Heating Help

Not Sure...

@ February 22, 2012 10:51 AM in Tune after flue lining?

I am not familiar with your boiler but MY boilker goes ape when you blow oin it the wrong way. Adjusting the draft makes a huge difference. I run mine on the edge all the time so it will soot like crazy if some parameter changes even slightly.

Bronze..

@ February 9, 2012 2:19 PM in bronze fittings and copper fittings

I use cast bronze when I want strength. Is that what you meant cast bronze? Generaly, any fittings where something will hang from it. Brass is pretty strong but you can;t find it anymore. Like brass female adapters for Hammer arresters or whatever. You can still find some bronze fittings like Tees which serve the purpose.
Since they started making all this stuff in China, it has become a bit of a crap shoot. I'm not that sure if cast bronze is any stronger than copper at this point.

The flicker

@ February 3, 2012 9:34 AM in grundfos alpha pumps ???

The flicker is more noticeable on a retrofit application. Without ever powering them, straight out of the box and putting them in the system, as soon as you put water in them, they light up like a christmas tree for a sec. THey stop doing that. I imagine there is some residual power in a capacitor or something left over from testing. After they are wired in and powered you won't notice it unless you turn the power off and push water through them. They will repeat the flicker. Doesn't affect operation at all. I have only had three, one of them lasted about two months. The other two are still ok. And yes, they chatter a lot more than the old ones. The checks in them are the same but the pump doesn;lt hold them open quite as well.

Nope

@ February 2, 2012 8:20 PM in 24V to visionPRO for constant backlight

Just 24 VAC for vision pro. I have a prestige that is lit up 24 x 7 running off my air handler xformer which is rusty and humms.

Can't see..

@ February 2, 2012 8:07 PM in Changing blast tube lenght

Can;t see a manual for it. I think the boilers that needed a longer tube were Buderus and they only did that when they changed their insertion depth. The starfire doesn;t run positive pressure so there shouldn't be an issue using a shorter tube if you maintain insertion depth. But then, crazy things can happen.

Would be more comfortable..

@ February 2, 2012 9:29 AM in Changing blast tube lenght

Would be more comfortable lengthening it than shortening it.
What boiler is this for?

My Understanding.

@ February 1, 2012 8:00 PM in Changing blast tube lenght

My understanding from reading Beckett documentation intended for retrofit applications is that you should choose the burner tube length to match your application (insertion depth). So, I say go for it. Probably best to keep it as short as possible anyways, all else being equal. Pensotti uses the USBT in one of their boilers.

TWO Spin On's

@ February 1, 2012 12:06 PM in Nozzle choice, what's better in my situation?

If you are going to open it up and repipe it, I’d put two spin on filters and get rid of that canister. The canister can cause more problems than it solves. The usual oil service for 60 dollars includes opening that can and at best, giving it a swipe with a dirty rag. They then throwi in a cheap felt insert and possibly put it in upside down.
The amount of felt you can blow off of a new insert in enough to clog a nozzle by itself let alone all the crud left in there if the canister isn’t cleaned properly. At least though, with one spinon, the felt dust will get trapped by it. Be sure to put that Garber after the pot filter if you intend to keep the can. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to clog the Garber. That’s why the vac gauge is needed it allows you to see it clogging with the gauge.
You may have a clogged line. Sometimes if you run low or out of fuel that will happen. Or if you are low and get a delivery while the burner is on. Id at least want to blow out the lines if it were me, your getting a lot of clogging. No point in replacing a clogged noz without checking the pump strainer..
And whats up with all the crazy sized nozzel packs laying around. Every house I have owned had that multiple nozzel size issue. It was always due to the tech not having the right one in the van.

Alpha

@ January 31, 2012 1:30 PM in grundfos alpha pump wiring??

You can wire them either way. Constant or switched. I have mine on switched. I don't like the fact that they appear to boot up every time (ie the flashing) I will note however that even new out of the box, without powering them, just by spinning them a bit they will flash. This makes me think their is some sort of capacitor storing power for the auto adapt setting and the mode setting. They only flash a few times then they won't flash any more unless you power them up.
I emailed Grundfoss and they told me that the pump will retain it's settings between power on/off cycles however they did not say how long and what settings. It does appear on auto adapt they start out at a fixed speed and then over time slow down a bit. That slower setting is retained between cycles so I guess it works as advertised.
So, if you have them on a relay, and they shut oiff, if some water moves through them, then they will flash. Kind of silly.

5 minutes.

@ January 29, 2012 3:00 PM in savings from low mass conversion

5 minutes sounds about right. They do heat up fast. It depends on what zones are calling though. Your boiler sounds like it has a lot more than 20 gallons in it for sure. I have no experience with either the Pensotti or Biasi boilers. I do like the Biasi manual more so than the Pensotti. The firing rates and settings are in line with Reillo specifications and they include a blanket. They also list a lot of approved burners and settings, nice touch. The breech size is at least in the ballpark, The Pensotti has a 6" breech. They both have boiler drain tappings front and rear, The front one could be used as an inspection port if needed, They are one of the few manufacturers that list over fire draft ranging from .01 to .06, that’s kind of wild but I assume that the smaller boilers have lower over fire pressure and the large ones have higher over fire pressure. They do not list the pressure drop for each model and they should. Neither of these boilers have baffles. I find that a bit troubling. Why no baffles? Could it be stack temps are already low? Anyhow. Like I said, I have no experience with either. If it’s not a DIY install, I would find an installer that installs a boatload of them and has references you can check out. If it is a DIY install, make sure your distributor is DIY friendly. You will need a chimney liner for sure with these small boilers.

Hard to tell exactly.

@ January 29, 2012 12:27 PM in savings from low mass conversion

I think you might be over optimistic at 200 gal. 100 is a lot too. And that DK2-3 efficiency rating at 88 or whatever, I have my doubts about that. They are running the air gate almost wide open and I bet it will soot in the summer. A few mfgs have done that to lower noise and acheive wild efficiency ratings. I don't think I would buy a boiler that has their burner set up so far away from the burner mfgs standard settings unless it had a combustion chamber or logical statement as to why they need it set that way. Cold start and outdoor reset give you a lot of savings you allready have that. Tripple pass gives you easy cleaning and a wee bit more efficiency but I doubt it is any more than five or ten percent. Low mass vs what? Mid Mass? I doubt that is much at all. If you go from 20 gallons to 5.7 Thats 14 gallons of water you have to heat up over and above the rest of the system which probably has another 10 in it anyways for the tank and piping so in reality you are going from 30 to 16 (50% less water) and with post purge, a lot of that heat ends up in the hot water tank. I do think the fact that you are downsizing the boiler a lot will help. Longer burns for sure. My guess is you save about another 80 gallons. What kind of heat loss and design temperature do you have? 600 gallons doesn't seem like a lot.

Water Temp / Boiler Plugging

@ January 28, 2012 9:54 PM in Water Temp / Boiler Plugging

Was reading the instruction manual for the Pensotti DK boiler. There is a note that states:
Allowing the water temperature in the boiler to drop below 160 degrees F for an extended period of time can cause corrosion and boiler plugging.
Are we shortening the life of three pass boilers by using ODR with a low limit less than 160? Will coldstarting boilers plug them up? After all, tests have shown...

LOL

@ January 27, 2012 1:58 PM in Testo 327 Kit 4 Smoke Tester

That's what I am trying to avoid finding out!

Thanks.

@ January 27, 2012 12:54 PM in Testo 327 Kit 4 Smoke Tester

Not a lot of info there. No online manuals or anything. I think I will pass on that.

Testo 327 Kit 4 Smoke Tester

@ January 26, 2012 2:34 PM in Testo 327 Kit 4 Smoke Tester

Is the smoke tester that comes in the Teesto 327 Kit 4 any good? I have a Whoeller kit and I like the smoke tester but want to sell the whole kit off in one piece.. Just wondering if the one with the 327 is any good. Don;t see a picture of it in the Testo catalog.

Wow

@ January 25, 2012 11:08 AM in Is it too soon to be obsolete?

Wow. As far as I understand it, in the USA, there is no legal requirement for parts support. You can check your warantee or contract. It is also common to have insurance like this on your building. If your state is just winging it then I would move.

I here ya.

@ January 20, 2012 2:34 PM in Oil burner tuning, Nozzle sizing help

Yeah, been there. To tell you the truth though. THe equipment is so crude that all you can do is dial it in close. You have a burner made by company A which is basically a nozzel firing a stream of fuel under high pressure into a steel hole. The adjustments are very crude, just a slot that allows the fan to pick up air. They couldn;t even be bothered to use a seperate mtor for the air and the pump. THen, you wind up having the draft set with a little flappy POS that can;t adjust worth crap. I think these guys have seen so many units they just set em by eye because if they are any good at it, they can get it within 95% of where you would end up anyways. Cleaning is important though. It makes a big difference in fuel usage..

Timing.

@ January 20, 2012 11:37 AM in Oil burner tuning, Nozzle sizing help

There is no set timing that you follow for sweeping. Like anything else, you clean it when it gets dirty. I do mine three times a year. I replace the nozzel once a year, primary filter once a year, secondary filter evety two years. I only set the burner combustion twice a year. Once in the spring when it warms up and once in January when it gets cold.  My burner / boiler is twitchy though. For a setup like yours, anual D&C is probably enough.  You need to check the adjustment when you replace the nozzel. Thats what makes it drift.. well, that and the burner wearing out, how do you know the pump is working if you don;t test it? A bad fuel pump might show up as no heat or hard start.. In my earlier post, I didn;t mention Gross stack / Net stack temp calculation if you want to know the efficiency. So, you need a thermometer. They are like 60 bucks for a decent one I think. If it were me, Id just pay the 200 / year service charge and be done with it on those old beasts. I might change the fuel filter myself. I have been forced to do it myself cause I can;lt find anyone who is competent in my area that will spend more than 20 minutes on it for less than 500.00. And nobody has a digital analyzer either so I bought my own. More of a hobby than anything else. Like I said, I am nutz. Find your boiler service manual, good place to start.

You need...

@ January 20, 2012 9:17 AM in Oil burner tuning, Nozzle sizing help

To mess with that nozzle, you’re going to need a pressure gauge and any time you mess with the pressure and nozzle, you’re going to need at minimum a lot of experience. With no experience you will need to do some reading and buy a smoke tester, CO2 tester, Draft gauge. You didn't say what boiler / furnace / burner / venting set up you have. You will need that info. Was it a conversion? Perhaps the burner got lifted from another unit and that’s why the nameplate is wrong. For the inexperienced, many suggest this. Clean the unit fireside, flue, chimney etc. Set it to factory spec, pressure, air nozzle, spark gap, z dimension, everything. Set up the draft, knock the air down a couple of notches, set the draft again, take a smoke test, Got Smoke? Open the air 1/2 notch at a time till you get no smoke. No Smoke? Good, take a 25 pull smoke test.. just a trace or less? Good, take a CO2 test. Adjust from there. It is a lot of fiddly stuff and the tools are costly. I’ve spent a couple of thousand on tools but then I am nuts. I think the cheapest you could get away with would be about 500.00 and that’s if you get a good deal on everything and you won’t be able to test for CO or 02 and many feel that is essential. With just a cad cell smoke test, you could end up way out. Most modern burners will not produce smoke across a wide band And I mean wide, from burn the head off the burner hot, to fill your house with soot cold. C02 test is mandatory. You can get a C02 tester on Ebay for 50 bucks sometimes, just need to buy a rebuild kit for it.. like 50 bucks I think.

lol..

@ January 18, 2012 2:39 PM in problems with west wood oil filters?

When I was researching filters, I came accross the Raycor line. They have a 5 micron with a water seperator that interested me however I wasn;t able to see if it would have too high of a pressure driop so I just stuck with the Garber. Have you tried a Racor?  The mounting brackets are nice too.

Granger

@ January 18, 2012 1:19 PM in end switch for zone valve v8043

Granger among others, Bing that SKU / part number, there are a few places.

335

@ January 18, 2012 10:26 AM in combustion analysis

I have the same meter. I bought it new 3 1/2 years ago. The O2 sensor gave up this summer. I have used it perhaps 10 times, never dropped,m always stored inside. I sent it in to be calibrated. The results I got back from Wohler indicated that the draft reading was out. Now when I test draft where I showed -.-02 before I show 0 now. Also, my Stack temps went up 100 degrees.
Just Great.
I know these things are more indicators than lab quality instruments but come on.
I ordered a Dwyer 460 for draft.