Best Of
Re: Weil McLain 88 boiler surging and looking for a boiler feed pump design
Let's start with cutting down the operating pressure. Try a cutin of 1 psig and a cutout of 2 psig (you'll have to go into the pressuretrol and adjust the differential.
I think that that LWCO has two sets of contacts — on to cutout the boiler, and a slightly higher one which signals the feed. That one could be used to signal your boiler feed pumps — but I'd put a relay or contactor in between, as I wouldn't like putting the starting current of the pumps through the controller. Not hard to do. Then there should be a float control on the boiler feed tank, to feed makeup water when it gets low — and an overflow to a drain.
I'm not at all surprised that the boiler surges. Too much additive is a good deal worse than too little. Dial the feed back until it is just barely enough to keep the pH slightly basic (I'd shoot for around 8, but at least more than 7).
Re: Another cold climate home with hydronic piping in exterior walls. Who does this??
Piping in an outside wall is never a good idea. Pipe insulation limits the loss, but it is all about the delta between the pipe wall temperature and the space around it.
These charts show the pipe loss differences between bare and insulated copper.
Two things about glycol, it has a lower heat capacity, higher viscosity
So a 40% mix at 120F temperature would require about 8% higher flow rate, maybe 15% higher head. In some cases you may need to increase pump size.
In a clean system, hydronic glycol should last 15- 20 years. Testing every few years will assure it stays in good condition.
In some cases glycol is the best answer for 100% freeze protection if piping is susceptible to freezing and extended power outages.
I've seen fin tube baseboard freeze inside the building, when there was air leakage around the framing. So the building envelop has a lot to do with freeze potential.
hot_rod
Re: Another cold climate home with hydronic piping in exterior walls. Who does this??
hot water does NOT freeze quicker!
pecmsg
Re: 1950's Furnace Gas Valve Replacement - Honeywell
Oh, and if you figure it out, once it is working watch the flame from the burner when the blower starts. The flame shouldn't change at all when the blower starts. If it does the heat exchanger is compromised and it is immediate replacement time for the furnace. Since the pilot probably went out with the duct cleaning I am concerned that the heat exchanger may be bad and the duct cleaning was sucking air through the fire side of the HX.
mattmia2
Re: Troubleshooting Limit Circuit Fault
Gotta check static pressure and temperature rise. Gas pressure measurements and combustion analysis need to be performed.
Its probably oversized equipment installed on undersized ductwork.
Re: Another cold climate home with hydronic piping in exterior walls. Who does this??
I would think that if the wall bay insulation is placed between the outside wall surface and the piping, then the piping would remain at or near the indoor ambient temperature, so it would not be much more vulnerable to freezing than any other interior piping.
Re: Another cold climate home with hydronic piping in exterior walls. Who does this??
In general, the efficiency hit of glycol is way overstated. It doesn't make your burner burn any less efficiently. What it means is that slightly more fluid needs to be pumped to get the same heat transfer. Your system will have a slightly lower maximum output, but unless it's undersized that shouldn't be an issue. The circulator pump will consume slightly more energy having to pump more fluid but that's the extent of the energy penalty.
Re: Repair small section of 3/8 oil line?
The normal compression fittings tend to leak when taken apart and put back together. Around here they were in common use for oil lines years ago but are no longer supposed to be used.
Standard compression fitting I have never seen on refrigeration while flares have been used for years.
People complain about flares but they just need to learn how to flare correctly.
