Best Of
Re: Taco 502Sr
Maybe, if that happened above the SR502. There is way more corrosion in there than I care to see. Looks like it leaked in through multiple places.
Re: Air vents 3 Psi vs 5 psi in same house
vents aren’t sized by psi so that’s one thing that has you confused.
They are sized by how much air they pass over time.
If they pass more air, then steam will travel to that radiator faster, generally.
What is your main venting situation?
If the insulation is intact you can leave it untouched
Re: Taco 502Sr
Looking at the picture more closely, it looks like there is a trail of corrosion from top to bottom that caused your failure. And yes the relay with the clear housing does not look too healthy. It is best to replace the unit and stop whatever was leaking on it so it does not happen again.
Re: Most reliable heating system for a home unattended for up to 3 months in winter.
Even the simple light bulb we used to keep well houses above freezing back where I grew up would fail. Two bulbs, three? How many would give someone piece of mind.
If it needs gas, electricity or both, that adds more fail points.
I've been using solar PV outdoor lights for a number of years for now, they seem as dependable as anything.
\A battery with a small PV module to run an alarm or send a message seems fairly foolproof.
hot_rod
Re: Can you combine Energy Kinetics with Rheem hot water tank?
That boiler you have looks like a about a 368 or 468 size, but hard to tell by the picture. If you measure it front to back, and go on their website, you can tell its exact size as they just keep adding sections to increase the size, and the measurement will tell you that. ( actually I just went on their site and it says that both are the same depth, but I don't see how that is possible, so the measurement might not help.) it might also have specs on top of the burner tube, or on the face of the burner.
It is an older boiler, so not as efficient as a newer model.
Rick
Re: Kitchen Exhaust Hood - Fixing Cold Air Infiltration
Is fresh-air vs exhaust just a question of mounting direction?
Re: 3/8" vs 1/2" to panel radiators
Pipe is always sized by the amount of flow you intend to move through it.
When doing headers for multiple boilers, loads, the pipe sizes for the total gpm at around 2 fps.
If you do a 2 or 3 pipe buffer, the connection at the tank needs to be sized up, as it is the hydraulic separation function. In this example at least 1-1/4" for the 10 gpm requirement.
The EngineeringToolbox has good flow sizers. for
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hot_rod
Re: 1920s Two-Pipe Direct Return System?
Thanks Hot Rod! I will look into the micro bubble type air purger as well.
mattmia2, Here's a photo of that stoker. I'll see if I can find any additional info on it!
Re: Getting rid of the old boiler sections
$.07/pound. Back in the 70s when I started we got $.01/pound.
You got enough to by the crew breakfast, that's about it.
Re: New House, New Problems- Introduction and seeking help on new to me steam
The old runout that used to go to the 1st floor kitchen was cut to about 2 feet and capped. There is one radiator runout after this. This is the only easy spot to thread a vent on, so I threw my new Gorton #2 to see what happens. It takes about 6 minutes from when it first starts passing air to close, and didn't really affect anything as far as I could tell. The ideal place for it seems to be above the boiler, which is copper pipe.
The gurgling rad was just barely pitched, I added some quarters underneath and it seems like it has a proper pitch now but it still gurgles. The valve seems pretty standard.
The other rad that gurgles(1st floor entry, last in the series) has this piping artistry:




