Best Of
Re: Mod/con boiler - is exhaust vent noisy?
The exhausts are generally quiet in my opinion, and that would not be my primary concern here. I would not want the exhaust near somewhere I actively use, even smallish boilers can put out a ton of exhaust and it is not good to breathe in. Remember code is the MINIMUM, and in the case of these exhausts it truly is minimum, figure the exhaust at high fire can come out at least three feet from the vent pipe and then it gets blown around wherever the wind takes it. If the boiler manufacturer allows it I would want the flue out the chimney, and the intake pulling from a clean area on a wall, as much as you don't want to breathe in the exhaust, your boiler also does not want to pull in its own exhaust, or paint fumes etc.
GGross
Re: Mod/con boiler - is exhaust vent noisy?
there are kits for using an existing chimney that may work. I would not exhaust it near that door
hot_rod
Re: Check valve on condensate return line - failure to close
If you load them onto your phone or computer you can paste them here using the "mountain and sun" icon below.
Re: Near boiler piping
You've done a good job. Getting a steam boiler to perform properly is a series of incremental steps. Sometimes one step impacts the next. It's a slow process.
A sight glass on the equalizer will tell you nothing about how much is carried upwards into the mains. It will only tell you that a certain percentage (maybe even 95%) of the water is NOT going up into the mains. Worthless.
LRCCBJ
Re: New-ish local boiler install
Good Luck with this project. More than happy to help you in this endeavor.
Re: New-ish local boiler install
@guzzinerd…. If you are going to help get this boiler working properly, and you do this stuff for a living, then take the labor you would charge to do the job of installing a new boiler and double it. You need to take this one completely apart to make it new again. then you need to put it back together with new gaskets and seals. After that is done, you can start to install it properly.
Re: How to repair cement substance from oil boiler to oil burner
Who services the burner and boiler?
I can't tell from the pics, but the burner doesn't seem to be supported by a pedestal. Is there a piece of pipe or something propping up the burner?
The cement is around the air tube because the burner it replaced had a larger diameter air tube. Not exactly "by the book", but passable... last century.
That also doesn't look like a Firomatic valve. If it is, its really old.
What combustion numbers are you getting?
HVACNUT
Re: Should I be worried about what I am observing and hearing (radiant heat install in process)?
Without knowing exactly how much heat you will be needing above that floor I hesitate to make a blanket statement, but having retrofit my own old house and done some other design/install of floor radiant heat, this install is NOT going to work for anything beyond some minor floor warming. Even with a high water temperature and a correctly sized air cavity above the correctly installed insulation below, you will not be satisfied. Just for starters, the heat will not be evenly spaced on the floor and you will have warm and cold stripes.
Also, the higher the water temperature in the tubing, the more movement of the tubing which will mean noise as it slips back and forth through the holes in the joists and past those half-clip tube supports. Those are not the correct support for this type of installation.
This install is not even close to correct for Ultra-Fin either. I've installed that product too.
I don't know how the contract is drawn up, but stop this job immediately until you can be shown the design criteria for the job, how it is supposed to work and the operating parameters of the system. I don't know everything about floor heating but I know enough that this install at best will not work well and maybe even not at all.
epmiller
Re: tie into existing boiler or get new tankless
You can use outdoor reset on the CI radiators using the boiler ODR setup. You can then use this to reset the lower cast iron reset temperature to an even lower reset temperature for the floor heat. “Reset the reset”
@HVACNUT has a good idea with keeping the CI radiators and just heat them when the floor is not enough on very cold days. If the first floor renovations call for removing the cast iron, perhaps you can relocate them and perhaps eliminate only one of two. Or perhaps use some panel radiators on a separate zone that can be staged for when the floor is not able to keep up with the extreme cold
Also that is a pretty big boiler for a 900 square foot 2 bedroom rancher.
Re: Boiler sight glass water condition
I can't say that I necessarily agree with Paul's instructions. The idea that adding water and immediately draining it, is detrimental to the boiler, is still a theory (I think). But having sludge and mud in your water is not good for anything. I would suggest putting a bunch of eight way in. Doesn't really matter if you're overloading, because this is only temporary. Jack up the thermostat and let the boiler run until it starts to steam. Shut boiler and wait a few minutes. As long as boiler is hot, the eight-way will do its thing. Wait 10 minutes or whatever, and then turn boiler back on until it starts steaming again. Repeat for 30 to 60 minutes. Afterwards drain, fill to the top of boiler, drain, fill drain fill until water comes out clear. If you happen to have a water transfer pump, will be quicker and easier. Once water is clear, fill to normal water level and add some eight way. Run the boiler immediately and let boiler Steam for a bunch of minutes, to boil out the oxygen. You may need to repeat a few times initially, due to sludge getting dislodge from the returns and things like that.
