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Is there a "top dog" in the US Boiler Company lineup: Crown, New Yorker, and Burnham?

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Jack M
Jack M Member Posts: 229
edited April 2015 in Strictly Steam
Looking at the US Boiler lineup of steam boilers it's hard to tell what company's merchandising plan is. Is there a Cadillac, Buick, and Chevy among these? The Crown and Burnham listed here have triple pass heat exchangers. The New Yorker saved the triple pass for their non-steam boiler.

Burnham Megasteam

New Yorker (New Yorker makes a triple pass but not in the Steam lineup so this one is not triple)

Crown Freeport 2







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  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,675
    edited April 2015
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    I believe the MegaSteam is considered their Cadillac product.
    Not sure where Crown falls into that whole thing.


    Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment
  • Jack M
    Jack M Member Posts: 229
    edited April 2015
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    Within the Megasteam lineup there are quite a few variants. I cannot figure out what the differences are.
    For the Megasteam MST288 there's:
    MST288SL-FL
    MST288SL-HL
    MST288SL-MB
    MST288SL-HB
  • RJMCTAFO
    RJMCTAFO Member Posts: 113
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    Most of those model designations after the MST288 denote whether or not the heating coil is included. I may be wrong but i believe you can also get them with a coil that is 3/4 instead of 1/2 to use as a heating loop.
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,675
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    RJMCTAFO said:

    Most of those model designations after the MST288 denote whether or not the heating coil is included. I may be wrong but i believe you can also get them with a coil that is 3/4 instead of 1/2 to use as a heating loop.

    I have wondered ever since I ripped out my V83 + coil why it was only 1/2"

    Isn't it standard practice that any pipe that is connected to more than one fixture to be 3/4"? And if so, why is a coil that obviously will be supplying multiple fixtures most commonly only 1/2"?

    The 3 GPM they supply is pitiful to say the least.
    Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment
  • BobC
    BobC Member Posts: 5,478
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    Copper costs money and costs trump convention every time.

    The bean counters always win.

    Bob
    Smith G8-3 with EZ Gas @ 90,000 BTU, Single pipe steam
    Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
    3PSI gauge
  • Jack M
    Jack M Member Posts: 229
    edited April 2015
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    RJMCTAFO said:

    Most of those model designations after the MST288 denote whether or not the heating coil is included. I may be wrong but i believe you can also get them with a coil that is 3/4 instead of 1/2 to use as a heating loop.

    MegaSteam boilers are available three ways (from a source here):
    1) No coil and no coil opening which does not come with an aquastat.
    2) No coil but with a provision for a coil with cover plate installed and this comes with the aquastat.
    3) Coil and with the aquastat.
    "Many distributors stock the second optoin (no coil) but with the provision and cover plate (#2). This allows them to warehouse less boilers and to cover the whole spectrum."



  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
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    If you want to limit the coil to somewhere around 3 GPM, 1/2" CTS is just about right.
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    edited April 2015
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    I may be wrong but I would think it may have a lot to do with how fast/much you can heat the water passing through that coil as well??? Is there room, in the boiler to make the coil longer to heat it longer without a major boiler redesign? I suppose a storage tank is an option but people probably aren't willing to pay the incremental costs in a single family residential setting.
  • RobG
    RobG Member Posts: 1,850
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    Have you ever seen what the tube size of an instantaneous water heater is? It's all a matter of slowing the water down to give it time to heat.
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    edited April 2015
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    RobG said:

    Have you ever seen what the tube size of an instantaneous water heater is? It's all a matter of slowing the water down to give it time to heat.

    Nope, never seen one but if you slow the water flow in a 3/4" boiler coil down, and there is no storage tank, are you doing anything that a 1/2 coil can't do at full flow? I've never been sold on a HW coil in a boiler anyway.
    EDIT: I actually have a 40 gallon water heater that I took out of service last year( still in my basement waiting for me to haul it away) and replaced it with a conventional gas water heater. The old one was sold by Sears about 20 years ago. I don't know who the manufacturer was but it was all plastic outer shell with a poly something?? tank that was flexible and you had to put a valve on the cold water line just before it so that if the water line broke it wouldn't create a vacuum and suck the inner tank into a ball. The burner was on the front of the water heater along with a 1/2" copper coil and a circulating pump that pulled the water out of the bottom of the tank, into the coil and dumped it into the top of the tank. Sears gave a lifetime warranty on the tank. The first one lasted about 10 years and it had to be replaced, along with the pump (a $400.00 item), five years later the second pump had to be replaced (another $400.00) and last year the tank started leaking at the top water connections. I decided to go back to a conventional water heater.