Heating Help

Testo NOx filtering

@ January 9, 2013 7:49 PM in Testo NOx filtering

had a bacharach 125, and it took a crap.

bought a Testo 310 (budget model)

To my surprise, the same gas boiler which read 60ppm CO with the bacharach, read 6 ppm max with the new Testo with NOx filters. 

Holy crap is that legit? 

Will call Testo tomorrow, but figured i'd make a post anyway.

near boiler piping

@ December 21, 2012 8:06 AM in nervous breathing air vents

i had a situation in my home, where i beleive the A dimension was correct, but the equalizer was piped improperly, sending lots of water back up the wet returns.  At the lowest steam carrying pipes, they were probably filling with water, and the lowest first floor radiators took forever to heat, and 'breathed' as such.  I didn't really figure it out, because the A dimension was correct, until i put in a new boiler with correct near boiler piping and equalizer. 

post some pics.

valve

@ December 19, 2012 12:35 PM in How best to completely shut off steam radiator?

your hand valve is probably not shutting all the way. 
Yes you can flip the air vent upside down, and it will stay shut, not allowing steam into the rad.  I used hoffman 1A variable air vent in my bedroom (i like cold sleep), and you can throttle them really low.  Or you could use a thermostatic radiator vent, and/or move the thermostat.   

i dont know

@ December 19, 2012 8:13 AM in How to drip/terminate a steam main with a single radiator?

but A looks like most potential for hammer problems.

easy way to clean your gauge glass

@ December 17, 2012 8:57 PM in easy way to clean your gauge glass

boiler needs a wee bit of H20.
open the manual water fill valve
leave on slow feed because you don't want thermal shock
walk away and do something else
come back in 1 hour when you hear water dripping out your first floor radiator air vents.
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c'mon, who's done it?  count once for me this season so far.

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@ December 17, 2012 8:54 PM in Can someone look over this setup?

with all the setups we see here, the near boiler piping looks decent.  too bad they didn't spring for new fittings though, they always look nicer in fresh black.  And the gauge glass looks pretty brown, time for a blowdown?

haha

@ December 17, 2012 8:33 PM in Extremely Loud Banging in Pipes/Shaking Floorboards

scraping debris from the top of the boiler  :-)  if that's what the techs have been telling the landlord, maybe they can install muffler bearings too. 
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post some pics of the boiler bro

im wrong

@ December 16, 2012 11:31 AM in Cyclegard question

ok im wrong.  When you disconnect the 'burner' terminal, the control does not know how long the burner is running, and still stops for a test at 10 min intervals, but the 10 min intervals are random, it doesn't 'see' the burner running.  For example, once cycle might test at 4 min, 14 min, 24 min, etc, and another cycle might test at 8 min, 18 min, 28 min, etc.  If the 'burner' terminal is connected, then it will always test at 10, 20, 30 min, etc. 
Hap says in another post that the intermittent test is not disableable, which is probably true, and would void the manufacturer warranty, which makes sense. 
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im sure there's a solid state timer on the board you could jump out, but then again the question of boiler warranties. 

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@ December 14, 2012 4:20 PM in Cyclegard question

i've never done it, but from the wiring diagram, P2 is the main limit control, and if the boiler is on low water, the cycleguard will not produce a voltage at p2, and the gas valve will not open.   It seems that the 'burner' terminal is 24V from the gas valve, which is probably to start the timer.

It looks like it receives 24V at 'burner' and puts out 24V at P2. 

Try it and let us know.

yes

@ December 14, 2012 12:34 PM in Cyclegard question

yes.
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those cycleguard water stabilization circuits are for punks with unstable water lines.  :-)

(EDIT:  i was wrong, see below)

wow

@ December 14, 2012 9:19 AM in No comment

wow. 
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did you take it down? 

skimming

@ December 13, 2012 8:14 PM in New Burnham Steam boiler-Help!

skimming is defined as cleaning the oils that collect at the top of the water, and blowing down is removing the sediment at the bottom.  most boilers have a port at the waterline max fill level that you can skim from.  (Think of the skimmer on a pool 'skims' the stuff that floats on the top.)I think on the independence it is on the right side under the jacket, but i could be wrong, and is plugged from the factory.

well well well

@ December 13, 2012 6:37 PM in fluctuating draft with power vent + power gas

whaddya know.  by moving the draft regulator a little farther down the line, so the exhaust gases are more stable, and turning the power vent damper all the way down to 10%, i can get a stable draft.  I guess the turbulence was making it swing, making me pull my hair out.  Whats left of it anyway.

-.01-.03 over the fire
-.04-.05 at the breech.

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made a HUGE difference in acoustics too.  purrs like a kitten.  Thanks!  tuning combustion this weekend and we should be good to go.

hmmmm

@ December 11, 2012 10:34 PM in New Boiler - Hammering and Leaky Air Vents

the manufacturer recommends a 20" or 24" vertical pipe out of the boiler to only allow steam into the system, preventing water from going up the pipes.  Since the pipe out of the boiler is short, you have a ton of wet steam (ie water) going out to your system and that's most likely why you're having all the problems.
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#1 Fix the near boiler piping.  Yes, it must feel like tragedy, but first things first.

ok

@ December 11, 2012 10:20 PM in thoughts on reverse osmosis make-up water system

consensus says:  RO water isn't the best idea.
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have we formed an opinion on chloride treated water vs chloramine treated water?  And charcoal filtering?
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no buffing

@ December 11, 2012 11:35 AM in thoughts on reverse osmosis make-up water system

Ah, so with RO water, there is no buffer, which would cause large PH swings either way when it enters the system, promoting corrosion. 
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yes, we discussed this before, but i had to refresh my memory.

thoughts on reverse osmosis make-up water system

@ December 11, 2012 8:50 AM in thoughts on reverse osmosis make-up water system

with all the talk about corrosion of newer boilers probably due to salts and chlorides in make-up water, has anybody pondered or used a reverse osmosis filter system for their make-up water?
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 Have any of the pros tested the Total Dissolved Solids in the make-up water for the leaking boilers?  I think i'll pick up a TDS meter and check my water for the heck of it, they're like $50. 
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Looks like a reverse osmosis system would run a couple of hundred bucks for the kit, might be a good idea for some installs.
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TomM

probably

@ December 10, 2012 7:26 PM in Gas or Oil?

could be pin type design, excess feed water, chlorides or salts in the water.  Who knows.  I saw about 250 complaints on furnacecompare.com about leaks in atmospherics after 10.5 years, with 10 year warranties.  Maybe a lot of the manufacturers get their castings at the same foundry?  I know burnham had that class action lawsuit on the V series, so maybe it is the foundry, but that's an oil boiler.  

http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/135685/Another-rotted-out-atmospheric-steamer-replaced

google 'rotted atmospheric steamer' and see some evidence.  Maybe its few and far between, and i could be wrong, i don't replace boilers on the daily, but i've seen quite a bit of postings on here with replacements of late model atmospherics.  Seems like they're all scratching their heads and installing three pass w/ gas guns instead.  I'll follow the crowd on that one.

nice post man

@ December 10, 2012 8:35 AM in Gas or Oil?

steam boiler full of pixie dust and magical happy thoughts.
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isn't every steam boiler full of pixie dust and magical happy thoughts? 
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i went with a oil boiler and power gas burner simply because of the rates of failures of gas steam atmospherics.  I'd like to see more discussion about that, but it seems to be kind of hush hush throughout the industry.  Not many pros are keen on pointing out which manufacturers have/had problems and warranty issues, which is understandable, (maintaining a level of professionalism on heatinghelp.)
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gas prices are low now, but who knows what the future will bring.  If i knew future prices, i'd be running a hedge fund, not tinkering on my steam boiler.  I think that the level of drilling that we're seeing in the US and in the Northeast will keep supply high and maybe keep prices low.  Either way, i just thought about the horror of oil prices being $7.00 and dropping $1400 on 200 gal. But shrimp Ramen noodles, mmm, they're my favorite.

damper control

@ December 10, 2012 8:10 AM in fluctuating draft with power vent + power gas

The power vent has its own damper.  Any setting less than 35% open starts whistling.
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i get it now.  I need to set the power vent up to -.06 wc before i do anything else.  Then, when the power burner is on, it should be simple fine adjustments to the draft regulator.  If i can't get the reading between the power vent and the regulator down to -.06, then i need to add another regulator, and get the reading between the regulators down to -.06, (with the regulator closest to the power vent wide open, and the other one shut).   At least that makes sense in my brain.  Reality is another story.
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i'm going to redesign for more straight lengths and less 90's, possibly add another barometric, and report back.
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Thanks! 

getting somewhere

@ December 9, 2012 3:50 PM in fluctuating draft with power vent + power gas

ok i think i have the following design problems:

-the power vent sucks way too much air, and my design causes a ton of internal exhaust turbulation, making the draft regulator swing excessively, causing fluctuations in my draft over the fire and at the breech.
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I think a redesign with longer straight lengths and less 90's + two draft regulators should be in order.
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man this power vent is a pain in the butt, the best reading i can get over the fire is about -.10 wc.  if i get any closer to spec, there is not enough weight on the draft regulator, and it starts swinging causing fluctuations.   If i turn the internal damper on the power vent less than 35 degrees open, then it whistles like a train.  Motor speed controllers can't be used because the motor is capacitor start. 
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turns out this exhaust design is proving tougher than my fancy schmancy steam header.

thanks for the reply

@ December 9, 2012 12:40 PM in fluctuating draft with power vent + power gas

the neckdown is because i am using a Fields Combovent 4", rated to 170,000 BTU.  6" is coming off the boiler.  The power vent allows 65' of 5" at max btu, so my lengths are ok.  The Combovent is only offered in 4" and 5".  the 5" is up to 290,000 btu.  My boiler is 105,000. 
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no, the intake is not capped.  I will cap it and report my findings.
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the power vent internal diagram is attached