Best Of
Re: Navien condensing boiler settings troubles
@Alan (California Radiant) Forbes My outdoor sensor is pretty accurate, differing by maybe 1 degree C from my other outdoor thermometer (unrelated to heating system). My thermostat is wired directly to the boiler at the T/S_1 connector. The circulation pump is connected at the "Boiler Pump" connector, CNP2. It does seem to be running constantly, although I can't say for sure 100%. Thanks
Mobi
Re: My steam boiler water got a little contaminated, so what can we learn?
Well at least he's getting to use his boiler… It's been so warm and sunny here (15-20º above normal all month), mine comes on maybe 1 or 2 cycles per day (before sunrise), some days not at all. The passive solar brings it up to 75+ during the day and that's often enough to carry it through. The only way I get my boiler fix is to come to the Steam Room ! 😀 😛
Precaud
Re: economical way to heat garage
Gosh if you already have a hydronic system and an easy piping route, look at panel radiator, or a small fan convector. Either a Modine or even a wall mounted kick space heater.
Any heater with a fan will heat quickly and dry snow cover cars quickly.
Fin tube would want to be at floor level, that may be a bad location in a garage.
Look at the pricing options to see what makes sense.
hot_rod
Re: My steam boiler water got a little contaminated, so what can we learn?
I think @ethicalpaul sabotaged his own boiler so he would have something to do on vacation to keep busy.
"Sorry honey I can't go Christmas Shopping I have to fix the boiler"
Re: Steam contractor in Utica NY area?
there is a post from a month or so ago. we got confused, it sounded like they had water that was there when the system was off but it was only there while it was steaming so we went down the wrong path. they very possibly just need to do a lot of skimming now, if they can figure out where the skim port is on that old boiler.
mattmia2
Re: Good Protocol For Keeping Water Clean in Boiler
When bought my apt building 5 years ago, one of the tenants was getting paid to completely drain and fill the boiler on a monthly basis (as per instructions from local plumbing co). It wasn't until a year or two later i found this forum and learned how bad that was.
All I do now is open up the lwco weekly during season. Water is crystal clear, never have used additives. Not bad for a 75 year old boiler. Consider myself extremely lucky.
Re: Solid State Ignition Transformer on a old oil burner.
I doubt the transformer in an oil primary will power a nest. In fact, my nephew did this exact same thing. He hooked his tow wire nest to T & T on the oil primary.
It worked for a year and the Nest went dead. The Nest has a large battery to charge. They are supposed to recharge with a two-wire system when the boiler is off. They seldom work.
I installed a separate transformer and relay and that fixed it. Your talking $50 in parts. Supply House.com
See attached.
Re: Post Purge
Not having proper post-purge is the biggest mechanical defect on all equipment today that has some type of mechanical venting, whether it is gas or oil. It is not provided because of a fictitious efficiency reduction on the AFUE.
I first started using post-purge on gas and oil furnaces that were retrofitted into homes that had heat pumps and no flues, so they were power vented. Usually within days water was running out of the seams of the flue pipes because there was no post-purge. Depending on the length of the run, 3-5 minutes was necessary to clear 100% of the moisture from the flue pipe and heat exchanger on gas appliances. This seems long but that is what trial and error testing confirmed.
Oil appliances need a longer time, usually a minimum of 5 minutes and many times 8 minutes. Are were losing some heat. Yes! But a sooted up oil furnace is going to lose a lot more. On oil it is not just the gasses, moisture and smell that is a problem. I have found that if there is not adequate post-purge, the heat of the combustion chamber radiates back into the burner tube. This heats up the oil in the drawer assembly and can cause a delayed after-drip. It also causes glazing and blackening of the nozzle.
About the only equipment I have found that can use less than 2 minutes would be a packaged unit.
The only reason 80% furnaces started condensing in flues is because of lack of post-purge and not the supposedly oversized chimney which is a bunch of foohpah.
Re: My steam boiler water got a little contaminated, so what can we learn?
in one of your previous videos you had great success with Squick. any reason not to go that route first?
Re: My steam boiler water got a little contaminated, so what can we learn?
the manual is a compromise of multiple factors, some of which may not apply to your situation. among other things they are probably trying to cover les than ideal near boiler piping. probably the conditions it was tested under for the various certifications and it was probably somewhat arbitrarily picked.
mattmia2