Best Of
Re: Kewanee Cottage Boiler Age Estimate
Trying to prove that a 70+ year old boiler won’t have any issues is an impossibility.
It’s true the block is built like a tank, but proper maintenance, water conditions and other factors also contribute to its life. There’s also the issue of efficiency. That thing was probably 60% efficient the day it was installed, maybe less. A new mod/con boiler is 95% efficient and people are very energy conscious now days.
At 70+ years old, I would insist on the cost of replacement being deducted from the price of the home if I were the buyer.
Ironman
Re: Lochinvar / Knight Boiler 80-285 Issues
"The hot water heater appears to still be producing hot water which gets its heat from the boiler installed right next to the water tank. But, the baseboard heating is not giving off any heat…hence the cold house."
Nothing unusual about this. There are two separate sys. House heating and hot water heating. Hot water heating works and house heating is intermittent as you stated with your friend's comments. There can be many problems that can cause this.
Sorry to say, this is beyond your capability to fix, regardless of the help you get here. You need a professional to come in and make a diagnosis. Have him check the combustion chamber, too, it may need cleaning.
I would get rid of that old thermostat and replace it with a newer one, but not an internet type. You can take the cover off of the old one and jump the two thermostat wire coming from the boiler and see if that causes the heat from the boiler to increase the heat in the rooms.
Re: Looking for any info for the radiator in the pictures.
And it gets lots of attention. Thanks, Larry!
Re: NTI FTVN , HTP ELU-199WBN , or Navien NHB-110
It's all about installer, and somewhat about parts availability. I don't personally prefer any of the brands mentioned, but they are all decent boilers that many installers trust, and can get parts for.
T80 looks like it was an 80,000 BTU input boiler. Personally I would look at an 85,000 input if it were me, however you already have 3 quotes. 2 for 110 input, likely the smallest size those brands offer, and they modulate so its close. and 1 for a 199 input model more than 2 times the input of your old equipment. I would personally ask that installer why they quoted a boiler more than twice the size of the old one, and if they could quote something a bit closer to what is there now. of the 3 HTP is probably the one I like the most but I wouldn't want an installer to double the equipment input size on me. HTP offers a few options for 85,000 input boilers
GGross
Re: Beckett AFG: It's WORKING! But ... Why was it before, and is it correct now?
Just popping back in here to offer a bit of closure on this subject as well as a public "Thank you!" to Joe Szwed and Energy Kinetics for the incredible after-the-sale customer support on a system that is over 30 years old. Joe had reached out to me in response to the posts in this thread, found that I was living in a tiny remote town in Alaska with no recourse to HVAc pros, and showed indomitable patience with me as I asked "why?" to almost everything he suggested, and now the system is running much much better, more efficiently, and much safer, to boot.
Trying not to bore you all with too many details, but Joe pointed out several things that were blatantly wrong about the system and worked with me to help me set it up correctly ... I had no idea about these issues since the system was, in essence, set up and running as it was when I got the house 6 years ago. (And we wonder how long before that!)
~A few notable details include replacing the burner primary control with a Carlin 70200, as that gives me onboard control/data without having to buy the Beckett Contractor tool (the Carlin was cheaper than the Contractor tool, so an easy choice).
~The puff switch is now reconnected (it had been bypassed before) to the Blocked Vent inputs on the Carlin.
~The incorrect T&P valve, which had been leaking for years, replaced with a correct pressure relief valve, and the failing expansion tank replaced as was the suspect pressure reducing valve for the feed, a couple old bleeders, etc.
~The incorrect high limit aquastat has been replaced with a new aquastat of the correct type.
~The extra "band-aid" clamp on aquastat is removed (it was serving as high limit, since the other one could not have been working right!)
~The system return temperature has been increased from 130 to 170 which made a huge difference in system effectiveness, as well as reducing potential issues due to condensing.
~The EK1 has been opened, inspected, and cleaned out, as has the flue. No real issues noted other than years of build-up which, frankly, I thought would be worse. The flue has been reassembled better, and draft has been corrected to within specs set by Energy Kinetics. (so the puff switch didn't cause lockouts, which it was due to low draft, so that's why it was likely disconnected by a previous serviceperson).
~With my new TPI smoke pump and TPI 709 combustion analyzer I set the burner correctly, and double-checked, to the specs recommended.
I do believe Joe is satisfied with my results, my growing functional understanding of the system, and we both feel that it is going to prove more efficient and much safer than it was set up when we started. The system will work better until we can integrate the heat pump as planned, and due to the construction of it (and the fact that replacement parts are still available!) I can keep it going after the heat pump to use as backup heat and augment the heat pump if needed … well into the future.
Deep gratitude for all the detailed emails and patience. Joe Szwed and Energy Kinetics have shown what real support is!
Additional kudos and thanks to James Altom at Arctic Technical Services in Fairbanks, Alaska, for twice giving me more than I deserved in helpful information on the phone when I called to order parts.
Over and out.
Mizamook
Re: Check my math, please.
No. The formula you quote up there is for impedance n parallel for electronics. Water doesn't work that way.
If you are seeking the maximum head in a system of parallel loops, you simply look for the loop with the highest head loss. You do NOT add the heads in the various loops in any way. You DO add the flows to get the total flow.
What is somewhat analogous electronics is that the flows in the various loops will divide so that each loop will have the same loss, just as in electronics each parallel path will have the same voltage drop.
Re: Boiler manual contradicts gama sizing table - who to trust?
You are confusing area with diameter. Don't. @KC_Jones has it. And which do you trust? You go with the larger of the two — in this case, you need an 8 inch circular flue.
Re: Boiler manual contradicts gama sizing table - who to trust?
That manual says area, not diameter.
By area it would come out to 8”.
KC_Jones