Heating Help

Not so accurate.

@ February 13, 2013 7:44 PM in Propane tank ?

That happens to me quite a bit. I think the gauge gets hung up.
My propane company usually leaves the printout from the truck pump. As much as I love a good conspiracy, it is probably your gauge.
Carl 

No Mess

@ February 13, 2013 7:39 PM in one zone wont close

You can just unscrew the head. The valve is sealed.
Carl

2 #

@ February 13, 2013 9:02 AM in 2LB system for Tankless Water Heater And Fireplace

2 # is not a normal pressure for residential appliances.1/4# or 7" water column is the norm.
Gas piping is sized by adding up the total length of the fittings and calculating the pressure drop. If you are going to do this yourself, you need to get a handle on this. It is really important. Get the BTU rating of the appliances and start working. As for what you have installed, The drip leg should be on each appliance not the main. Strapping the pipe is very important.
Carl

You got it

@ February 12, 2013 11:14 PM in one zone wont close

Your actuator has seized in the open position.The red wires (end switches) are closed telling the boiler to fire. Swap out the valve and you should be all set
Carl

Post Purge?

@ February 12, 2013 1:52 PM in taco zvz404 to circulator?

Many boilers have a pump relay with a time delay. This is referred to as "Post Purging" the pump. It helps dissipate some of the  boiler's heat and avoids the high limit tripping on error. Some will run 1 minute, some longer. Does the pump turn off eventually?
Carl

Differential

@ February 12, 2013 11:45 AM in SecondOpinion

What is the differential set at? What type of pressuretrol?
Carl

No such thing.

@ February 12, 2013 11:41 AM in 277 Volt Circulator pump

I think your original thought is correct 480/3/60 is what you need. 277 is the voltage of one leg of a 480 3 phase just as 120v is one leg a 208v 3 phase (think cubed root). I don't believe the product he suggested exists. I have seen systems with  480/3/60 in both wet rotor and 3 piece floor models.
Carl

Pictures?

@ February 11, 2013 9:17 AM in connection of wood boiler to oil boiler

What type of wood boiler do you have?
Pictures of all your boiler room piping would be helpful.
Carl

Mod/con

@ February 11, 2013 12:10 AM in Time to replace boiler & DHW

I disagree with you reservations on mod/cons. A single stage boiler sized at 90.000 Btu's is going to short cycle and give you low efficiency.
I would look at a triangle tube prestige 60 with a 40 gallon smart tank. it will modulate down to 12k btu. The real world efficiency differences are are going to be more like 20-30%. Triangle tube has a training center in Denver and well supported.
Carl

Inspect

@ February 9, 2013 7:30 PM in Munchkin with no p/s lines installed

The best way would be to pull the cover and the burner. The burner is not a DYI job. I was assuming he saw deformation when he pulled the cover off. The exchangerlooks like 5 gallon bucket on its side. The burner is mounted the lid.
http://www.htproducts.com/literature/parts/MunchkinBoilerResidential%28Rev1%29.pdf

Carl

Frozen?

@ February 9, 2013 5:46 PM in Munchkin with no p/s lines installed

My experience has been that the vast majority of foreclosures are never properly winterized. What you are describing sounds like  the exchanger may have frozen. Does it look like the coils are bulging? I am thinking if it overheated the flue would be damaged. Post some good pics of the exchanger.
Carl

The chart

@ February 9, 2013 3:29 PM in Why does this set up "work"?

The chart gives allowable sizing given a certain pressure drop.The system you describe "works" because the boiler is either very forgiving on it's minimum or the system pressure is set too high. As SWEI suggested. what were the pressures at the boiler with the boiler on and off?
Carl 

Munchkin

@ February 9, 2013 3:15 PM in Munchkin with no p/s lines installed

The water heater without a relief valve is a serious knucklehead move. The rest of the system should be carefully looked over.
The boiler is oversized for the home. I don't believe that is what is causing the f05. It would make sense that the incorrect piping is causing the f05 and once it is corrected the boiler should work fine. I would suggest getting pro out to repipe it just like the manual says. I would have them do a complete clean and combustion analysis as well. If they balk at the combustion analysis, politely show them the door.
Carl

845

@ February 8, 2013 5:14 PM in runing hot water loop of steam boiler

I am making a few assumptions here.
In the systems I normally see here it goes.
The thermostat wires to TT on the relay.
Hot power 120 volt (line) goes to #1 and #4. This powers the relay transformer and the circulator switch.

Neutral to #2

Hot (load) to circulator to #3

The next part is a little trickier. You want to use The switch at #5 and #6 in series with your aquastat switch to close the TT's on the boiler.
Run a wire from one of the boiler TT's to #5 on the 845
Run a wire from #6 to COM on the aquastat.
Run a wire from N/O on the aquastat to the other boiler TT
Leave the existing wires on the boiler TT
I would recommend an aquastat with an adjustable differential set to 10-20 degrees. This will prevent short cycling.

Post some pics if you are unsure.
Carl



 

TRV and Infloor

@ February 7, 2013 11:16 PM in Adding Zones

If you already have a modcon why not do both. You could do infloor on part of the house and balance the other rooms with TRV's. The t-stat locations would be critical. The extruded aluminum plates like joist track are nice. Pex-al-pex would be a good choice for tubing. 

Acetone

@ February 7, 2013 7:14 PM in Sharpe and New System

Acetone will take it right off. Until next year. Looks like a nice install. Maybe you should just do the numbers over with a nice stencil or perhaps calligraphy.
Carl

TRV

@ February 7, 2013 6:03 PM in Adding Zones

What you are describing would certainly work. You would gain some comfort. It would be fairly expensive and assuming your are using a conventional boiler, there would be little or no energy saved.I would suggest adding TRV's to each radiator to help balance out the system.
Carl

4 to 1

@ February 7, 2013 5:22 PM in boiler sizing

Beware of boilers advertising super low turndown. Many do it at the expense of efficiency.
Carl

4 and 4

@ February 7, 2013 5:17 PM in raised floor question

Ideally I like 6 and 2. I think you will need 3 if not 4 of concrete to prevent cracking. I assume there is ground under all this? Be sure to space the tubes so they are in the center of the slab.
Carl

Not cumulative.

@ February 7, 2013 10:28 AM in Head Loss Cumulative?

The gpm is cumulative but not the head . When you are looking at the pump curve make sure it looks good with both the max head and max gpm as well as the max head and min gpm.That is what is so nice about ECM circulators.
Carl

Red flag

@ February 7, 2013 10:21 AM in Infloor Radiant Heat issue

I think your energy usage is a major red flag.A heat loss over 25 btu/foot on the coldest day is cause for concern. 25,000 btu/hour / 3415 = 7.32 KW/hour or 175 kw in 24 hrs. That would be with the home at 70 degrees on the coldest design day. The days you are not there with the temps turned down should be a fraction of that. Those are the numbers that are most alarming.
I would have a blower door and IR survey done.

Carl

I get it..

@ February 6, 2013 11:30 PM in Triangle tube prestige mod con?

I am still suspicious of the 0010 sizing, but I get it.
I don't know anyone who has put in a triangle tube and gone back to buderous. I don't believe they are in the same category.
Carl