Best Of
Re: Its on every plumbing exam.......
sammy screws (rod anchors, sammy is a brand)
kindorf/kindorf clamps (slotted strut channel, strut clamps, kindorf is a brand)
pipe rest (riser clamp)
loop hanger, sprinkler hanger, swivel hanger
fish plate, ceiling plate, hanger plate, square plate
union (actually wants coupling, for the spanish speaking folk)
black pipe (actually wants nh pipe)
nh tee wye (sanitary tee, though some guys actually want a wye which is why anyone who asks for a tee wye I have ask tee or wye.)
teflon (ptfe tape, teflon is a brand)
johni-bolts (closet bolts)
mission coupling (transition coupling, mission is a brand)
offset wrench (wants end wrench)
fernco coupling (flexible rubber cplg, fernco is a brand)
sawzall/sawzall blades (reciprocating saw/blades, sawzall is a Milwaukee trademark)
silver solder (wants sterling solder, contains no silver) unless it's an hvac guy, then stay-brite it is.
the trap with the threads at the end (milwaukee/utility trap)
the fitting with the 2" on the side (side outlet elbow)
shemale (extension cplg)
At the end of the day, all that matters is that you understood.
not nicknames but common mistakes
Not reading a reducing tee correctly, larger size run x run x bull.
Sweat reducing male/female adapters should read sweat size first, then thread size.
Not knowing ID/OD plumbing/hvac and understanding how you should order depending on if you are in a plumbing or hvac supply. unless ordering 1/4 and 3/8 refrigeration coils/compression fittings, then plumbers also use OD.
Not knowing caulk vs silicone
Angle danfoss radiator valves when pipe is coming up from the ground, should use side mount valves.
pro dope on oil lines
dko
Re: Gorton air eliminator, condensation/sweating in summer
The valve in the feeder unit may be leaking, but it can be rebuilt.
Re: Gorton air eliminator, condensation/sweating in summer
If its leaking by it doesn't change the numbers.
pecmsg
Re: Rheem Hybrid water heater changing operating modes on its own.
Full disclosure, I've never worked on one, but my 50 years worth of field experience tells me there a rat out there somewhere. The technicians I've spoken to that are working on them in the field tell me that these units are so incapable of handling the demands, that they spend most of their time running on the heating elements (99% efficient, not 400%) and that the mechanical room is so cold you could hang meat in it, even with a gas or oil fired boiler in the same room, so the consumer leaves the door to the mechanical room open, thereby cooling off the balance of the basement, causing the thermostat to call for heat. Tell me again how efficient these systems are?
Sometimes the Government gets a wild hair up their but and pushes an agenda without really looking at the big picture. Like CFT lighting and the associated UV radiation that is causing major failures of plastic components, including PEX tubing, solar PV with a 20% efficiency and a life expectancy that is less than required to hit an economic breakeven without significant Federal subsidies, and will have to be removed and di$po$ed of with that not being taken into consideration on the initial economics.
The equipment manufactures have no choice but to fall in line, or be over run by the competition. Then marketing gets involved, and pushes silly ideas like "FREE" energy and dehumidification to justify the additional expense. Before you hack my head of and throw it out with the wash, understand that I understand the premise of being as efficient as one can be (COP's of 3 or 4), but I also understand the connected loads (human beings), energy sources (conditioned versus non conditioned space or OSA) and the consumers willingness to stand around and wait for a slow compressor to heat their water to a temperature that they can quickly shower in, all in the name of carbon reduction.
I think one thing that really irritates me in this whole GREEEN SCENEario, is the lack of attention to Solar Thermal (60 to 80% efficient with unknown life expectancies) and NO mention of drain waste heat recovery heat exchangers, which by the way are MANDATORY in new construction in Montreal, and can reduce basic DHW heating energy by 50% (excluding solar thermal contributions) , can be employed now without the need for Federal subsidies.
Why do you think solar PV is so popular with the DOE ? Because it can spin the electrical meter backwards, which is exciting. Solar thermal can't spin the gas meter backwards. It can only stop it and that isn't as sexy as spinning a meter backwards. Bureaucrats are running the DOE. I wonder how many of them own stock in Teslas Power Wall and Solar PV systems... HP water heaters should be drawing their "FREE ENERGY
from outside the conditioned home, but that would require additional materials and labor that will jack the price of an installed system upward, affecting the economics and bottom line ROI, and the Marketing department will fight it all the way to Washington DC
I also think that ALL energy conservation products should have a "Cradle to Grave" environmental listing, that will allow the consumer to look at the options, and make an intelligent economic decision, instead of forcing subsidies down their throat with the attitude of "This is what we have to offer, take it or leave it...". We need to have a bigger voice in what the government is forcing upon us. We are ALL paying for the subsidies, wether we use it or not.
Rant over, open to civil conversations about how to REALLY reduce energy consumption, which I do believe is important, regardless of politics. Waste not, want not.
Re: Gorton air eliminator, condensation/sweating in summer
Is it cold?
The only way it can sweat is if it's cold.
Does your boiler run to make domestic hot water?
ChrisJ
Re: AO smith ECC code
This long thread points out what i posted a couple of years ago:
For the most part these units are not repairable. They are treated like a throw away appliance.
The MFGs put these out in the field without proper testing and they know they will fail and build that into the price. They don't care.
@iamknotdot just run it on electric.
With two people and your water uses is low a 40 or 50 gallon electric is more than enough
Re: New, unused Peerless 63-04 Brooklyn/Queens area
I see that you/the boiler job is in Queens/ Brooklyn area. Contact me if you are leery about reassembling it yourself but would still like to use it. There isn't a Peerless or any manufacturer (oil or gas)for that matter that we haven't had to split and reassemble for NYC installations at some point .
jimmac
Re: Coal to Gas Burner Conversion?
Regarding coal conversions, I did not do many of them in my rookie years, but I did remove old oil burners from coal conversions in order to build a new combustion chamber out of fire brick and install new oil burners like the Carlin CRD100 in the 1970s.
The first step is to remove the grates that hold the solid fuel (coal/wood) which was already done when I "modernized" the boilers I worked on. Next thing is to build the combustion chamber floor with insulated fire brick. After that you would build the rear wall and side walls as you might build a wall by staggering the bricks so all the vertical lines were not lined up. At the corner you would also stagger the bricks until you were at the front of the chamber where you would use a piece of 4" vent pipe to leave an opening for the burner's fire tube. Once that was in place you would finish the chamber walls so the chamber was just above the lowest part of the water jacket of the boiler. That part of the boiler was called the mud legs.
With the chamber wall slightly above the mud legs of the boiler you then take vermiculite to backfill the hollow space between the chamber and the boiler base. This is where you find that sealing up the front clean out doors and ash pit openings are important. the vermiculite would insulate the fire chamber from the exterior walls of the boiler base. It would also add a little support for the chamber so it would not fall apart after the fire cured the mortar between the fire bricks. A well built chamber was like an archway where the pressure from the backfill would hold the bricks from collapsing out and wedging the bricks together would keep the chamber from collapsing inward. Some mechanics were better at this than others. Once the fire chamber was completed and the backfill was pressed into place, you would cap off the chamber's backfill insulation with some high temperature retort cement. That would cover the loose insulation at the top of the backfill with a seal between the top of the fire brick and the side wall of the boiler's wet jacket, high enough above the mud leg to protect the mud legs from the intense heat of the burner flame.
Here is a video of how one might build a round combustion chamber by hand
With today's precast ceramic fiber combustion chamber kits, you can cut the time from 2 days to 2 hours to build a combustion chamber in an old coal conversion.
Re: Vent placement in home 2-pipe steam heat system
Looks like the radiator in the diagram was installed in the basement- maybe an indirect rad that fed ducts going to main living areas?
Re: Makeup air inlet
Is this the thing about various pieces of process equipment adding humidity and heat to the air in your shop?
mattmia2