Heating Help

heating basement radiators

@ January 21, 2011 6:19 PM in heating basement radiators

I m currently working on a steam system that has been neglected for years. I m currently replacing old bucket traps with f/t traps and puting radiator traps where there are no traps. Having very good results. reducing a lot of the banging in the returns, also customer used to run boiler at 7 lbs we are down to 4 lbs my goal is 2 lbs. The boiler is an H B Smith 45 mills coal boiler that was converted to oil.  The mains that are coming out of the header are 3- 1 1/4" pipe. The original boiler was for processing. the mills boiler was purchased from a factory that was being torn down.  
My question is about the radiators in the basement below the boiler, they are wall pipe radiators that are water loged. If we drain the water out of the radiator they get hot, until they get water loged again. It is the lowest point in the system. The only thing i can think of puting a condensate pump in the basement below the radiators and pump the water back to the boiler. Does anyone has any other suggestions.

warren webster

@ December 23, 2010 7:42 PM in warren webster

I am working in a school that has a vapor system. Heat was very bad over heating the first floor, hardly heating the second floor and no heat on the third floor. Changed all the radiator traps now steam reaching third floor. I go back to the school for steam leak in a return line, do the repair. Janitor tells me he sees steam coming out of cold water makup tank. Check basement traps there are four 3/4 f and t traps(that were replaced 2 years ago),an old warren webster 1 inch drip trap and a 2 inch warren webster 2-26T. I understand that barnes and jones sells a cage unit for that 2-26T drip trap. I talked to a guy who said that you can change the cage unit but you will never get a new float for that trap so you are better off changing to a 2 inch f and t trap. I figured that is what i was going to have to do with the 1 inch trap. so my question is what do i do with 2-26t trap replace or repair.

warren webster

@ December 23, 2010 7:42 PM in warren webster

I am working in a school that has a vapor system. Heat was very bad over heating the first floor, hardly heating the second floor and no heat on the third floor. Changed all the radiator traps now steam reaching third floor. I go back to the school for steam leak in a return line, do the repair. Janitor tells me he sees steam coming out of cold water makup tank. Check basement traps there are four 3/4 f and t traps(that were replaced 2 years ago),an old warren webster 1 inch drip trap and a 2 inch warren webster 2-26T. I understand that barnes and jones sells a cage unit for that 2-26T drip trap. I talked to a guy who said that you can change the cage unit but you will never get a new float for that trap so you are better off changing to a 2 inch f and t trap. I figured that is what i was going to have to do with the 1 inch trap. so my question is what do i do with 2-26t trap replace or repair.

answer

@ February 9, 2010 8:20 PM in cracked refractory etc.

if that is a wet based boiler you don t need a chamber you can fire the boiler with out a chamber. you just need refactory on the burner mounting plate. if you don t feel comfortable with out a chamber you can use a wet pack and line the target wall and inner sides of the boiler remove old chamber first. done this many times both ways. never cracked a boiler.
also i have adjusted fire without an analyzer, using a flash lite and draft regulator. you can adjust a fire by smell and by looking at the fire have done it for years. i have an analyzer and when i have a lot of no heat calls i do it this way. i have been doing it this way for 20 yrs residental and commercial.

just a sugestion

@ February 9, 2010 8:01 PM in Can't Heat 4th Floor Apartments in Front

you may have wrong size nozzel or partically blocked nozzel. i have had service calls were that was the problem.(in buildings and bakery ovens)   

my experience

@ February 9, 2010 7:50 PM in How long to set prepurge?

on commercial oil burners i have seen the pre-purge as long as 2 minutes.
on residential i have seen 4sec by using clean cut pump or about 10 sec on honeywell and on the genisys control you can set up to 30 sec(2 minutes on post- purge)
i think it all depends on the chimney. in the city where i am at some are over 100 yrs old and not in good shape. so with a longer pre-purge you can kind of create a better draft. also a lot most of the new boilers are set up for negative pressure over the fire,so by having a pre-purge you create a positive draft.
so the answer is use your own judgement on how good the chimney is or with new equipment use oem spec guide. i believe beckett tells you how long the pre-purge should be in there guide.

Big fan of tiger loop

@ January 21, 2010 4:22 PM in tiger loop: I don't have one .. do I need one?

The thing about two pipe systems are they constantly recirculate the oil through the filters, with a tigerloop you are only filtering the oil you are using instead of returning the oil back to the tank. It also acts as a preheater for the oil. Instead of constantly bringing cold oil in to the pump, which can give you an erratic fire.

Easy way to fix

@ January 21, 2010 4:10 PM in Burner/Boiler noise

Put a little bit of furnace cement around the door and this should hold it in place and stop the noise, this is the easy way to fix it. The right way to fix it would be to tighten the screw but what will probably happen it will snap off,then you have to drill and tap a new bolt.

H B SMITH boiler

@ December 16, 2009 4:20 PM in H B SMITH boiler

my company has a church we take care of and the smith boiler model 19-7 circulated hot water boiler has had 2 cracked sections in as many weeks.we replaced one section then today we went there and another section has cracked. the first one was the second section,now it is the third section. boiler is about 10yrs old and the concrete looks like it was poured when the boiler was installed. when we replaced the last section we replaced relief valve. we also serviced the burner beckett 1400 changed the nozzel 4.00x45 plp checked the pressures. do not know if the sections are defective.

oilman

@ December 16, 2009 4:05 PM in base board+radiators

you have an air bubble in the line or radiator. you are going to have to bleed the radiator until you get the air out,also when you bleed the radiators you have to bleed this radiator first on that floor.