Best Of
Re: LAARS system Ghost heating during summer
I would think the valve would be leaking or stuck partially open.
If the valve was being fully opened 'electrically' "at least as far as the first few baseboards" may be much worse. There would be power to the valve. Depending on how the overall external circulator control is wired the circulator may be running, however you stated it was not running. Even if the valve's End Switch is not used you could check to see if the End Switch is closing, or stuck closed, indicating the valve is stuck all the way open.
Also if the valve is stuck all the way open the flow may be partially restricted by the external circulator that is not active, limiting the space heat.
109A_5
Re: Why Carbon Monoxide Is So Dangerous
I always wear a personal CO alarm. I get teased about that, but you know the best part about getting teased? You have to be alive for teasing to matter. A nice, quick overview from Ray. As a retired paramedic who has taken the NCI course more times than I can remember allow me to interject this about symptoms: They are wholly unreliable prognosticators and virtually never manifest until you have been significantly exposed. The exception is chronic low level CO. While CO itself is not cumulative in the body but clears at a half life of 3-5 hrs. depending upon your sources, the sequelae, meaning the long term effects from cellular hypoxia can be. There is a growing body of evidence for chronic low level CO sufferers becoming so debilitated they become non-ambulatory but bedridden. How many people take drugs for mood swings, ADHD, psychosis, etc. when it is really CO? How about those mysterious allergies that fail to show up on testing? Chronic headaches diagnosed as idiopathic (meaning they don't have a clue). How about your mental focus, memory, reaction times, and cognition? Think of CO poisoning as suffocating because that's the net effect to the cells- hypoxia. You need O2 for Krebs Cycle (Citric acid cycle) for cellular aerobic (oxygen) metabolism. Another side effect of CO is the garbage piling up at the curb. Hemoglobin cannot assist your blood plasma with removing the metabolic wastes from cellular metabolism, such as lactic and pyruvic acid. Thus, these metabolic acids damage cells as well as cause metabolic acidosis to some degree.
Re: Iron Fireman
The fellow that bought the original building that became the iron fireman factory and warehouse in Portland, Oregon was looking for a complete iron fireman coal stoker that he could display in the foyer of his company office for its historical value.
I am not sure if he ever found one as we have not communicated since he and I chatted about the iron fireman coals stokers previously.
The iron fireman coal stokers were beautiful machines with their inherent simplicity in design with its dual tube design with fire brick lined fire box where one complete tube was used for combustion air and the second tube was the coal feed tube that augured the western and easter coal to the base of the Tuyere/burn pot to allow for more complete combustion of the western Sub Bituminous Stoker Coal they were designed for.
The Tuyere/burn pot was both shallow and wide which allowed for a massive amount of combustion air to enter the burn pot to burn the western coal to a very fine ash as it was very friable/breakable and has a low sulphur content which allowed it to burn cleanly with very little coal ash but it required more sub bituminous coal to equal the amount of heat energy that eastern high sulphur bituminous coal has.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVRR) only used Anthracite coal for its steam locomotives and shops as it was plentiful and produced no smoke.
The Western Sub Bituminous coal burns cleanly with little if any noticeable smoke in a stationary forced draft or induced draft combustion coal stoker.
If the Big George coal seam in Wyoming was opened up it would provide so much coal that the eastern coal mines and natural gas producers would never be able to compete with the amount of energy it could provide due to its 200+ foot coal vein thickness. The issue with it is its depth at the horizon of the Big George Coal Seam as this coal seam begins at 1,100 feet below the surface of the Powder River basin in the State of Wyoming.
leonz
Re: How to slope air intake tube on sidewall venting job??
Some units require an intake trip leg. Should be easy to add.
Kaos
Re: New Stainless Liner
If you read through some of my many posts here you'll see a pattern. However, aside from getting a level II inspection, the liner must be suitable for the class of service. A corrugated ss liner must be derated 20% plus more for offsets not including one broad radius bend at the base. I recommend a type 316Ti smoothwall ss liner which does not have to be derated and flows much better.
Re: Is a yearly cleaning really needed if I only fill up twice per year?
This is from my website, which is no longer active on the internet. I sold that business in 2018 or 2019. The new owner did not want to follow those rules, so they never paid for the webpage.
I do not count Step #1 as part of the tune-up. It was done for our protection, especially with new customers who might let us take everything apart and put it all back together, only to find that something was already wrong with it. Then the customer could say, “It was working before you touched it,” and that can get very expensive if you are not careful.
If it does not start before we take anything apart, then we cannot provide more than $500.00 worth of service tasks (if purchased separately) for only the $XYZ.00 summer special price.
The tune-up is for heaters that are already working. If you want us to find the problem, then our regular service call prices apply.
The Standard Tune Up includes:
Start the burner to see if it operates properly.If it does not start, ask the owner if there is a problem with the burner.If it operates fine then continue to the tune up
Remove the nozzle and electrode assembly and spray with industrial cleaner or place in a cleaner solution bathPlace a pressure gauge on the oil burner high pressure line and perform the following tests:Power up the burner and check the ignition transformerCheck the fuel pressure and rotate the adjustment up and downAdjust pressure to the proper operating pressure for the burnerCheck the safety timing to see if the burner shuts off properlyWhen the burner stops on safety, observe the pump cut offPressure should drop no more that 20% pf operating pressure and holdPressure should hold for 15 minutes
Replace Air filter(s) on furnace if customer supplies the filter(s). Operate the relief valve on boilers additional fee may applyOpen the cleanout doors and inspect the heat exchanger for soot and other debris build up. Vacuum if neededRemove vent connector pipe and inspect for soot or blockage in the pipe or at the base of the chimney, clean and vacuum as neededReplace flue cleanout doors and reseal with gaskets or furnace cementReplace the vent connector pipe and fasten with screws and seal the chimney base with furnace cement.Remove the burner motor and clean the burner combustion fan with a brushTake the nozzle assembly apart and cleanthe high pressure tube with clean fuel oil.Clean the electrode and porcelain insulatorsReplace the nozzleAdjust the electrode setting for smooth startClean the retention ring on the burner end cone or nozzle assembly
Turn off fuel valve from tank and replace the oil filter cartridge refillInspect tank condition and use water paste to detect water in the tank.Remove the fuel pump strainer and clean or replaceReassemble pump strainer with new gasketPrime fuel pump with fresh oil and purge high pressure line until fuel runs clearReplace the nozzle assembly into the burner and fire the burner.Make final adjustments using a Smoke Sampler and Combustion Analyzer.
This process can take up to 1.5 hours if your oil burner has not been properly maintained the previous year. Once this complete service is performed by our technician, the process can happen in just 45 minutes the next time.
Re: New Stainless Liner
A listed ss liner does not 'fix' a chimney that cannot meet the minimum requirements of the listing. For instance, every listed liner is tested in a chimney that is constructed with 4" wythe walls. The flue is expected to be intact. If not, 'bad stuff' can escape into the interstitial spaces between the flue tiles and the inner face of the outer wythe wall. If acidic flues gases have escaped into this space, there will be interior deterioration not visible. The liner makes the chimney rated for a zero clearance to combustibles ONLY if you have an intact outer 4" wythe wall so yes, Mike is correct. Thx
Re: My SteamPunk boiler
UPDATE:
Yesterday, since the heating season is over, I opened up my boiler to see how it held up (it has been in service the past 8 months). I knew the fix wasn't permanent because i still had significant water intake - 110 gallons during that time: some due to the boiler leaks, some to a failed vent, some due to a tiny steam leak one on of the pipes.
A few notes:
> The boiler rusts from the inside out, so if you see holes, there may be much more rust inside. This also means that other parts of the boiler can rust through, exposing new holes.
> It's shocking how untreated metal plates (painted on the top but not on the bottom), about 4 mm thick, can rust through completely.
> Rust is a powerful force—it can deform thick metal plates (see photo 7). This also means that non-mechanical repairs can fail miserably. That said, the epoxy on the right side (near the hinge) did hold up, even though the metal underneath rusted through.
Here are the results:
Re: Old Home full remodel in Zone 5A — need advice on new ductwork design, Manual J/D, attic ducts
@Jamie Hall Once you need AC, you need ducting. If your load is low enough, that same ducting can supply your heat. Adding in a boiler adds a 2nd redundant system that doubles the cost. With a decent envelope and good windows, the comfort benefit of radiant go away so all you are left with is twice the install and maintaince cost.
There are lot of old myths like, scorched air or blowing dust around with air handlers and somehow radiant is dust free. Most dust in houses is generated by people, not by equipment (assuming your air handler is not in the attic). I have a radiant home and it is not dust free at all, I have to run a stand alone filter fan to clean up this dust. A forced air house would circulate the house air through the air handler to do this job for free.
As for the scorched air, that comes for wildly oversized equipment (usually mixed in with undersized ducts) such as some of the options proposed to the OP. With those, you get short burst of super heat followed by long delays of no heat. A right sized modulating unit delivers even heat most of the time to the point you don't even notice the air handler is running.
Kaos
Re: Oil Fired combi boiler?
Actually what you have is pretty good — a quality modern oil boiler firing a hydronic system. The downside is keeping the boiler warm for the domestic hot water. You might gain some efficiency by using an indirect hot water heater, such as a SuperStor, heated by the boiler but storing a good deal of hot water, like a regular hot water heater. It works like a separate zone off the existing hot water heat.
What you will NOT find is an oil fired "combi" in the modern usage of the word — which also implies "mod/con" — that is modulating. Those do have slightly higher rated efficiencies, true — but they are only for LP or natural gas, as modulating an oil burner is really remarkably hard and there isn't that much to be gained anyway (oil is naturally more efficient that either LP or gas under otherwise identical conditions).
