Heating Help

furnace cement.....

@ May 25, 2012 10:48 AM in Possible Leak in Residential Boiler

It's ok that he used that, emphasis on "ok".  He shouldve used a gasket material to do it the right way.  If he didnt have any, he shouldve got some and came back.  The furnace cement will dry up hard, then probably crack. leaving you with a less then ideal seal, lowering your combustion numbers/efficiency, and lead to a little more sooting.
There really is no excuse to not swing the door open every year and clean out the bottom of the boiler.  Even if it's not a swing open and just a plate, removing the oil line and 4 bolts should be a part of every cleaning, especially a boiler with summer/winter hookup.
Bring that up when you talk to the owner.
Edit:spelling mistakes.

Scott....

@ May 24, 2012 2:59 PM in Copper Flue piping

did you buy everyone lunch???  :)

I dont think it's leaking...

@ May 24, 2012 2:58 PM in Possible Leak in Residential Boiler

You did 2 of the tests to check for leaks.  What did the flue pipe look like? Or the base of the chimney?
Red powder, or rust in the stack is more of a sign of condensing in the flue way.
You need an actual professional in there, to check your equipment, and your chimney.
What were your combustion results from the annual cleaning, specifically the net stack temperature?
When he did the cleaning, didnt he swing the front door open to expose the entire firing chamber (and clean it)?
As someone who owns an oil company, I would be embarressed if I left you with the feeling that you need to constantly check your boiler.
So yes, get someone else, preferably a recommendation from this site.  Where are you located?

Very nice

@ May 24, 2012 8:05 AM in Lochinvar install photos with centro-therm flue pipe

Fantastic piping job! Cleanest electrical work too!

i think you should

@ May 20, 2012 2:35 PM in heat load

measure the entire house, all windows, doors, and other factors, etc. I wouldnt put too much faith in the nozzle, because it could be the wrong one. Also, who knows how the last boiler was sized...could be over or undersized.
Slant fin has a free program for download
http://www.pvsullivan.com/Downloads.html

or you could do it manually.

Weil McClain also has some literature for sizing. I actually compared it to some of the heat losses I perfomed and it was pretty close. Dont have a link, but go their website.

Whats on there now....

@ May 16, 2012 10:42 AM in carlin 301 crd

Are you having a problem?  What's it firing into?
Should be a standard single stage 3450 @150psi, BUT, it depends what youre firing it into...
Post the make and model of the boiler....and we can help some more..

you mean...

@ May 11, 2012 1:04 PM in boiler feed on or off?

a pressure reducing valve, with the boiler feed valve.  I use a boiler feed with a backflow preventer, leave it closed, and install a lwco...always.  I want them to call me if the system is leaking, rather then constanly feeding the boiler.

Start here

@ May 10, 2012 9:37 PM in Taco sr606

http://www.taco-hvac.com/uploads/FileLibrary/100-9.0.pdf

I was there....

@ May 10, 2012 4:32 PM in Cell Block Heating

Last year, about this time. Was fargin cold.   I love the city, but geez.....when do they turn the wind off? :)

ok, were getting somewhere....

@ May 10, 2012 4:29 PM in Taco sr606

glad to see you followed my advice to disconnect the tsat wires.  Next step...disconnect the tsat wires going to the thermostat, leaving the tstat wires in the relay...if the lights go off, its the tstat.   If the lights stay on its the wiring.
You can double check that by removing the tsat wires from the tstat, and removing them from the relay.  Use your meter to see if your getting continuity. If you are, with all wires disconnected, your wire is bad/shorting out.
I would follow up, like ME said, with taco, regarding power stealing t'stats.
Also Taco has a wiring book that's pretty excellent, and covers all wiring options.

When you say....

@ May 9, 2012 5:55 PM in Taco sr606

"Can a taco box work with tekmar boxes?"  What are you trying to accomplish?
Do you mean can you wire a taco zone control to a tekmar boiler control?  Sure.
When you say the zone lights are on, but the thermostats are not calling, are the circs running?  What happens when you disconnect the t'stat from the 506?  If the circs are still getting power, then the taco is bad.
Provide a little more info, and people will be glad to help.

Sure...

@ May 9, 2012 5:40 PM in Old radiant system

I think you would benefit both in comfort, and savings by changing some near boiler piping, and adding outdoor reset to all zones, and a mixing valve to mix down your radiant, and like Paul said, to protect your boiler. 
Please make sure you have someone who knows what they're doing.
Ask them to perform a complete heat loss for your home, to determine how many btu's you need for each zone, and at what temperatures.  If they dont want to do any of the calculating, don't let them do any of the piping/controls.
JMO.

Tell us a little more ....

@ May 9, 2012 5:32 PM in air in heating pipes

About your system.  If you can, take some pictures showing all the piping around the boiler.  And especially show your expansion tank.
For starters, 2 different things could be going on.  You have a small leak, and when your feed is opening up, letting in fresh water, the air cant get out, and stays airbound.  Or something is up with your piping, and the air vent is sucking in air, and sending it around the system to get trapped somewhere else.

YIKES

@ May 6, 2012 9:56 PM in oil fired hot water run with out water

PLEASE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, DO NOT PLUG THE PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE. EVER!!!
As the others have said, you need to get a pro in there, there are a few on this site near your area.
Also, you need to keep the flooring guy to stop touching your system.

I have some ideas

@ May 5, 2012 3:46 PM in Need help with heating & hot water setup for tight space

But I'm on the road, typing on my phone. But someone will pop on to help you.
Energy kinetics and Buderus make boilers that stack on top of an indirect.
I also can't believed, no mater how poorly insulated, you need 100,000 btus for 1200 sq ft, only exposed on 2 sides.
Some wall mounts can use the same venting you're using now.
If no one responds, I'll get back on tomorrow.

Isnt Gerry Gill...

@ May 4, 2012 4:05 PM in steam boiler written spec needed

in Ohio? He's listed on this site.

I think he was referring to Dan's newsletter.

@ May 3, 2012 3:51 PM in Critical article on Tankless water heaters

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/are-tankless-water-heaters-waste-money?lookup=auto&V27=R&V28=5&V29=10&V30=N&V31=&V32=0&V33=0&V34=0&V35=0&V55=01-JAN-2013&V56=0&Taun_Per_Flag=True&utm_source=email&utm_medium=eletter&utm_term=water-heating&utm_content=20120416-concrete-countertops&utm_campaign=fine-homebuilding-eletter&utm_source=May+3%2C+2012&utm_campaign=Email+Newsletter+Analytics&utm_medium=email

I think,

@ May 3, 2012 3:48 PM in Computer programs to run your business ?

Unless you have a large company, Wintac is a pretty expensive propostion.
How exactly are you using it in/for your business?

Can you give us a little more info???

@ May 3, 2012 3:46 PM in making a conversion

What did each person propose (equipment, oil/gas, piping changes, control strategy,etc)?
Please leave out the pricing.
Either application can work fine, depending on all the other factors.  Luckily neither one suggested not relining the chimney.

Geez Dan....

@ May 3, 2012 3:40 PM in In ceiling electric radiant heat and lights

If you can't find out, what kind of radiant is in your ceiling, how do you expect anyone to help?
There's no way to contact previous owners to find out who installed it?  Maybe a permit was pulled and you can find the contractor.
Other then that, when you say use it as a back up, do you mean only when there's a problem with the gas, or do you need it on the coldest day of the year?
The only other options, and others I'm sure may have a better solutions, get an infrared camera, fire up the radiant, and mark on the ceiling where the wires are running.  If your lucky and it works, you'll see some initial striping.
Anyone? Anyone else?

Yup.

@ May 3, 2012 3:33 PM in Drippy Relief

I think you definately need an expansion tank.
Look at page 9.
http://www.triangletube.com/documents/2/Smart-PhaseIII-TR-Manual.pdf
Regarding the shower issues, how is the recirc line, and pump controlled?
edit:  Also you'll need another check in the cold domestic side.

Some opinions

@ May 1, 2012 3:50 PM in L8184E, 2 circulators, one T calls, high limit exceeded

I think your high limit isnt working, or isnt working correctly, for starters.  It should either work everytime or it needs to be replaced.  I would pull it, make sure you have some well grease, then reinsert it.  If the doesnt fit snug in the well, make sure you slightly bend the wire to ensure the bulb is making contact with the well.  Then fire it back up, either on the small zone, or disconnect the circulator and let it run up the temp and see if it shuts off on high limit.  If it doesnt, or does sometimes and not others, you need to replace it.
The small zone just might be the reason why it's running up to limit, but the limit should work when either zone calls, and shut down the burner.
Checking the smaller zone circuit.  Go through your basic trouble shooting. Check all wire connections. Going into the relay, are you getting 120v?  Coming out of the relay, are you getting 120v (when the tsat is calling for heat)?  Check your low voltage side. Going into the circ, same testing.  If everything is ok there, then you can move on to see if the zone is getting heat.  Do you have enough pressure?  Did you confirm with a separate gauge?  Bleed the zone again (circ off).  Call for heat in the zone, check supply and return pipes.  Could be bad/wrong circ, bad impeller, flow check stuck, or built up with crud and cant fully open/close.  This might be why you get heat when the other zone calls.  Is there a flow check on this loop?
You could repipe with one circ with a zone valves.  However, you might run into a balancing problem when both zones are calling.  So you will need to consider that with a re-pipe.
I would solve your first problems via troubleshooting, and worry about re-piping and a different control strategy second.  Like resident gure Icesailor always says, If it was working before, what changed?