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Are bushings & plugs leakers?
JMHO they are not the best fitting to use, but sometimes you don't have a choice. Putting a vent alarm in an oil tank for instance. 2" tapping in the tank and the vent alarm is 1 1/4 in some cases. Yeah, you could use a 2" VA with a reducing coupling on it but that's extra $$$$$
I learned my lesson once about bushings and pipe plugs. MA used to have their own oil code which required the manufacturer to pressure test their oil tanks to 5psi. (both inside and underground tanks) I know for a fact some did not do this.
Working for an oil company back in the day we installed a lot of tanks. Everything from 275s up to 20,000 gallons and 50 years ago New England was 80% heated by oil.
In MA. the local Fire Dept. is responsible for oil burner and tank inspections. We had one town that would make us pressure test any underground tank after it was set in place but before being backfilled.
The Chiefs reasoning was even if it was factory tested it could have been damaged on the road or while being set in place. The tank companies you to have the big tanks delivered on a low bed tractor trailer. The driver would show up with a bunch of used tires and a rope. He would tie the rope to the tank lifting lugs and around the trailer tie down to act as a pulley and push the tank off onto the used tires .
Back to the bushings and plugs. So I had one to test and it would not hold 5 psi after being set in place and the GC was getting on my nerves about wanting to backfill and the fire chief was scheduled to show up after lunch and at 19 years old I barely knew what a pipe wrench was. As it was a 20,000-gallon tank I had to go rent a huge tow behind air compressor (like you would use for a jack hammer)
I called my boss and told him it was leaking where the plugs threaded into the tank bungs, and I had taken them in and out used big wrenches and Teflon tape and 3 different kinds of pipe dope.
He told me to take out any plugs and bushings and replace them with 6" nipples and caps. I did that and it worked the first time and passed the test.
When I got back to the shop, he explained that sometimes when the bungs are welded in the tank, they may get more weld on one side than the other. The weld metal shrinks when it cools and makes the bung not truly round maybe slightly oval. A plug or bushing being cast iron can't conform to the hole, so it leaks.
Putting in a long nipple and a cap give the nipple a chance to "go oval" and conform to the shape of the bung.
That is why bushings and plugs tend to leak, not always their problem it's what it is being threaded into. Same think with close nipples.
I learned my lesson once about bushings and pipe plugs. MA used to have their own oil code which required the manufacturer to pressure test their oil tanks to 5psi. (both inside and underground tanks) I know for a fact some did not do this.
Working for an oil company back in the day we installed a lot of tanks. Everything from 275s up to 20,000 gallons and 50 years ago New England was 80% heated by oil.
In MA. the local Fire Dept. is responsible for oil burner and tank inspections. We had one town that would make us pressure test any underground tank after it was set in place but before being backfilled.
The Chiefs reasoning was even if it was factory tested it could have been damaged on the road or while being set in place. The tank companies you to have the big tanks delivered on a low bed tractor trailer. The driver would show up with a bunch of used tires and a rope. He would tie the rope to the tank lifting lugs and around the trailer tie down to act as a pulley and push the tank off onto the used tires .
Back to the bushings and plugs. So I had one to test and it would not hold 5 psi after being set in place and the GC was getting on my nerves about wanting to backfill and the fire chief was scheduled to show up after lunch and at 19 years old I barely knew what a pipe wrench was. As it was a 20,000-gallon tank I had to go rent a huge tow behind air compressor (like you would use for a jack hammer)
I called my boss and told him it was leaking where the plugs threaded into the tank bungs, and I had taken them in and out used big wrenches and Teflon tape and 3 different kinds of pipe dope.
He told me to take out any plugs and bushings and replace them with 6" nipples and caps. I did that and it worked the first time and passed the test.
When I got back to the shop, he explained that sometimes when the bungs are welded in the tank, they may get more weld on one side than the other. The weld metal shrinks when it cools and makes the bung not truly round maybe slightly oval. A plug or bushing being cast iron can't conform to the hole, so it leaks.
Putting in a long nipple and a cap give the nipple a chance to "go oval" and conform to the shape of the bung.
That is why bushings and plugs tend to leak, not always their problem it's what it is being threaded into. Same think with close nipples.
Re: Any hope for my National Heat Extractor 100 series oil boiler?
Gosh, I have seen a lot of old stuff but never saw an 1150 motor on a burner before. Condenser fan motors on air conditioners and some other stuff.I dug up a Dead Man's Book ("Better Oilheating", a compilation of articles from the old Fueloil & Oil Heat magazine, which has a lot of John W. Schultz classics including his treatise on venting steam systems) and in one article it mentions different motor speeds and how they affect the way a burner works. Some burner makers used these different motor speeds to get different capacities out of the same chassis and fan. Higher speeds would of course move more air, resulting in a burner that could fire more oil per hour.
Must have been a nice quiet burner!!
A couple more recent examples of this:
1- The Sunray Golden Cup flame-retention burners, where the same basic chassis were fitted with 3450-RPM motors as the industry moved to the higher speed. The capacity of a given chassis model (GC, HC etc) went up drastically when fitted with the higher-speed motor (GC-34, HC-34 etc).
2- The Beckett "S" chassis. Several burner models have been built off this basic chassis, but the examples here are the SF and SR burners. These are both flame-retention burners, but the SR's capacity was 0.40-2.00 GPH with its 1725-RPM motor, whereas the SF with its 3450-RPM motor could fire 2.50-5.50 GPH. The two burners used the same chassis part number, and one of the two fans listed for the SF is the same as for the SR. The main difference was the motor speed. The SF sounds like a scaled-up AF when running, but the SR gets rid of a lot of the fan noise as compared to an AF.
Too bad I'll never hear this old Esso burner running.
What is this thing
Does anyone know what this device is ?
I’m not getting heat transfer from the primary to the secondary piping.
I’m not getting heat transfer from the primary to the secondary piping.
No heated water is making it to the closely spaced T’s.
Ceacel
1
Re: Any hope for my National Heat Extractor 100 series oil boiler?
You are an asset to to all of us Frank. Thank youWe need to add a "blushing" emoticon to this board.............. @Erin Holohan Haskell ?
Here are the pics I promised. The first two are the burner still in place but with the motor removed- they turned out kinda dark:
Here's what it looks like out of the boiler:
Here it is in our shed, sitting next to another AF I had sitting around. Look at the difference in size, also note how the air tube gets smaller a few inches away from the chassis. This seems to reinforce the theory that they used the same chassis for several different capacities, and used higher motor speeds (and bigger air tubes) for the higher capacities:
Finally, the combustion test. The most recent tag we found was from 2012, with what sounded like "rag-and-tags" in more recent years. This photo isn't downsized as much as I usually do so it may take a bit longer to load. But I wanted you all to see what was on the tag and also what was on my Wöhler's screen. Looks like I lied about the combustion efficiency, it actually got up slightly above 80%.
The Esso had a 1.00x80B nozzle, which I'm assuming was running at 100 PSI. The firebox was what looks like a recent model Lynn bathtub type, which is rather shallow. Not sure if that B (solid cone) nozzle was slamming the flame into the back of the firebox. I really regret not being able to fire the Esso and see what it was doing.
The Beckett is firing a 0.75x80A (hollow cone) at 140 PSI, for a rate of about 0.90 GPH. The flame neatly fits the firebox without impinging on it.
The draft regulator resisted my attempts to adjust it, so I just went with what I had. The baffles certainly helped offset the excess draft.
It's obvious there are some air leaks into this boiler, or it's downfired too far, or both. The nameplate shows a capacity of 1.35 GPH, which of course is with an old-style burner. Dropping this about 15% to accommodate the hotter flame from a modern burner takes us down to 1.15 GPH, so 0.90 doesn't sound excessively low. I suspect air leaks, but we don't want to remove the jacket on a boiler this old for obvious reasons. It's better than it was, and isn't too bad, which is what counts.
Enjoy!
Re: Any hope for my National Heat Extractor 100 series oil boiler?
Well, the lady is up and running. Good thing we stock 13-inch air tubes, nothing shorter would have worked.
Between the baffles, the more-efficient burner, brushing & vacuuming, sealing the doors and proper tuning, we got the stack temp down by 150 degrees or so, and the combustion efficiency up from 72 to 79-and-change percent. The stack relay is gone- she now has a proper 15-second primary with valve-on-delay.
I did take some pics of the Esso, but it's time for bed. I'll post them soon, probably tomorrow.
Between the baffles, the more-efficient burner, brushing & vacuuming, sealing the doors and proper tuning, we got the stack temp down by 150 degrees or so, and the combustion efficiency up from 72 to 79-and-change percent. The stack relay is gone- she now has a proper 15-second primary with valve-on-delay.
I did take some pics of the Esso, but it's time for bed. I'll post them soon, probably tomorrow.
Re: Wood-fired Steam Heating
Someone up there posted a comment complaining about the cost of firewood. Full disclosure here: my son-in-law is a forester and logger. "Cut, split and delivered seasoned hardwood" is not quite as simple -- or as cheap to create -- as might be assumed. Logging and forestry isn't jolly lumberjacks heading into the woods, singing songs, anymore. it is hedged around by literal books of regulations. You can't get help to work in the woods (we've tried to hire helpers who aren't positively dangerous and they don't exist at less than close to a grand a day). The equipment isn't cheap, either. Then the price of wood is wildly variable, and anything decent will sell for well over the quoted figure up there for firewood. Firewood is made from stuff you can't sell for timber or veneer, and is usually sold at a loss -- and only because you have to clean up the woodlot. Then you have to saw it to stove length (and a cutoff saw is one of the most dangerous gadgets in the world). Then you have to split it. Then store it for a year or more. Then truck it to the customer. Or you can chip it and sell it to someone to pelletize it, and then they have to market that (and one of the big pelletizers down south just went bust).
By the time you're done, you may -- if the market holds up and nothing breaks -- have broken even on expenses with enough left over to feed the family some beans.
And anything less than 50 acres isn't even worth looking at, never mind moving the equipment onto to do the job.
If you have your own woodlot, and if you have your own chainsaw and safety equipment, and if you have a good splitter, and a truck or forwarder to move it to your cabin in the woods... and are young enough and strong enough, yeah, great stuff. For the average bloke on a suburban lot somewhere, maybe not so much.
By the time you're done, you may -- if the market holds up and nothing breaks -- have broken even on expenses with enough left over to feed the family some beans.
And anything less than 50 acres isn't even worth looking at, never mind moving the equipment onto to do the job.
If you have your own woodlot, and if you have your own chainsaw and safety equipment, and if you have a good splitter, and a truck or forwarder to move it to your cabin in the woods... and are young enough and strong enough, yeah, great stuff. For the average bloke on a suburban lot somewhere, maybe not so much.
Re: Related Xmas decorations. Merry Christmas!
@Intplm.Is it a nice lump? take a pic and post?
All I get is a lump of coal.
Intplm.
1
Re: Prestige Solo 110 boiler. Is there a way to switch modulation off and on?
I like the CH2 suggestion and different curve if the rest of the system supports it. (Not familiar with your boiler)
You could use a wind up electro mechanical timer. Instead of a thermostat. They are cheap. Available in 15 minute (max), 30 minute (max) etc flavors. Wind it up to X number of minutes and done. Shuts itself off.
You could use a wind up electro mechanical timer. Instead of a thermostat. They are cheap. Available in 15 minute (max), 30 minute (max) etc flavors. Wind it up to X number of minutes and done. Shuts itself off.
Now you are down to 2 extra wires with something that shuts itself off and can’t be inadvertently left on.
Another Steamer
We replaced this piped wrong leaking Utica with a Peerless. Great weather today to do a boiler.
EzzyT
8
Re: Propane Explosion Destroys Building- Bird-in-Hand, PA
Mayhem is everywhere. But we're not doomed to fate. Use the brains and skills we're given, do things right, and look out for others. Be helpful. Flippant responses of "that's not DIY" are not helpful. Instead, explain why something might be difficult for someone without the proper tools or experience. That way, they will either be a more educated customer, or a more educated DIYer.
Wishing everyone a happy and safe New Year.
Wishing everyone a happy and safe New Year.
WMno57
1