Best Of
Re: Baseboard Heat Unable to Satisfy Zone Temp
things to check:
What is the boiler pressure?
Do you hear gurgling in the baseboards, indicating a possible air problem that could prevent water circulation?
Are the dampers at the top of the baseboards open so air can circulate freely through the heating elements?
Is there at least 1 inch of clearance under the front cover so air can get into the baseboards?
Is furniture at least an inch or two from the baseboards so warm air can flow up and out into the room?
Does the burner run all the time, or does it cycle? Does the boiler reach its high limit temperature? What is that temperature?
bburd
Re: need help with steam system excessive makeup water
Hopefully it holds
Thanks again everyone
J_C
Re: Zone valve triggers circulator but does not trigger boiler
I replaced the zone valve powerhead. The issue may be two fold. The gears were very screwed up and when I pull the lever, they pop and grind and generally sound terrible. But, I could not twist the ball valve by hand. I had to grab some pliers and without much effort, was able to turn it back and forth until it loosened up to where I could easily turn it by hand. It is now working. I think I need to periodically run this zone. It is for the garage and I rarely use it. Thanks.
Re: Burnam oil burner not heating both zones
bburd- Thank you. I will leave it manually open. It is extremely cold outside. Yes, frozen pipes was my concern. Thanks. I have a multimeter and will check.
snickers
Re: Hartford loop set up .. done wrong or right?
Listen to this story and you will hear the explanation of why your Hartford loop is wrong at about time stamp 4:24. I recommend you listen to the entire story but your info is at 4:24
And as the other ED said it might be too high. Two Eds are better than one
Hope this info helps with your repairs
Re: Thermostatic mixing valve and Taco 3 way
That boiler may have an option to add a "supply" sensor, that could be placed in a better location, instead of the internal sensor, to know the systems temperature, and not fire until it is needed.
You are down to chasing tiny % points of efficiency, maybe. Exercising the boiler is not a bad thing as long as LP use is in your comfort range?
hot_rod
Re: Thermostatic mixing valve and Taco 3 way
You propane boiler may have a high limit sensor, sometimes those are a manual reset style, a red button pops up to indicate it has tripped. You manual would tell you what the high limit protection is.
Ideally, properly piped, the LP boiler would never see that temperature. It would only kick in when the return drops to say 120° The back up LP takes over only if or when the "big boy" has dropped off, cooled down to your lowest useable temperature.
Think of the wood boiler as just a big storage vessel. The very best way to use that energy is to just "sip" off the volume (gpm) and temperature you need to get the job done.
As such, pulling off that big storage with an ODR controlled device, be it a valve or pump, is the way you maximize the use of that big storage vessel.
The very best place to store you energy is in the unburned firewood 🤗.
Once you combust the wood, energy starts slipping away from you with every transfer. So next best place to store it is a very well insulated tank, a thermos bottle.
Lastly use that stored energy as needed, ideally at the lowest supply temperature, lowest flow rate.
You have all or most of the pieces, the assembly and control logic is still not dialed in.
It really comes down to what yo want or expect. I have done systems where the owner just wants a wall switch to turn on the back up.
Others want a more automatic switch should the fire go out or wood bridge and they wake up to a cold home.
How efficient, how automatic comes down to your comfort level as far as control complexity and $$
I'm not clear on why the loads could not be pulled from the tank, or plate heat exchanger with just the Taco mixers. They have the ODR function, so each one could be customized to the load? Maybe the manufacturer has a good explanation for that, or why they send out manual mix valves? Or maybe the actuator got misplaced?
hot_rod
Re: Steam Heat System Intermittent Firing
Yeah, if you have a clogged pigtail the pressuretrol will be sensing the air pressure in the space between the water and/or clog in the pigtail and the pressuretrol correctly but that pressure no longer reflects the boiler pressure. That space will want to expand due to heating but it can't and the pressuretrol will cut out on that pressure. But then it takes a long long time for that pressure to bleed out, long after the boiler has shut down. Replacing the pressuretrol was a nice precaution since you were under contract but probably was just fine. I hope the new one is calibrated properly because I understand quality control is ****.
Re: boiler filling normal vs really cold winter temps
The guy on YouTube is probably referring to water being added too often because of leaks, faulty air valves and things causing water to be introduced when it shouldn't be. With how cold it's been your certainly going to refill more often than you would with typical temperatures. If your boiler is working properly, no leaks in the system and it's simply getting water added because of extra usage then you're fine
