Best Of
Re: Before you swap a component
when points were pure silver ( pre 70’s ) yes you could touch them up. Now there silver Plated if your lucky. Once pitted there gone.
pecmsg
Re: White plume of smoke
If your boiler is Catholic, you may have just elected a new Pope
Re: Near boiler piping
Last night you posted that the water level was dropping low enough to trigger the LWCO so I admit I'm a little confused as to what exactly the current situation is.
Yes the oils will definitely make their way back to the boiler, but remember, as that happens they will accumulate enough that surging will happen again. That's what I mean by if you wait for surging to happen again, you are letting the oils get moved to where skimming won't touch them
Re: Tankless coil replacement
After replacing the coil, with a new red rubber gasket, be sure to go back after 500 hours of operation (maybe 3 to 5 months) go back and snug up on the bolts, and then again at 1 year. That is something no one does… ever. and then the coil gasket starts to leak in 4 years and looks like $#!T in 7 years.
Re: White plume of smoke
White smoke from an oil burner usually means a fire that is way too lean….too much air in relation to the oil. Did you disturb the air adjustment while changing the pump?
Also the replacement pump may not be set to the correct oil pressure.
In either case you need a tech with a combustion test kit to adjust.
Re: What boiler service tools do you carry with you?
My certificate from the School of Hard Knocks, long with my diploma from the College of Common Sense
You won't believe how many forget these important tools.
Re: Radiant Loop Using Cast Iron Radiators
I would still encourage you to put the second floor rads on interior walls away from windows. You can put them on adjacent interior walls nearest the windows. That way you can run risers all the way from the basement through the interior walls, without having to hack your way through floor joists all the way around the second floor perimeter.
jesmed1
Re: Radiant Loop Using Cast Iron Radiators
I think your question is, if you plumb all the radiator supply and return risers with standard plumbing tees off the supply and return loops, will there be enough pressure differential to force the supply water to leave the supply loop at each tee, rise 40" to the top of each radiator above the loop, and drop back down into the return loop 40" below the top of each radiator.
I think the answer is yes, because that's basically how all old cast iron radiators were originally plumbed, except that the second floor rads had longer risers feeding them from the basement instead shorter risers from another loop under the second floor. Those risers from the basement to the second floor are typically hidden inside interior walls. That's how our second floor radiators are plumbed. So if you can site all your second floor radiators on convenient interior walls where you can run long risers inside the walls, you don't need to drill through all the joists on the second floor to run another loop.
The longer risers from the basement to the second floor rads actually help circulation, because they establish a long gravity-assist loop where the long column of colder water in the return wants to fall, and the long column of warmer water wants to rise. So those long risers actually help your flow to second floor rads.
I'm not an expert, so take that with a grain of salt. Pros like @EBEBRATT-Ed will give you better guidance.
jesmed1
Re: Residential Steam Boiler Replacement - EDR Questions
I think those column rads were made by Republic Radiator Co., but they are standard units so any standard 3-column chart will do.
