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Re: Homeowners Versus Contractors

KC. I disagree with you. Many DO care how  much everything costs and want a break down: Materials, labor, so they DO know your profit more or less. If you're number.is low or in the wolf pack with others, they may not question it, but when you usually the higher priced bid...you bet they care AND ask "Why are YOU so much higher?"  This fact sheet quiets them IMMEDIATELY. The Great Frank Blau (RIP) designed it I believe.  It was part of his whole system   Richie English All Island Radiant could tell you.  When I moved on Richie, I simply called the Phone number on it. Back then it was BADGER DATA FORMS...another company now makes them.

I had that argument about my overhead with an obnoxious attorney once.
Atty: "Why are you higher than So and so?"
Well, Counselor, I have a professional shop, secretary that answers each call, office manager and we do 24/7 365 Service. Our guys are drug tested,  our trucks are fully stocked, et cetera." Me "Joe, So and so works out his house, has a van the leaked oil on your driveway, doesn't return your calls for days, and doesn't answer his phone at night or weekends...remember?  Thats how you found me...He put your boiler in, it leaked that night, and he never picked up and you had to call me.."  

Atty: "Yeah, but Your Overhead is too high, you have to bring it down to be more competitive!!" 

"Good luck, Joe, you two deserve eachother  ha ha 😂 😘 😆 😄 ."

Believe it not, Joe stills call here and there.

Me: "Hiya Joe...can't u get so and so??"
Maybe he should raise his overhead so he can offer YOU better & more professional service!  Good luck!"    Mad Dog 🐕 


Re: Thermostat loses power after boiler fires

Hello @psbalogh,
Safety isolating transformer


Fail-safe safety isolating transformer


109A_5109A_5

Re: Bock: new tank, new burner?

Yes if it’s the right one. I have seen AFG's in there but they require an AF.
Beckett AF
Wayne MSR 371
Riello 40F5
Carlin EZ1


Re: Bock: new tank, new burner?

It is common to use the old burner on a Bock tank replacement. Nothing wrong with that. just check with your supplier and or Bock to make sure it is compatible and that the old burner end cone etc is in good shape.

Re: Bock: new tank, new burner?

What burner is currently being used? 
3450 retention head? 

Check the air tube and the head. Make sure nothing is warped or broken. 

I would at the very least upgrade to a 15 second primary if not already. 

If reusing the existing, get a new burner flange gasket.

You should have a combustion analyzer since you do the gas work. What you might not have, but will need for oil is a smoke tester. A pump pressure gauge wouldn't be a bad thing to have either.

Re: How to add thermal purge to a boiler

Mike, what is controlling your boiler? An aquastat relay like the L8148 or the L8124 or the L7224 or the Hydrostat? That is not maintaining a minimum boiler temperature, It is simple!


Wire a L6006C strap on aquastat on the returm pipe to the aquastat relay this way.


Connect R on the L6006C to L1 on the Aquastat relay
Connect B on the L6006C to C1 on the Aquastat relay
Set temperature on L6006C to 140° on fixed differential models and the circulator will continue to operate until the return temperature drops to 135°


On adjustable differential model set differential to 5°





Re: Wicked old two pipe, no traps

At the age of that boiler, it is impossible to predict when and if it will fail. I guess when you present her with the #s you will have a better guess at what to do.

I guess the options are:

1. new burner and controls
2. new boiler--remove old
3. new boiler --leave old in place

Looks like there might be enough room to leave the old one in place. But some would consider it a hack job.

That boiler was made with a minimum of 5 section to a maximum of 10. To me I am guessing about 5 section from the pictures. The 5 section will do 500sq ft of steam so it pretty well matches what you came up with.

I guess if you/she thinks she will be in that house for a while then do it all and get it over with. However, chances are if the boiler has been they're this long it will last another 5 years, probably more.

Re: Any reason I can't put a Gorton 2 at the TOP of a riser instead of the bottom?

On long runouts with a hard to heat radiator, we've swapped the radiator valve for a tee with a main vent on top and a straight valve to the radiator on the bull.

Re: Plumbing archaeology

ChrisJ said:
Curious, are drum traps allowed in NYC by current code?
They aren’t allowed in the New York State building code, so I highly doubt they’re allowed in the New York City code.

I found this out the hard way when a drum trap in my house broke. Now I have a far less attractive AAV.
KarlWKarlW

Re: Can cold natural gas cause poor combustion? How is this compensated for?

The gas pressure should be fairly constant, regardless of which appliance is operating. In residential settings we typically size the gas piping to have .03 inches of pressure drop (less than a one tenth of a pound pressure drop). Typically natural gas pressure to the house in my area is 6.0 inches of water column (roughly one quarter of a pound).

I would recommend you reach out to the utility company. Sounds like your meter or gas pressure regulator are acting up.