FUBAR!

New England SteamWorks

Frustrated sometimes when you don't get to read the end of a good story because the OP drops off? Well, remember heatman? His story doesn't have an ending. Yet...

The photos are all the clues you get. The rest of the basement is totally finished with nothing further exposed. All buried and completely inaccessible. 5 supplies, 3 returns, 2 drips.

Scratching my head and looking for an appropriate adjective to describe what I was seeing, the only thing appropriate that occurred to me was FUBAR. A lot of renovations/alterations over many years. I am guessing with every project one steam pipe or another was an inconvenience which was promptly reconfigured/rerouted or relocated. The 3 boilers were all replaced in kind with absolutely no changes in piping (you can see why...). But a 4th in-kind replacement is not in the cards.

So... How are we going to tackle this one?

New England SteamWorks

I absolutely hate clutter, so my first thought was: "Man, I've got to clean this all up and bring some organization". How about we cut most everything away above the boiler and instead tie it together up in the ceiling, coming down to the boiler with a single 4" supply connected to a 4" header?



I called this the USS Enterprise version, for obvious reasons. But now I had a great deal of clutter up in the ceiling, and that's not the easiest place to do all that pipe fitting. Plus the ceiling is already completely cluttered with other piping and plumbing, as well as a 2nd water boiler's piping.

My second thought was boiler selection. A 4th Burnham was out of the question, the controls needed to be on the left side, and I like big tappings. That meant a Weil EG.

Abracadabra

RI_SteamWorks said:

.. I like big tappings...

and I can not lie. You other brothers can't deny...

CLamb

Nice graphic. Which software did you use to create it?

New England SteamWorks

CLamb said:

Nice graphic. Which software did you use to create it?

Why, the free kind, of course! SketchUp.

New England SteamWorks

So I went back to the drawing board with two supplies. But this didn't help as much as I had hoped for my ceiling clutter problem. It was always going to be difficult to pipe, but this was still pushing the limits:

ChrisJ

RI_SteamWorks said:

So I went back to the drawing board with two supplies. But this didn't help as much as I had hoped for my ceiling clutter problem. It was always going to be difficult to pipe, but this was still pushing the limits:

I don't know if sitting the VXT on the drafthood not connected to anything will yield desired results.

Abracadabra

ChrisJ

Funny.

I guess I failed.

ratio

The best jokes are the ones no one else gets...

New England SteamWorks

I came to the conclusion that moving everything up to the ceiling really wasn't going to help the clutter problem. Especially once I added the water feed, removed the VXT from the draft hood, and actually installed it. 5 supplies and 5 returns was going to be cluttered, no matter what I did. An additional consideration was the excessive water consumption heatman was experiencing. The king valves on each supply would be a great way to isolate all the branches of the system and help pinpoint a leak, if such a leak did in fact exist. Putting those valves up in the ceiling wouldn't be particularly convenient. So, bringing them all down to a common header seemed the simplest in the end:

New England SteamWorks

And so that's what we did:

New England SteamWorks

It's a wrap:

New England SteamWorks

Oh. We did get around to hooking up that VXT:

EzzyT

That's is some beautiful workmanship right there

Steamhead

Agreed. That's one for the Drop Header Page.

gerry gill

Damn! that is one of the nicest installs i have ever seen!!!
My hats off to you sir...

Dave0176

Wow, that all I can say, artwork never looked this good. I like cast fittings but the malleable fittings do look clean.

What size EG?

ChrisJ

Looks like either an EG-45 or 55. I'm betting 55.

New England SteamWorks

It's a 55, which was another fun dilemma. With all radiators turned on, the house requires a 65. However, in the main parlor they have a 125 EDR radiator that has never been turned on (10 years +) because it is adjacent to a very valuable piano, and the result was never uncomfortable. That would take us down to a 55. Then there are the kids that have grown and flown the coop causing the third floor to be empty and turned off. That takes us to a 50. What's a steam man to do? I would rather be a little under than over, and one day someone's kids will return to the third floor. But if the house heated fine for all those years without the parlor radiator (it's an open layout), -I didn't feel I needed to plan for that, -so a 55 it was.

ratio

Is that the skim port with the plugged 90? Why face it upwards?

New England SteamWorks

"............with or without the pickup factor.............????"

-With.

New England SteamWorks

ratio said:

Is that the skim port with the plugged 90? Why face it upwards?

There's a tee with a boiler drain for skimming. The plugged 90 is for any water treatments someone might wish to add such as Steamaster.

Fred

It looks Amazing!!

Sailah

I just wept a little. So beautiful

Paul48

I think the main vents pushed him over the edge.

Fred

Only 4 left in stock at Amazon. I think this is the third or fourth inventory restock. Better get some more available @Sailah. We're about to get into the heating season.

Danny Scully

I just used one as well and will be using another on Thursday @Sailah

Sailah

Fred said:

Only 4 left in stock at Amazon. I think this is the third or fourth inventory restock. Better get some more available @Sailah. We're about to get into the heating season.

I know I know. I just did 50 the other day and most are gone. I need to get a few hundred bodies machined and ready to go. I have plenty of everything else. They just take awhile and I insist on doing them myself to be sure that all the procedures are down to a science before I turn them over to the guys and gals that will be making them going forward.

Danny Scully said:

I just used one as well and will be using another on Thursday @Sailah

Appreciate it and I saw it your install thread. Thanks!

Paul48

@Sailah

Getting any feedback from out in the field?

Sailah

@Paul48

Not really no one has their systems on yet. Heard from a lot of people about the installs etc. I've personally tested every one that has left the building so I'm optimistic that all will be well.

I had essentially the same vent minus the silicone seal out for testing and was well received.

I would like to hear about how fast they close and how long they stay closed. We can alter the amount of alcohol in the disc to tailor the performance to being a vent vs a trap as it was designed. On our rack it closes instantly with 6 psi and I understand most everyone is running far less than that. It also stays closed for awhile due to the thermal mass of the brass.

I know of a bunch that have been installed in RI and I would very much like to see them working on start up in the field so feel free to drop me a line if you have one and I'll come take a peek.

New England SteamWorks

Would love to have you down on or around October 1st. Say the word. You deserve the royal treatment for such a splendid product, and I am more than happy to see you get it!

I never run above 1-1/2 psi, so they don't close instantly, but quick enough. Make a little more noise than the Grotons. At first disconcerting, but now I know when the noise stops, -they're closed! I like that.

GregWeiss

@RI_SteamWorks Did you do the insulation?

New England SteamWorks

GregWeiss said:

@RI_SteamWorks Did you do the insulation?

Of course! Usually I leave that to Ilka, but it's too hot summers, so she stays home and does laundry and I insulate...

SeanBeans

wow

Dale_3

Its a shame you had to cover it up. Great work. It's so great too see people taking pride in what they do.

BobC

I can see Ilka is a very modest dog, a lot like my old cat Gracie was.

Bob

New England SteamWorks

Ha! She'll run the entire install if you let her!

Danny Scully

I love how these threads rise from the dead