Best Of
Re: She canna take any more, Cap'n! She's gonna blow!
If that dielectric coupling and black pipe and nipples have been there awhile, they could very well be clogged. Dielectric couplings are not needed and are famous for debris buildup. If that pipe is occluded, it will very well prevent the x-tank from being part of the system.
Re: Water to Water Geothermal heat pump replacement with lp boiler
It sounds like you have two major issues. Clogged field and lack of buffer tank. Sounds like the field is now fixed so all you need is to add a small buffer. Even the bigger pump if needed, won't change the operation much and not really the cause of most of your issues.
Neither one of those means replacing the a heat pump that is still working. Adding a simple in-line two port buffer can be done by any boiler tech.
As for replacement when it does actually die, I think your best bet is to find a better geo tech that can install a new unit.
Propane replacement doesn't make sense as it costs almost the same as resistance heat. About the only non-geo replacement is to replace the air handlers with ducted cold climate heat pumps and keep the resistance backup boiler for any floor heat. You can run the heat pumps for bulk heat and the floor heat only enough to take the edge off any cold slab.
Kaos
Re: TT Excellence DHW Tank Replacement
Not sure I could have talked myself into that one. It's really nice when the mfgs plan so well for replacement of components LOL.
Good job. I am sure most would have said "replace the boiler". The worst thing about those jobs is the thought process.
Once you look at it it gets in your head thinking about it
Re: Water to Water Geothermal heat pump replacement with lp boiler
geo should be much cheaper operating then straight electric.
pecmsg
Re: Water to Water Geothermal heat pump replacement with lp boiler
what’s the cost of Electric
What’s the cost of Propane
https://coalpail.com/fuel-comparison-calculator-home-heating
pecmsg
Re: Steam kettle trap
You will not get the perfect answer to your question, here. What you need is to have a commercial boiler service tech come to your job to look at the overall system, how the whole steam system is piped and controlled. There a lot of very knowledgeable steam people here but none have seen your system, the boilers, or the delivery system. What you need to correct your problem is anybody's guess and it just a guess. Call for a service tech and get the right answers
Re: F&T oddity
Collum of water 28" tall is 1 psi. So, if you had to lift the condensate 1 foot you would need the steam pressure to be .42psi" higher than the return pressure (if any).
In reality you need a little more to open the check valve and overcome any trap resistance which is minor.
Re: F&T oddity
Tough to see the return line. You can lift condensate with a trap as long as you have enough steam pressure to overcome the rise in the return. Thats why they used a check valve to avoid backwards flow.
Seems like a lot of mud in the trap but if it has been 50 years I guess that is normal.
With the two unions you could easily remove the trap to flush and clean it.
Re: Replacing pressure reducing valve
I like the combo units also. They come with a union fitting so you don't need to cut pipes to replace the parts in the future. If you pipe it near the expansion tank and include an isolation valve on both sides of the setup, you can service the expansion tank, back flow preventer and auto feed PRV without draining the boiler or shutting off the house’s potable water supply. This Expansion Tank Fitting on one end and that ball valve on the other end will accomplish this nicely.
