Heating Help

bad piping

@ November 17, 2009 7:28 AM in Missing main vents?

i just looked at the pics again and i think that the main(thats the higher horizontal pipe) is sloped the wrong way. it is supposed to slope  away from the boiler. this can lead to water hammer and poor heat

bad piping

@ November 16, 2009 10:21 PM in Missing main vents?

good evening. i am far from being a steam expert but i am almost certain that the boiler is not piped properly. the header(that's the first horizontal pipe on top of the boiler) is not supposed to connect directly to that vertical pipe(the vertical pipe is called the equaliser and the connection method that's being used is called a bullhead T). this can result in banging in the pipes (aka water hammer).

gorton vs. hoffman

@ November 16, 2009 5:41 PM in gorton vs. hoffman

good evening to all. is one brand air vent better then the other? I'm not referring to the venting capacity, I'm referring to durability and dependability. has anyone had particularly good or bad experiences with either brand? thanks.

gorton #4

@ November 10, 2009 8:26 PM in Gurgling Radiator

try a gorton #4. the varivalve in the closed position vents about 3-4 times as fast as the gorton#4.i know it sounds odd but its true. take a look in Gerry Gills venting capacity chart available on this site. the varis are also more prone to spitting then other air vents good luck

good question

@ November 9, 2009 8:46 PM in gorton #2

i called up gorton and their rep had the same question. it did NOT rattle at all. the rep said this is indicates that the float is stuck out of alignment. this also explains why i cant blow air through. i sent it back and should have another one soon.

still cant blow

@ November 8, 2009 11:43 AM in gorton #2

rinsed and soaked with warm water and still cant blow through. will bring it back to my supplier and have it exchanged

thanks

@ November 7, 2009 7:30 PM in gorton #2

i will try the warm water and i will let you know what happens

gorton #2

@ November 5, 2009 10:41 PM in gorton #2

good evening. i just received a new gorton #2 via ups. i tried to blow through it just for kicks and i was not able to blow at all. i was holding the vent vertical and thank heaven i have healthy lungs. would anyone know if this is normal. thanks

thanks

@ October 31, 2009 8:43 PM in main vent location

another option could be to use 45 degree elbows instead of 90's. headroom might be more of an issue with the 45's.

what i see alot

@ October 29, 2009 11:04 PM in main vent location

is that the leg is not at the end of the main as in your diagram rather there is a 45 degree elbow, a length of pipe and another 45 degree drop into a tee that has a vent on top and the leg on the bottom of the tee that leads to the dry return. the vent in that setup is 100% vertical with no slope if i would put an antler on that tee the antler leg would be 100% horizontal with no slope.

thanks rod

@ October 29, 2009 10:56 PM in main vent location

if the antler is on top of the main then i would not be concerned. my concern is when the antler is on top of the vertical leg that drops top the dry return. that leg has no slope at all. if water would back up that leg then is there a risk that the water would not be able to drain out of the antler? any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

@ October 29, 2009 7:51 PM in main vent location

thanks as usual for the info and advice. i am planning on an antler on one of the jobs that I'm doing(i saw the antler previously on this site). one quick question. is there any risk that the horizontal leg of the antler will fill with water and block the air flow? thanks again.

main vent location

@ October 29, 2009 2:05 PM in main vent location

thanks for the great site. i have posted here a few times and the advice was very helpful. I'm a plumber with almost no heating experience. i read through we got steam heat and lost art. these books are a gold mine. my question for today is about locating the main vents. i read in lost art about the importance of elevating the main vent to prevent water hammer damage. many of the main vents that i have seen are not on the main itself but rather on the top of the vertical leg of the dry return. do these vents need to be elevated as well? my intuition is that they do not need to be elevated. the reason is that since the main almost always turns 90 degrees before leading to the dry return therefore  it is not likely that there will be a blast of steam hitting the top of the dry return at high speed and therefore there is a very low risk of water hammer damage. please correct me if I'm wrong and thanks as usual for the great advice.

location of LWCO

@ October 25, 2009 11:33 AM in location of LWCO

i need to replace an old LWCO. the boiler was bone dry and the burner kept firing. the old lwco is a float type (McDonnell 67). the boiler has a marking for normal water level and a marking for lowest safe level. there is a little more then 2" between the 2 markings. there is a tapping  at the level of the lower marking. would this tapping be the appropriate place to put a probe type lwco. my supplier says that the probe type needs to be lower then that marking. if i cant use this tapping would it be okay to just replace the 67 with another 67. thanks.
PS i found a number of leaks in the system which i have since correted

thermostat wiring

@ October 23, 2009 1:41 PM in thermostat wiring

i just replace an OLD thermostat with a Honeywell programmable. the old wires were black so i could not trace them to the basement to see were they went. this is a two wire system (just one hot water boiler on the thermo). i called my supplier who said that as long as one is connected to Rh and one is connected to w then it doesn't matter which wire is which. i just wanted to make sure that that is accurate. thanks

thanks

@ October 18, 2009 9:13 PM in main air vent

thanks for the info

gorton #2

@ October 18, 2009 7:02 PM in main air vent

would the gorton#2 be beneficial or would it be overkill. thanksY

thanks

@ October 18, 2009 6:50 PM in main air vent

which is better the gorton 1 or the hoffman 75

no vent

@ October 18, 2009 6:41 PM in main air vent

Thanks. i don't think there is a vent on the 1 1/2" main (basement is finished so hard to tell). the plan is to add a tee at the end of the dry return (the end of the main is not accessible). on the 2" main there is a Hoffman 45 which according to Hoffman's web site is not a main vent.

main air vent

@ October 18, 2009 3:38 PM in main air vent

good afternoon. i have a 20' 2" main and a 1 1/2" main that is about 15' to the end plus another 15' as a dry return . which air vent should i be using. on the smaller main i only have access to the end of the dry return. thanks.

thanks for the chart

@ October 12, 2009 10:28 PM in air venting recommendations followup

it was little hard to read(very small) still very useful. almost 100% sure that it is a 45 not 75. can check in the morning. thanks

correction

@ October 12, 2009 6:56 PM in air venting recommendations followup

the second main has a circumference of 6 1/2"