Heating Help

It sounds like Priming

@ March 27, 2013 9:15 PM in False water line

Clean the water side of the boiler. Surface skim the boiler until the crap on the surface is gone. That may help, but sell the customer on fixing the piping errors so the manufacturer will warrant their boiler. Do you have any photos of the piping? I know a boiler instructor, who would love them.
Good luck,
Tim Hodgson

Try a heat recovery ventilator

@ March 27, 2013 9:02 PM in Air Filtration for Radiant Homes

This will ventilate the house and recover 65% of the heat or cool in a controlled manner. Install a short return duct to the unit and put the long discharge duct running most of the way through your attic. if you develop a leak, most likely it will be exhausting house air into the attic instead of attic air into the house.

Good Luck,
Tim Hodgson

iron fireman

@ March 27, 2013 8:49 PM in Iron Fireman

Good day Shawn
I have worked on Iron Fireman gas-oil burners. I am not sure in which box my manual is, but I have some copies of electrode/ burner head settings and wiring diagrams for service in my burners file. Let me know how to help.
Tim Hodgson

Ploypropylene soffit

@ March 27, 2013 8:32 PM in hot water registers

What does the manufacturer of the polypropylene soffit recommend?
Tim Hodgson

Double Trouble

@ March 27, 2013 7:55 PM in Lead lag set-up for two steam boilers??

I have always found that parallel steam boilers without automatic boiler  valve and feed water control valves will have water level problems. Does it have a gravity return or does it have a condensate pump? I have installed float and thermostatic traps at the high water level on the equalizer pipe to drain the non-firing boiler into the condensate receiver when it overfills. Like you I prefer staging controls in a lead-lag set up.
Good luck,
Tim Hodgson

Stopwatch

@ March 27, 2013 7:38 PM in Turning off radiators

I do not think it will have much of a negative effect. But... if you are worried about it try timing a cold start in the morning with all the radiator vents open. time how long it takes to get steam to the end of the main vent then to the radiators. The next morning close the radiator vents and time it again. If the rooms warm up just as fast, then it had little effect.
Good luck,
Tim Hodgson 

Everyone has a good idea.

@ May 3, 2012 12:09 PM in Steam Oil to Gas Conversion - which boiler?

Your steam system is sized by the EDR rating of your radiators( sq feet of surface area)
PLUS the connected piping. You need to create enough steam to fill ALL the piping first then supply even more to fill the radiators. It is common to add 33% - 50% load to handle the steam piping. Your 150,000 btu/hr OUTPUT radiators will probably need a 200,000 - 225,000 btu/hr output rated boiler to handle it all. The key phrase is "output".
The second issue is how do you handle the condensate returning to the boiler. Most newer boilers have very small water content and the retuning condensate at the  end of the cycle may flood the new boiler. Older boilers could handle a lot of returning condensate  while raising the water level in the sight glass only 1 or 2 inches.
A small boiler feed pump and water level control on the boiler will solve that issue if you need it. I always try to utilize gravity first, but get a $ on the feed pump as an option so there are no surprises later.

Good Luck,
Tim Hodgson

I'm glad

@ May 3, 2012 11:45 AM in Venting Issue??

the installing contractor is taking care of your problem. Most CO problems are caused by lack of air or too low of temperature. Excessive air can create problems too. Take an O2 reading along with the CO and temperature. A draft reading at the breech and over fire is good to have when all is set correctly. Deviations from the proper readings will also let you know when service is needed, Check them once or twice a month.

Good Luck,
Tim Hodgson

Not really

@ May 3, 2012 11:26 AM in furnace sizing

Look on the web and down load a heat loss calculator and spend an hour or two with it.

Good Luck,

Tim Hodgson

Radiators?

@ May 3, 2012 11:22 AM in Most reliable radiant boiler?

Does the house have a heating system yet?
If yes, then what type of radiators do you have? Cast iron, copper baseboard, radiant floor...
Do you have a multi-level home?
What is the pump motor horsepower?

The most reliable system is a gas fired, milli-volt powered, gravity flow system.
They are 80 plus years old and still working... without electricity.
Unfortunately many existing systems will not work that way with out major control or piping revisions, so the back up generator and a standard natural draft, gas fired  boiler would probably be easiest to do.

Good Luck,

Tim Hodgson

Installing Contractor

@ May 3, 2012 10:55 AM in has thermosiphoning snuck up on me?

Have you talked to the installing contractor? You are correct that the tank thermostat should keep the tank up to temperature. Your cold boiler will simply keep the recovery time longer. if your tank is too small for the tub, you must rely on the recovery rate to cover the small tank limitations. It sounded like it was not a problem when the boiler was heating in the winter. I usually size the tank so 75% of the tank volume will fill the tub. With blending at the tub this gives a cushion of warm water left in the tank. Some 40 gallon indirect water heaters only have 32 gallons of storage.

Good Luck,
Tim Hodgson

I like

@ February 9, 2012 4:21 PM in Radiant floor with steam

your idea of the pipe radiator in the joist bay. Just be sure to support,  pitch, drip and vent the pipe properly. I would guess that one 1/2" pipe is more than enough heat supply for one joist bay.
Good luck,
Tim

Disappearing water

@ February 9, 2012 4:09 PM in water being pulled from boiler

I will assume the boiler has worked well in the past and nothing mechanical has been changed. The boiler water has three ways to get out of the boiler: Carryover from dirty water and surface tension, it can back out the bottom of the boiler through a defective check valve at the condensate pump and up the chimney if you have a leak in a section.
I have had a lot of good results by cleaning the water side of the boiler.
Good luck,
Tim

vacuum breaker

@ February 9, 2012 3:53 PM in vacuum breaker

I am a little stumped. I normally see vacuum breakers stick and the boiler will go into a vacuum as the steam condenses. At this point the the boiler vacuum sucks the water out of the boiler feed tank without any help from the pump. This often leaves my boiler overfilled.
Good luck,
Tim 

Munchkin wet controls

@ February 9, 2012 3:35 PM in Munchkin wet controls

I am working on a M# 199, 2004 vintage boiler. It is a modular system with 2 matched boilers. The customer complains that it backfires every couple of days. 2 months ago we had replaced the burner, gasket, door, insulation, electrode and flame rod. Yesterday, when I took the cover off, it seemed damp. On the top edge of the base there was moisture from the gas pipe to the control board. I couldn't find the leak, all the sensors, pipe and manifold connections and insulation were dry. I finally found it moist air coming from from the air venturi opening. There is no sign of a leak inside and there is no condensate (I have checked the trap and it is clean) during the off cycle.
Has anyone run across this before?
I am thinking i must have a small leak that evaporates all the evidence due to the hot heat exchanger.
Thanks,
Tim

Hot Steamer

@ February 9, 2012 3:02 PM in Honeywell True Steam blowing up our cond pump

I like the solution you propose. It is inexpensive and easy to maintai.
Good luck,
Tim

I agree with Ed

@ January 20, 2012 9:12 PM in Apartment Building Steam Heating Problem

Vacuum does not suck water out of a boiler. Carry-over does. Cleaning the inside of the boiler and then filling with clean water is a good first step.
I think I am missing something, if your two pipe radiators do not have traps, what stops the steam from venting out the boiler feed tank?

Good luck,
Tim

No problems

@ January 20, 2012 8:43 PM in piping question, tight tees

for a one zone system... and if you decide to add a second zone then add a flow check valve to the first zone.
Good luck,
Tim

It is a ratio

@ January 5, 2012 10:34 AM in Flue temp and return water temp. condensing?

BTU Input (burner firing rate) : BTU output (lbs.water flow x temperature rise)

The square inches of heat exchange surface is constant.

Your water flow is usually constant, so a decrease in your firing rate will decrease the water temperature rise through the boiler.

 The burner, at low fire is moving less air and gas, the hot gasses flow through the boiler slower.

This means the flue gasses are in contact with the heat exchanger for a longer period of time.

That makes the flue temperature closer to the return water temperature

Hope this answers your question,
Tim

I agree

@ January 5, 2012 10:13 AM in Two Radiators Stay Cold - Help!

with bn, run the pressure up then pull the vents and see if you have any steam pressure in the radiators. If you have no pressure at the vents, then the valves need attention.
If you can't get pressure to build up on the boiler, close 30% of your radiators for the test.

Good luck,
Tim

You can do everything you want

@ January 5, 2012 10:00 AM in swap gas for oil with replacement core?

The burner, power venter, indirect water heater and hydronic zone can all work well together with your boiler. It sounds like you have a good grasp of the concepts. It really comes down to sizing and zone priority. If the current boiler is over-sized, you can operate all three zones at once. If not you will have to prioritize the zones. Just remember the boiler will be hot 12 months a year for hot water use. I would recommend a time clock to break that circuit during the middle of the day.
I would definitely get help from a professional, who has done this before.

Good luck,
Tim

Made in America

@ December 16, 2011 2:17 PM in Made in America

I don't know if anyone has seen this, but I highly recommend it.


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2011/10/how-to-build-a-made-in-america-home/#.TuuXW-fIlsE.email