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An Important Skill for Teaching Tradespeople
An Important Skill for Teaching Tradespeople
Props can come in handy when you're trying to explain mechanical concepts.
Re: Help draining a old steel expansion tank.
So I just read an article about NOT having auto air bleeders on a system using a bladerless tank. I DO have one of those on a high point of the boiler a little before the return. Is this the cause of my issue?Yes. You do NOT want to bleed air out of the system at the radiators. You want the Airtrol funnelling the air back to the tank. Your auto bleeder will eventually bleed all the air out of the system and make the expansion tank get waterlogged, just like you now have.
jesmed1
2
Re: This a bull head t?
The vents are in the second pic. Two radiator traps are piped between the ends of the steam mains and the dry return. We call these "crossover traps" since they route air from the steam mains into the dry return. The large device in that pic is a "vent trap" which may or may not have a vacuum check screwed into the top- this is where the air actually leaves the system. From what I can see this is probably a Dunham Vapor system.
Re: LG Red HeatPump (ducted) energy consumption
I was just going to say, there is no heat strip, this is strictly condenser (inverter) outside and air handler in the attic. I have a back up gas boiler with forced hot water baseboards as back up... this system (ac and heat) runs independently from my gas boiler.
MattT
1
Re: LG Red HeatPump (ducted) energy consumption
Good question. It's just in the LG thinkq app. At first I thought maybe the app was wrong, so I waited the month and the electric bill confirmed my suspicion, so it seems accurate however it's reading it
MattT
1
Re: Should I install an Outside Air Thermostat for Viessmann Vitodens 100 B1HE-199?
Eric, thanks. It's difficult to define "normal" cycles; the easy answer is: "it depends". Heat Loss of the building changes as it gets colder out. Your system is zoned with DHW so there are a number of possible combinations of demands on the boilers from 1 to several. By lowering the operating temperature, you are more or less proving that an outdoor reset curve will work. Your process is essentially finding the correct boiler temperature for a given outdoor temperature. Going out on a limb here, I think your boiler is probably a bit oversized to the load; an accurate heatloss will tell the tale for sure. If you find that your boiler can heat the house at say 150 when it's 40 outside and you have to go to say 170 when it's 20 outside you have essentially found 2 points on a heating curve that will define an effective curve for your home. Don't get too hung up on how often the boiler is cycling. Just know that longer circulator run times with the lowest temperature water that will keep your house comfortable (comfortable is personal - we are all different) will reduce cycle compared to a high fixed setpoint whenever a themostat calls on the boiler.
Redbaran
2
Re: Minnesota Right to Repair Law
Here is an interesting story about a Polish made train which was designed to fail if someone other than the manufacturer tried to repair it. I suspect this is the type of thing they are trying to legislate against. https://badcyber.com/dieselgate-but-for-trains-some-heavyweight-hardware-hacking/
CLamb
1
Re: Need help with Burnham 405 1979 boiler
Those pipes go to the automatic feeder valve. That valve at the bottom left is a bypass to bypass the water feeder and fill the boiler directly. It should be closed. That is what is happening with that loop. It is essentially 2 separate pipes with that closed valve connecting them. It is kind of a cleaver and neat way to pipe it but is a bit confusing to sort out just looking at it.
mattmia2
1
Re: Need help with Burnham 405 1979 boiler
Print out the manuals for the boiler and LWCO and have them on hand for whomever somes to work on that boiler.
Bob
Bob
BobC
1
Re: Adding Outdoor Wood Boiler as backup to Existing LP Combi
It has to do with a term called vapor pressure. in simple terms it is the pressure that needs to be present on a fluid surface to keep it from boiling.
It is very temperature dependent. So the higher the fluid temperature the higher the pressure required on it's surface to prevent it from boiling.
When you talk vapor pressure it is usually in absolute terms, PSIA. So at sea level the absolute pressure is 14.7psia. Gauges are built to read 0 (gauge pressure, psi) at sea level.
At sea level water boils at 212°F.
In Leadville, CO, water boils around 194°F. As you heat water at that altitude vapor pressure rises until equals the reduced atmospheric pressure at 10,000 feet elevation.
This can have consequences for open OWF systems also. This example attached below was ahead scratcher for me when Siggy first presented it in Idronics. Water boiling in the upper level fin tube, basically.
I imagine this would drive a troubleshooter crazy until they understood the relationship of all the conditions, temperature, vapor pressure and pump differential.
Lots of things working against you with open OWF devices. Heat loss from the tank. Ran an example today for a 36" diameter tank 75" long with 3" of foam R-12 all around, and both ends the loss from a tank at 50° located outside at 0° is 322 BTU/hr.
With an OWF you don't have much if any front or rear insulation, and a hole in the top belching BTU out. So knowing that you can get a good idea how much "fuel" would be required to keep the tank from freezing. Plus the in-ground piping loss. Plus the cost to run a 200W circ.
Then the mis-applied circulators with little to no NPSH. Idronics 16 explains NPSH best.
The wood to heat conversion of maybe 40- 45% on a good day. 8, 10, 12 cords of wood or more a year??
Almost enough to make you want to put that OWF and "free" firewood money towards an more efficient shell, with 120°, or lower, distribution temperature heat emitters and a 90% + appliance. Or a 3 COP heat pump
It is very temperature dependent. So the higher the fluid temperature the higher the pressure required on it's surface to prevent it from boiling.
When you talk vapor pressure it is usually in absolute terms, PSIA. So at sea level the absolute pressure is 14.7psia. Gauges are built to read 0 (gauge pressure, psi) at sea level.
At sea level water boils at 212°F.
In Leadville, CO, water boils around 194°F. As you heat water at that altitude vapor pressure rises until equals the reduced atmospheric pressure at 10,000 feet elevation.
This can have consequences for open OWF systems also. This example attached below was ahead scratcher for me when Siggy first presented it in Idronics. Water boiling in the upper level fin tube, basically.
I imagine this would drive a troubleshooter crazy until they understood the relationship of all the conditions, temperature, vapor pressure and pump differential.
Lots of things working against you with open OWF devices. Heat loss from the tank. Ran an example today for a 36" diameter tank 75" long with 3" of foam R-12 all around, and both ends the loss from a tank at 50° located outside at 0° is 322 BTU/hr.
With an OWF you don't have much if any front or rear insulation, and a hole in the top belching BTU out. So knowing that you can get a good idea how much "fuel" would be required to keep the tank from freezing. Plus the in-ground piping loss. Plus the cost to run a 200W circ.
Then the mis-applied circulators with little to no NPSH. Idronics 16 explains NPSH best.
The wood to heat conversion of maybe 40- 45% on a good day. 8, 10, 12 cords of wood or more a year??
Almost enough to make you want to put that OWF and "free" firewood money towards an more efficient shell, with 120°, or lower, distribution temperature heat emitters and a 90% + appliance. Or a 3 COP heat pump
hot_rod
1