Heating Help

Testers

@ April 29, 2012 9:43 AM in Testers

I am in the market for a natural gas leak detector and a personal CO detector. All recommendations and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Certification

@ April 29, 2012 9:40 AM in New American Steam Heating Assoc. looking for your support!

I think that testing and certifying techs is one of the biggest benefits. I am in the steam business (Queens NY;one of the steam capitals of the world) and the one thing that comes up again and again is that nobody knows whom to trust with there steam system. I see endless knuckleheaded systems that were worked on by "the highly recommended". Even on this site there is no good way to know which of those advertising are really competent and which aren't. A certification through proper testing would be a good way for customers to know which contractors to trust. This site would be a great place to start and hopefully it can take off from there.

Be careful

@ March 25, 2012 8:18 PM in Repipe basement portion of 1 pipe system / steam experts in westchester co. NY

I had a very similar situation this past summer. I am not sure how to link to previous posts but I had a post in the end of July where the contractor seriously messed up a beautiful steam system in order to gain some more headroom. If done wrong you will live with cold, noise and ridiculously high fuel bills for long time to come.

Duplicate

@ March 21, 2012 5:11 PM in indirect

GPM

@ March 21, 2012 5:10 PM in indirect

Went back to house today and took actual measurements. 4 GPM!!!! I convinced Dad to switch to low gpm. Will keep everyone posted.

Power vent

@ March 20, 2012 8:42 PM in indirect

Thanks but I don't think that power vent is a viable option in this application.

Thanks

@ March 20, 2012 7:31 PM in indirect

Thank you everyone for the responses. I am going back tomorrow for something else and will discuss the shower heads with them. In the event that I am able to convince them to switch then what would make the most sense? They run up to three showers at a shot for aprox 15 minutes. They want to replace the old heater in any case because it is 16 years old. do we go with self contained 75 gallon(there is no room for anything bigger) or do we go indirect? If we go indirect then what size(80 gallon/60 gallon)? Again the boiler is a 100 mbtuh cast iron hot water boiler. THANKS!!

Thanks

@ March 19, 2012 11:37 PM in indirect

Thanks Mark! To late for me to absorb everything but in the morn I will definately give this all a hard look.

showerhead

@ March 19, 2012 8:18 PM in indirect

I don't think they will go for reduced gpm.I am considering the mixing valve option. The tank is 16 years old and should probably be replaced.

details

@ March 19, 2012 6:48 PM in indirect

1.existing tank is standard water heater(fire underneath).
2.existing boiler is only for heat.
3.cast iron hot water boiler.
4.no idea about flow rates.
5. don't know incoming water temp. located in NYC.
6. thanks

indirect

@ March 19, 2012 4:30 PM in indirect

Good afternoon. I have no experience with indirects and would benefit from some advice. I have a customer with large family who says that he runs out of hot water when too many people are showering at same time(he has 4 showers and has the problem when three or more shows are used at same time) Currently he has a 75 gallon storage type water heater and a hot water boiler(102 mbtuh). How would I size an indirect? Thanks.

Sealant

@ March 14, 2012 7:29 PM in Repiping Boiler...

Blue monster tape and hi temp caulk. Incredibly easy to screw pipes into fittings. One day went I get the courage I will try to hand tighten. I am close to certain that they wont leak. Good luck

?

@ March 13, 2012 9:54 PM in indirect hot water noisy, and cold (lukewarm)-help!

Good eve Frank. Not questioning your vast expertise at all. Just wondering why you cant pipe the indirect the same way that you would pipe any hot water loop that's above the boiler water line?

Air

@ March 13, 2012 9:02 PM in indirect hot water noisy, and cold (lukewarm)-help!

I would bet that there is an air issue. Are there any purge valves(i.e. valves that you can attach a hose and let water out/in) on the black pipe going from the boiler to the tank? There should be on on each black pipe close to the boiler. If not then there is certainly air in the tank. Can you take pics of the points that those black pipes connect to the boiler?

Bubbles in water glass

@ February 22, 2012 11:02 PM in Bubbles in water glass

Good eve. I was on a job today. When firing boiler I noticed bubbles rising in the water glass. The bubbles stayed on top of glass for a good few minutes without breaking up. I am assuming that those were steam bubbles and they were trapped by oil on top of the glass. I don't recall seeing anything similar in past. The water was moving up and down more then it should but not nearly as bad as many that I have seen. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

ditto

@ February 22, 2012 9:05 PM in Accidentally Cut Threads

blue teflon tape and high temp caulk. Install and sleep easy.

grinder

@ February 20, 2012 9:35 PM in What are the chances of successfully

I always use a grinder. Cut into the hub about 98% the depth of the hub. Do this on either side of the the hub. Make sure that the cut extends beyond the end of the pipe/nipple. Make a third cut to connect the first two cuts. The third cut should be at the point furthest from the hub and should cut all the way through the thickness of the fitting. After the first two cuts are joined take a hammer, give a few whacks ant the fitting will come right of. With a little experience it shouldn't take more then a few minutes per fitting. Of course take all necessary safety precautions when using a grinder. Good luck!

Just when you think that you have seen it all

@ February 15, 2012 11:24 PM in Just when you think that you have seen it all

Went on a job today. Typical uneven heat with some rooms too hot and some rads ice cold. First thing I noticed was vari valves on radiators. Figured that was part of problem. Went down to boiler room and noticed messed up near boiler piping. Typical. Poked around finished basement and found and replaced two clogged end of main vents. Went upstairs and started replacing vari vents with properly sized gortons. Got to second floor bathroom. Small sun rad radiator (aprox 10-15 edr) with TWO vari valves. Went to bedroom. Sun rad aprox 25 edr. THREE vari valves. Went to next bedroom. Sun rad aprox 25 edr. FOUR vari valves. I kid you not. Anyways replaced varis with gortons and plugged up extra tappings.

pics

@ February 3, 2012 9:56 AM in Help with sizing steam boiler

Can you post some pics of rads so we can be sure that the radiators have tubes and not columns? There is a big difference.

cold rads

@ February 2, 2012 11:39 PM in cold radiator

Good eve. There are a few possibilities. The short 12 minute cycles might be the troublemaker( particularly if these rads are further from the boiler). Also if there is excess water in the system then the watered down steam might be turning back to water before it hits these radiators(again more common with further rads but could also occur on other rads depending on variety of conditions). There are a number of factors that can cause excess water. Some pics of the piping around the boiler would be helpful. Also look at the water glass while the boiler is firing and see if the water is moving up and down a lot.

Heat exchanger

@ January 31, 2012 11:53 PM in Heat exchanger

Good evening. What(if any)effect does using a water to water heat exchanger to add a hot water loop to a steam boiler have on the sizing of the boiler? I know that when adding a hot water loop directly off the boiler that you don't increase the size off the boiler(provided that the btu output off the zone is within the pickup factor rating). I was wondering if the same rules would apply when using a water to water heat exchanger? Thanks in advance.

Why here?

@ January 25, 2012 2:02 PM in Water leak from gas meter???

There is no condensation on the cold water pipes or anywhere else in the area. The moisture in question is only at the point on the gas meter where the two sides meet. My knowledge of the physics of condensation is very limited bit I am under the impression that condensation results from temperature difference. Does the gas coming in from the cold outdoors result in enough of a temperature change to result in condensation.