Heating Help

You sound like I did

@ February 4, 2012 2:56 PM in Non-Softening Scale Control Devices

All I can tell you is Go buy one and try it. Im sure being in business that long someone will give a a very special self use price.
Surely you have a customer that has a calcium problem that will let you give it a try.
What have you got to lose, a couple of bucks and a little time for first hand knowledge is a cheap price to pay.

I was a disbeliever

@ February 4, 2012 11:09 AM in Non-Softening Scale Control Devices

I argued this point with Mark, Of course I was getting my info from a water conditioning magazine whos main contributors and advertisers have vested interest.
But knowing that Mark is the kind of guy who takes things apart just to see how they work, I couldnt just disregard his advice.
So I bypassed the water softner and installed an electric descaler. Since that time I have thrown out the water softner to make more room in my mechanical room.
It works very well and when scale deposits are left from sitting water evaporating(They dont remove calcium) the scale is easily cleaned off with a little mineral acid based cleaner, much easier than the stains left from the sodium.
My apologies Mark, you were correct. If I recall that was over 3 years ago.

Liquid Draw

@ January 30, 2012 8:20 AM in another propane convention question on dual[ing] bulk tanks

You can also do a liquid draw and then vaporize in a heated area or device.
This is how towmotors and larger generators are fed and then heat from the engine is used to vaporize the liquid. Tank size becomes inconsequential, except for duration.

The Book

@ January 29, 2012 9:44 PM in How many zones for a Ranch house?

MODERN HYDRONIC HEATING by John Siegenthaler has an excellent chapter on zoning. Chapter 11 in the 2nd edition. Over zoning has often been oversold.
Things like interior wall insulation and doors play a big part.
Before I would spend the money on all those zone valves I would pick up a copy of this book and spend a day or two to read it.

Here is a handy book I use

@ January 29, 2012 9:14 PM in another propane convention question on dual[ing] bulk tanks

Read the entire book, but look at the section on regulators and why 10 lbs should not be used in very cold weather.
This should answer alot of your questions.
Good Luck

Chris

@ December 8, 2011 8:05 PM in Question for homeowners

I use my Ipad as a poor mans glass panel LOL. But looking at your Avatar you dont need it for that! That is a sweet looking cockpit. What type of aircraft is that?

It was about the same

@ November 22, 2011 8:30 AM in geothermal worth the investment?

The load side with the buffer tank was very similar to any primary secondary arrangement and the source side was water from the well in and a flow restrictor.
No gas pipe, only a # 12 wire, I would have to say the same if not even a little easier.
Definitely a bit louder than a mod con, If I were to install one for a customer I would have to sound insulate a little better.
That being said, I agree with you, If I had to do an entire field or drill wells I cant see the payback.

That is a much higher quality

@ November 21, 2011 8:52 PM in new residential generator - defective control

generator than the generac at home depot and im sure that its cost was significantly more.

That depends Chris

@ November 21, 2011 8:48 PM in geothermal worth the investment?

My three ton water to water geo was the same price as a prestige boiler. My existing well and constant pressure pump could easily produce the 4 1/2 gpm needed and the small creek aside of my home was a perfect dump. I used a 40 gal solar tank as a buffer and a tekmar outdoor reset control. The cost to install was about the same as a condensing system.
I live in Pa so our winters are not nearly as long or cold as others and well water is very plentiful and clean. Places like mine where the situation is right, it is hard to beat the cost of operation. I plan on removing  my lp prestige from the shop next year and installing another pump and dump 2 ton in there. Propane prices are insane nomatter how efficiently we burn it.

What type of alternator

@ November 21, 2011 7:37 PM in new residential generator - defective control

2 stator(3600rpm) 4 stator(1800 rpm)?

120 volt pumps

@ November 20, 2011 10:37 PM in new residential generator - defective control

They are common in 1/2 horse models. Add a cycle stop to prevent starting and stopping and your honda will easily handle the load. Otherwise you have to go all the way up to a 6500 watt unit to get 240 volts.

Why do you not favor pump and dump

@ November 20, 2011 10:24 PM in geothermal worth the investment?

I use a pump and dump in my own home. I pump 4.5 gpm across a cupronickel exchanger and dump it into a creek. I have a constant 57 degree water supply and only have to supply 1.5 gpm per ton. It seems to me that closed systems run cooler on the source side and sometimes freeze.
For sure there is nothing magic about them, basically a heat pump with a water cooled coil and a big plastic pipe radiator in the yard. Everyone's getting in on the game,Rehau offers pex fields with their press fittings.
But from what I understand, and I am not an expert, the warmer the source side and the cooler the load side the more efficient the system becomes. So a pump and dump tied into a low temp radiant system would make the most sense?
Besides obvious problems like bad wells and deep and dirty wells what problems do you have with pump and dump?

I lost power for 8 days

@ November 19, 2011 9:53 AM in new residential generator - defective control

a couple of weeks ago and I have learned a great deal about generators lol.
First off it is obvious within a few years standard ac generators will be worthless.
Many of the new computer operated appliances wont work on them, these include...constant pressure pumps, ecm motors,high efficiency front load wash machines, high end dishwashers, modulating boilers, many electronics, ect.
Units that run at 3600 rpm no matter what the load is, are just plain out fuel hogs and have voltage regulators that fail and can smoke everything in your house.
The simple answer to your problem is ...Buy a Honda inverter.
I purchased a 2000 watt unit.(of course it was more than double the 6500 watt unit at harbor freight) and with a six switch transfer box and a little regimentation we were able to have water, fridge, wash clothes, and a few lights ( heat was supplied with a wood stove) we used 13 gallons of fuel in 7 days.  The Honda was worth every penny.

Not crazy about the

@ November 14, 2011 11:51 PM in Contractor Integrity

weird angle and swing joint but the near boiler piping seems correct, as what I can see.
The pipes coming off the top of the boiler look correctly piped.
Looks like an Independence

What exactly was the issue

@ November 14, 2011 9:14 PM in Taco, ESP, EVB, CENTRY ZONE VALVES

and why did it only affect  some of them? Give me an address and I will send you the two that failed, if it was the "issue" send me two more. If it was just plain old wear and tear from two long years of service you can just keep them.

Just replaced two

@ November 13, 2011 10:48 PM in Taco, ESP, EVB, CENTRY ZONE VALVES

ESP heads with Sentry heads. Same problem with date codes, they were sitting on the shelf for almost 3 years.
FOR ANYONE ONE BUYING TACO ZONE VALVES...REFUSE ANYTHING WITH AGING DATE CODE.
What pisses me is TACO knew there was a problem, it should have been a recall not a warranty issue.

8 days without electric

@ November 6, 2011 7:42 PM in Installing outdoor reset thermistor in air intake

Sorry I didnt get back to this thread. I lost electric 8 days ago in that freak storm and I was last on the list to get turned back on. I will try installing the thermistor as soon as I get caught up and share my results.
I learned alot about generators in the last few day though.

Im thinking that

@ October 29, 2011 9:29 AM in Installing outdoor reset thermistor in air intake

if the thermistor is in the pvc and the unit is idle, the controller would reset the temp to whatever temp it is in the pvc,down to my minimum water temp setting. But as soon as there is a call for heat and the tt terminals close, the inducer would start and cool the thermistor before the ignition stage even fires. By the time the boiler starts to produce heat the outdoor reset should be stabilized. Maybe I am missing something here but it seems as though it should work fine. What problems do you think could arise? The warm weather shutdown was something I didnt think about but most single family dwellings I wont use that. I let the customer decide when they want heat. Even if they want heat just to a towel warmer or to take the chill off tile on a warm day. I am just looking for options because some of these large semi city homes I dont have access to a north wall and the last one I did I must have spent 3 hours getting that outdoor stat to a suitable location.

I am talking about the PVC intake

@ October 29, 2011 12:17 AM in Installing outdoor reset thermistor in air intake

But I dont need to activate the warm weather shutdown and I could set minimum water temp above 75. I believe the resistor on the TT is 10k and can probable be replaced with the aprilair unit.. The aprilaire unit is designed to fit into a small hole drilled into the air intake and a clip to hold it.  I will check the k value and if it is compatible I will try it on my TT in the shop. I will let you know what my results are.

Installing outdoor reset thermistor in air intake

@ October 26, 2011 9:00 PM in Installing outdoor reset thermistor in air intake

I have installed these on April air humidifiers but was wondering if anyone has done this on a boiler? Sometimes it can be a pain finding an area out of the sun.. any pros or cons to doing this?

Try it

@ October 23, 2011 9:58 AM in mini spliti

You can start with one unit and give it a try. I prefer using single units instead of multi units anyway unless there just isnt any room outside for the condensers. Because they are variable drive you can oversize within reason. If you find it doesnt do what you want, you can add another later. I have found this to be the best approach, sometimes the people are completely happy other times they call me to have another unit installed. Price is the same, so what have you got to lose. 

JD

@ October 19, 2011 9:00 AM in Hot water boiler sizing question.

 I was just pointing out to Ice that the temperature rise would actually be 52 instead of 80 if you are going to use the shower head flow as part of the problem