Best Of
Re: Adjustable pressure relief valve
The chances are that you have anywhere from 50 to 80 PSI city water pressure. That is why the original installer selected the adjustable relief valve. I would select 100 PSI to 120 PSI for a cold side on the tankless coil DHW heater. Do you know what your city water pressure is under normal conditions? That would be a determining factor. As @bburd said about your water meter having a backflow preventer, if that is something that was recently added when the new meter was installed, your system may not be able to handle the expanding hot water in your potable water piping. That would cause the water in the piping to expand to a point where it might cause a pipe to burst or a relief valve to operate (release water). A therm-extrol for DHW service may be able to solve the problem.
Re: Adjustable pressure relief valve
If it is on the domestic hot water side it can be replaced with a standard fixed t&p valve. Are you sure it is a relief valve and not something else? Can you show us a picture of it?
mattmia2
Re: Adjustable pressure relief valve
The PRV may not be at fault. If your water service includes a backflow preventer, you need a small expansion tank on the domestic hot water piping to make room for the additional volume of water as it is heated. Most municipal water meters now have a BFP.
bburd
Re: Steam radiator flushing
Your boiler has a "colliding header", which can cause water to be thrown up into the steam piping along with the steam. That is likely part of your problem. Unfortunately correcting it would require re-piping the header, which would be very costly. This is something to keep in mind when the boiler needs to be replaced.
bburd
Re: Steam radiator flushing
Too much pitch never hurt anyone — unless it means that something else has too little.
One not so obvious thing to check is to make sure the pitch on long runs is reasonably consistent. You wouldn't think so, but even a two inch pipe can sag in the middle.
Re: Steam radiator flushing
Radiator vents are a maintenance item and do fail. For whatever reason the vents in my one pipe system only last 3-5 years. What pressure is your boiler operating at? Too high of a pressure can prematurely damage radiator vents.
Re: Do you trust the “pros” in your area?
You need to know the right questions to ask. The first and only time I hired someone to come and work on my boiler I got lucky and they sent someone who had taken Dan's steam course. I only needed a combustion anaysis, which could have been done by any competent gas man, but it was good to know he knew steam systems too.
Re: How to Install a Toilet? Step-by-Step Advice
Its not just you. Some replacement flanges are a bit flimsy. Some full flanges too. I also try to avoid the plastic flanges. I have been using the stainless steel ones. Stainless prevents a lot of hassles.
Intplm.
Re: Steam radiator flushing
The radiators on a one pipe steam system don't sludge up. There's no way for sludge to get there. However, there are two critical points. First, the inlet valve has to be open all the way. All the way, all the time. Second, and perhaps even more important, the vent on the opposite end has to be working — and they fail over time. In your situation, I'm going to bet on vents which have failed over time. This is not a hard fix — although getting the venting right, to get the system nicely balanced, is a bit tedious.
Gurgles and bangs are sometimes radiator inlet valves only partly open — or, much more likely, places where the pipes have lost their proper pitched. All the pipes from the radiators must be pitched so that water can easily drain back out of them to the steam main, and the steam main must be pitched so that water can get back to the boiler.
So the place to start for the gurgles and bangs is to go over every inch of all the pipes and make sure they still have the proper pitch. Use a level — don't estimate by eye.
Re: Do you trust the “pros” in your area?
Quote above:
"The education is sorely needed!"
Agreed. A large part of the equation for successful education in the Trade Schools is funding from the Federal Dept. of Education, a department that in the past week reduced or dissolved education funding to all states; for all I know the department exists in name only.
I don't envy the challenges ahead for the OP and best if students get involved asap, but lack of funding may doom the industry
Responses from instructors in the trades welcome on the demise of funding from the Dept. of Education and its anticipated effects
Regards,
RTW
RTW