while the shop vac is running. You don't wanna breathe the dust. Be careful not to damage the refractory material on the bottom. Put it all back together, fire it up, use a gas detector on the gas union you had to break apart. Bust out your CO detector and sniff around where the inducer connects to bottom of the flame holder and use your combustion analyzer to check combustion. While doing this, have your manometer hooked up correctly and make sure your gas pressure is negative and within specs. You may need a new gas orifice and a lettered drill index A to Z. I think it comes from the factory drilled out with a D. I've had to drill out the orifice a couple sizes to get my combustion numbers right.

I would not advise doing this without the proper testing tools, experience and availability to parts. It being a pre Mark II, you need to suck it up and replace it. May I suggest a Triangle Tube Prestige Excellence?

Your answer

@ February 7, 2011 8:32 AM in type of water to use in radiant floor

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no such thing

@ January 26, 2011 1:17 PM in GAS DETECTORS

All gas detectors will alert when a petroleum based pipe dope is used. For gas you need to use a product without petroleum. There are a lot of Teflon based dopes out there but I've been using Megaloc for years with great results. Also a heads up, typing in caps is bad on-line etiquette, it's considered yelling.

Might be time

@ January 22, 2011 8:18 PM in Exploding Zone Valve windings

I think it might be time to call in a professional

You could...

@ January 20, 2011 11:24 PM in Gas Furnace Not Kicking On

You can make sure the blower door is on correctly and engaging the safety switch. Check to make sure the electric power switch is on. If you're feeling adventurous, you can take off the thermostat and jump the red and white wires and if the furnace fires, you can replace the thermostat. Beyond that, you could grab the Yellow Pages and look up heating and air conditioning repair companies and call one of 'em.