Best Of
Re: Interrupted vs intermittent Primary control
@EBEBRATT-Ed & @EdTheHeaterMan grew up during a time when Oil Heat guys didn't touch Gas Heat and Gas Heat service was Installed by plumbers and repaired by Gas utility Company employees. So there was never any confusion regarding Constant ignition and Intermittent Ignition. When the Gas utility Companies started to do less and less repair service, then the plumbers needed to learn how to do the repairs. then the oil heat guys also needed to fix a gas heater from time to time. Eventually there were not longer a difference between working on oil or gas. you just worked on HEATERS.
Then someone needed to start calling pilots Constant ignition. Spark during the entire run cycle Intermittent formerly constant, YEP! that is what it said on the box. Intermittent formerly constant ignition. Then the other controls were labeled Interrupted formerly Intermittent controls. That ticked off the old timers and some of them just stopped working on that stuff altogether. I's surprised that @EBEBRATT-Ed still is doing that stuff. You are showing your age again ED
Re: Savings ???? Repipe
Paul a boiler and its piping can indeed emit the equivalent heat equal to the edr that they contain or as much as the boiler can give them and how much they can out put depending upon there edr ,the surrounding ambient temp . The bigger difference is if ya following a little physics is hi pressure to low pressure n high temp to low temp s so if a main and it s associated piping is colder the the boiler temp and pressure and temp will head towards it .Correct so only if a steam main is a higher temp w the ability to maintain temp steam will steam not condense and on the same note where would the extra heat to change the condensate back to steam coming from ? Its not getting free energy from the piping its coming from the boiler plain and simple unless you have discovered some new form of self appearing energy in which case you had better patient it and i mean quickly or on to some thing that every major world wide agency ,government and eow ers have been searching for free energy .It does not and has never existed true perpetual motion it exists only w natural water, solar system and such, man does not command such abilities as of yet its nature .The rules of nature are only bound w the passage time ,temperature or lack of and pressure or lack of and space or area .
But i will say i give you credit as for sticking to your guns but having a open mind only happens when you know that there's more then the eye and mind can conceive and comprehend at least for myself . Next lets all talk about something interesting the relationship between quantum physics and the tao of the universe and there relationship w ancient cultures and there lost yet advanced binary mathematics (mandala prints ).One day they all will be returning ,being history always repeats itself and nothing is new just rediscovered ,reused and rethought . Now lets discuss colloidal magnetism in refrigeration ,computing and possibly fusion this is some thing slightly new i would think .
ya know i barely got out of high school no less grade school just learning to chew gum and walk at the same time again while dragging those knuckles .
peace and good luck clammy

Re: Savings ???? Repipe
Not to bust anybody but im case everybody forgot ' How could 212 water turn into steam unless the additional 970 btu are there as the latent heat which the change of state from 212 water to 212 degree steam . Also lets not forget when it turns back to water -970 btu and a 1700 times less volume ie vacuum forming bang .This is not happening out in the system it's happening at the burner where heat is input . Unless physics has changed Einstein's theory you are not getting that latent heat which is energy input from a pipe which is exposed to surrounding ambient mere fantasy . Plain and simply impossibly we cannot understand paul logic being i can't see how a pipe weather insulated or uninsulated is going to have enough energy to apply another 970 btu of latent heat to change from water to steam unless you have a flame under it . Lets me not presume that everyone knows sensible from latent heat right? ps i am not as smart and bright as other may think if so i would be wealthy instead i'm poor and slightly stupid so please explain the pseudo science or better yet take a quick review of commercial steam and power plant generation before ya throw some bs thoughts out there because i know that steam in a power turbine is not adding steam to the turbine the turbine is using the steam as a prime mover and leaving condensate when its work is done ie turning into condensate . Most of all this stuff has been in use centuries so as smart as i think i am at times i surely know that i am not just observate and have seen all the things some say are not required but it amazes me as i think about the masses of job i ve seen that did not work and they usually had had everything done incorrectly and missing stuff . remember 212 water plus 970 btu = 212 steam without the 970 latent heat ya just got 212 water and ya aint getting that 970 btu from a pipe w no heat source unbless FM . Spin on
I post not to make anyone feel inferior or that i'm so smart i guarantee i'm not that smart it s the result of ions of mistakes n plenty of lumps and a constant life time of reading and also mostly working alone so ya get real good at smell sorting and removing nonsense and bull at least that's how i feel about it .
please remember ain't so smart and it's hard flying to the sun of wings of pastrami
peace and good luck clammy

Re: Savings ???? Repipe
Excellent discussion on this thread! However, this thread is above my physics education or knowledge
BTU defined for those of us less educated that may help to follow debate:
"A Btu was originally defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of liquid water by one degree Fahrenheit at a constant pressure of one atmospheric unit. There are several different definitions of the Btu that differ slightly. This reflects the fact that the temperature change of a mass of water due to the addition of a specific amount of heat (calculated in energy units, usually joules) depends slightly upon the water's initial temperature. …"
All the best,
RTW

Re: Savings ???? Repipe
I am enjoying this debate of wet vs dry steam and which is more efficient for heat transport. Dry steam by definition is water entirely converted to gas, carrying with it 100% of latent heat(of evaporation), whereas wet steam is less than fully saturated and consists of steam mixed with liquid water sans the latent heat . Dry steam will transport more heat per unit mass to the rads than wet steam at a constant pressure. My counterflow system takes a beating even with a small amount of wet steam. The rads take longer to heat. Water quality is very important in my case, all other factors being equal.
Re: Zone Valves BANG on opening only
Well, after 4 visits in the last week, a night without heat (pipe guy decided it was OK to bleed water onto boiler sensor electronics), pipe guy also said tee reversal would fix banging (NOPE!!). FINALLY, they sent an experienced tech that replaced the (soaked) Inlet Water Pressure sensor. He than listened to the banging that I could make happen at will by closing all zone valves, waiting a minute and opening one up. After reading and fully agreeing with the posts here, In 5 minutes, he isolated the circ, took it out, removed the check valve, replaced and bled the system. Wow, amazingly, there has been NO banging since and the Controller actually shows temp differentials between supply and return and modulates the burner like it should.. Since I had all these diagrams, he recommended talking with IBC tech support to get their opinion on this final install and what effect having the outdoor temp sensor on a south wall (in sun) has on boiler operation. Also, for the life of me, I cannot understand why they didn't replace the zone vales with separate circulators and use the VX110 internal 4 zone controller.
Once again, thanks for all the help. This is a great resource that saved the day. Here is the final (fixed) drawing.

Re: Savings ???? Repipe
So what is the complaint?
What happens at the end of the mains? Is there a vent then they connect separately to a return below the water line? If they connect above the water line I'd fix that first.
The boiler is definitely piped wrong but it might work ok if the water quality is good and it isn't doing any surging or priming.
I can only see 1 main leaving the boiler but i see 2 ends to it, how does it split?
Do the mains slope toward the returns at the end opposite the boiler the whole way? If they slope toward the boiler at any pont they need a drip at the boiler.

Re: Savings ???? Repipe
thanks all- didn’t think I’d create a small wind gust.
didn’t think I’d see a grammar crackdown either 😀 I always get tickled inside when I see grammar faux pas on national tv😀
“chimney gone” those are not her words. She has an interest in not using the chimney—-I didn’t ask why. I feel like I don’t need to talk her out of that desire.
Steam—dry vs wet: I didn’t think that was a debate but seems like it is. I’ll have to read the Lost Art again- darn it!
my latest national TV spelling boondoggle - (please don’t bust me in politics)

Re: Savings ???? Repipe
Let me try this one other way:
Wet steam is steam that contains more than 2% water. It is the latent heat in steam that heats the building. In wet steam, there is not enough latent heat to heat the radiators; not enough BTUs carried in the steam.
Someone we all know and respect in this field has said "Wet steam is garbage".
Don't throw out those 3-inch dies yet, Clammy.