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Re: AC contractor recommendations Nassau Co. Or Western Queens
Most of the shops are filled with installers , with very few experience mechanics that can figure out the problem. Shot gun repair with selling new . The guys with the knowledge seem to be moving out .
The demand for AC service is very high right now with the high humidity . I have been hitting areas with limited travel .
The demand for AC service is very high right now with the high humidity . I have been hitting areas with limited travel .
Big Ed_4
1
Re: Pex - Is the extra cost worth it...
Long term quality of the oxygen barrier would be a consideration for me.
I've used MrPex, Uponor, Vanguard, and Watts in a slab. I'd go with a USA or EU made pex-b for slab work. Like @GroundUp I don't see the benefit of pex-a where we are talking about long straight runs, and bending 180 degrees at the end. Those bends don't need to be perfectly tidy and fit in the 6" wire mesh grid.
Personally I don't care about expandability on slab runs. It's going to be terminated with a manifold right? Compression connections generally.... so any pex will work.
Most important part of a slab is protecting the protrusions where the tube emerges from the slab, and keeping sunlight off of it after the pour. Very few installs I see cover up the pex bundle with black plastic. I use black contractor's garbage bags and tape over the pex until the building is built.
I really refuse to use China made pex.....
SIDE NOTE: every radiant slab I've done I connect all the loops together, plug the end and put at least 50 psi of air in the tube. That way if the concrete crew damages the tube somewhere you'll know it. I'm always on site during the pour, and have some couplings and shrink tube that will fit over my crimp rings and couplings. Wear tall boots in case you need to go in the crete!
I've used MrPex, Uponor, Vanguard, and Watts in a slab. I'd go with a USA or EU made pex-b for slab work. Like @GroundUp I don't see the benefit of pex-a where we are talking about long straight runs, and bending 180 degrees at the end. Those bends don't need to be perfectly tidy and fit in the 6" wire mesh grid.
Personally I don't care about expandability on slab runs. It's going to be terminated with a manifold right? Compression connections generally.... so any pex will work.
Most important part of a slab is protecting the protrusions where the tube emerges from the slab, and keeping sunlight off of it after the pour. Very few installs I see cover up the pex bundle with black plastic. I use black contractor's garbage bags and tape over the pex until the building is built.
I really refuse to use China made pex.....
SIDE NOTE: every radiant slab I've done I connect all the loops together, plug the end and put at least 50 psi of air in the tube. That way if the concrete crew damages the tube somewhere you'll know it. I'm always on site during the pour, and have some couplings and shrink tube that will fit over my crimp rings and couplings. Wear tall boots in case you need to go in the crete!
Re: Soldered copper lines between shutoff valve and bathroom faucet: how to do it?
There are some valves you can take apart. Pull the guts out, solder it, then reassemble the valve. I once had an older valve that would not stop leaking. Bought a similar looking valve at big box store, took it apart, and put the new guts in the old valve body. No soldering. It was not a ball valve.
WMno57
1
Re: The importance of getting soldering Flux off
@Mad Dog_2
I have herd of cases with the cw lines develop pinholes from too much flux where the hw lines do not because the hw washes away the flux on the inside.
I use Nokrode either regular or tinning. I have seen joints I did with "Utility "flux turns to powder. I like "silvabrite solder" but their are others just as good hate 95/5.
Unsoldered some old 50/50 joints to scrap some copper......It's amazing how little heat you need on that stuff you forget after working with the newer stuff.
So on new pipe and fittings I no longer put any flux inside just on the tube and not much at that. When soldering to an old fitting I will flux the inside as well
I have herd of cases with the cw lines develop pinholes from too much flux where the hw lines do not because the hw washes away the flux on the inside.
I use Nokrode either regular or tinning. I have seen joints I did with "Utility "flux turns to powder. I like "silvabrite solder" but their are others just as good hate 95/5.
Unsoldered some old 50/50 joints to scrap some copper......It's amazing how little heat you need on that stuff you forget after working with the newer stuff.
So on new pipe and fittings I no longer put any flux inside just on the tube and not much at that. When soldering to an old fitting I will flux the inside as well
Re: Smart Thermostats and Single Pipe Steam Systems
So what did you have before the nest? Put it back.
exqheat
1
Re: Smart Thermostats and Single Pipe Steam Systems
I don't remember the nest had a proper cycle for steam ..The last one I worked on had a "radiant heat" setting. That's as good as it's going to get on a Nest. But if the steam system responds quickly and evenly (MAIN VENTS!) this setting will work.
Re: Heat capture from compost using radiator in pile of woodchips
Don't know if there is a right place to ask that question -- but I have two concerns about the idea. First, to get composting to work and keep working, it is necessary to turn the pile or heap or windrow or what have you from time to time. Radiators in the middle of it are going to interfere with that...
Second, and perhaps much less obvious is that if you are withdrawing heat via the radiators, you will have a problem with the composting itself. Composting is absurdly sensitive to temperature, and you are effectively cooling the pile with the radiators and the water going through them. With very careful control, you could probably keep it going, but...
That said, the concept -- in somewhat different form -- is not new: it's found in some types of wastewater treatment plants, where the sludge from anaerobic primary settling is taken to anaerobic digesters, where -- under rather carefully controlled conditions -- it composts and the off gas from composting, which is mostly methane (but with a nice compliment of assorted sulphur and nitrogen acids -- wonderful on the machinery) is either flared or is used to heat the sludge (there's that temperature control...) and sometimes to power engines for the facility. The same principle is used on larger animal farming operations with the manure., and again results in enough off gas to maintain the proper temperature in the manure and, often, to power machinery on the farm.
Wood chips alone need additional material to compost well -- the nutrient balance is way off.
On the whole, it's going to be a lot easier to burn the woodchips for heat or power, and control the emissions (which is a headache, but quite manageable and uses well known processes).
Second, and perhaps much less obvious is that if you are withdrawing heat via the radiators, you will have a problem with the composting itself. Composting is absurdly sensitive to temperature, and you are effectively cooling the pile with the radiators and the water going through them. With very careful control, you could probably keep it going, but...
That said, the concept -- in somewhat different form -- is not new: it's found in some types of wastewater treatment plants, where the sludge from anaerobic primary settling is taken to anaerobic digesters, where -- under rather carefully controlled conditions -- it composts and the off gas from composting, which is mostly methane (but with a nice compliment of assorted sulphur and nitrogen acids -- wonderful on the machinery) is either flared or is used to heat the sludge (there's that temperature control...) and sometimes to power engines for the facility. The same principle is used on larger animal farming operations with the manure., and again results in enough off gas to maintain the proper temperature in the manure and, often, to power machinery on the farm.
Wood chips alone need additional material to compost well -- the nutrient balance is way off.
On the whole, it's going to be a lot easier to burn the woodchips for heat or power, and control the emissions (which is a headache, but quite manageable and uses well known processes).
Re: Pex - Is the extra cost worth it...
I wouldn't recommend any Pex but A , Especially if your burying your work in concrete ....Why?
GroundUp
2
Re: Question from a reporter. Thoughts?
This is a great topic. I've watched the industry and its problems be compounded over the years. The decline of vocational programs and lack of skilled mechanics has been predicted for over 25 years. I remember when Frank Blau and George Brazil were discussing these topics back in 1995. The industry has become commodified (like PEX) and many consumers see value in a low price. Since there's not much encouragement for the trades in high school, and not a high value placed on skilled tradesman, the pool gets smaller by the year. The lack of business accumen and sales training also stunts the profits and ability to pay premium wages. Ultimately, there will be fewer qualified mechanics to do the work, and the consumer will have to pay more...if he or she can find anyone to do the work. If the trades were honored like they are in Europe, and there was no stigma for being a blue collar workman, it wouldn't be so precarious. Business training is part of the Euro training, but not in the US. Sad and true.
Re: Is there a "toyota" quality of residential mod con?
"These engines are prone to oil gelling. Another name for the issue was "engine sludge".[1] There was a class action lawsuit due to this problem.[2] It is very important to the life of these engines that oil changes are done on a regular basis."Even "regular" oil changes didn't stop this entirely. My brother's Camry lasted a bit more than 90K before needing an engine with 3000 mi oil changes at the Toyota dealer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_MZ_engine#1MZ-FE
Some are good, some are bad - same with any brand.
MaxMercy
1