Best Of
Re: Lochinvar WB80 not lighting, many new parts already. SOLVED
28 and 18 ohms seems right. the coils in the gas valve are probably good.
mattmia2
Re: The "equalizer" is mis-named. It does nothing to equalize anything.
The best way to see what I am saying about the equalizer is to watch my 27 minute video. I'll have to watch it again to make sure I didn't say anything crazy but I think it's pretty good.
One interesting thing is when I started the video, I was still under the impression that there would be a noticeable pressure drop from the start of the main to the end. But residential steam is too slow and too small for it to be enough to let the water level rise at the far end of the main. You can see me figure this out during the video.
In the video below I have pressure gauges hooked up as well as a sight glass at the far end of the main to monitor the water line movement (there isn't any).
This is why I keep saying "Dimension A is a myth". Don't feel bad, even Peerless still thinks it's a "thing". Peerless says there's a 1/2 psi of pressure differential at the end of the main (hence why you need dimension A). But it's false, at least in residential low-pressure steam (to include multi-family buildings too).
Peerless also thinks there is another 6 inches due to friction loss through the return line, which is complete fallacy in my experience. And 8 inches for cold start-up condensate load, which is a load of BS because the condensate at all times is exactly the same. The boiler is making X steam per minute regardless of startup or otherwise. Ignore the drawing below, it's make-believe.
Re: Flow direction - baseboard heating
"This is BS in my opinion (and my checkbook agrees)."
I have heard it said that "When spending too little on a job you will get what you pay for." If you need to replace a heater every 12 years with another lower cost heater then in 25 years you have purchased three heaters.
When the proper heater designed for space heating is used for this job, You may need only one heater that will last over 30 years. But that does not help you today (as did the previous heater installed by others). So I guess it all depends on how long you plan on owning this home. If you are just going to flop this house, then I understand. I just don't want to buy a home from you.
For example, I searched "Tankless water for space heat" and found on this site alone over 500 discussions like yours. And each one is having a problem related to a water heater designed for an open system being used on a closed system for space heating, and the problems associated with that setup.
I sampled discussions from 2002 to 2025 and found the one of the big problems is getting sufficient water flow to activate the burner, using the proper size circulator pump for that application. It seem that the foot per minute of the water flow, usually does not open the gas valve enough to get the highest fire capacity. Think of it like opening just one faucet just a little bit to wash your hands, but the water is not flowing fast enough to turn on the gas, so you open the hot water tap full in order to turn on the gas to heat the water.
Another problem is that these water heaters are designed to make the water flowing thru the system 60° to 80° hotter than the entering 45° cold water compared to the usual 20° temperature rise of a space heating system. and lastly the relief valve and expansion tank that would normally be used on a DHW open system is the wrong one for a closed system used in space heating radiator type systems. Just to name 3 problems that are a recurring theme here.
I have actually visited one of these home designed Tankless water heater used for space heating jobs a long time ago. I spent hours trying to solve the problem of no heat. Eventually I discovered that the system only worked for about a month when it was first installed, and there were problems getting that to work in the first place. Assuming that this was at one time a problem free operating system, i spent too much time diagnosing the system, only to discover that the water heater was no actually a boiler designed for space heating. S oafter two hours of wasted time I was able to collect my minimum $39.00 only to recommend that they need to purchase a boiler designed for space heating.
One successful water heater system I personally installed used a 40 gallon tank where I could set the water heater temperature to 125° and used a circulator pump to feed radiant floor heat tubing in a concrete basement floor. But that was not a tankless, there was a storage tank involved and the water heater was designed to maintain 125° water in the tank. That was an inexpensive boiler substitute that I knew would work. The operating efficiency was poor but the amount of space they were heating was insignificant, so it worked.
Just thoughts from an old guy that has already learned from the mistake you are about to make because I already did it years ago.
Re: Converting from oil to gas Eastern PA
What’s the gas cost? Oil is expensive but you’re only using .2G per heating degree day so important to make sure you don’t spend $10k to save $500 annually.
Re: New Boiler Overfilling After Warm Weather
Yes. The Hartford loop should connect at 2"–4" below the normal water line. Yours is about 2" below the return, which is essentially the bottom of the boiler. If the water drains to the bottom of the Hartford, your boiler will be empty.
As long as they're re-doing it, consider a Gifford loop instead.
Re: Installing wifi-smart thermostat with 2-3 wires hydronic heat-only
You need to reverse the Red and White wires
The red wire is on Tw. and the white wire is on TR. This makes no difference when there is only 2 wires. But it makes a difference when you have 3 wires and one of them is common.
Look close at the red and white wires on the zone 6 label. The left is for the White to W on the thermostat. The right one TR must be connected to R.
Re: My pressure gauge is between 20 to 25 right at the marker. Is that too high!
You have no need to turn off the power supply or close any valves. Just connect a hose, open the valve slowly and watch the pressure gauge. Take you three minutes (or less) to bring it down to 18 psi.
However, it's already off from last night. Just leave it off and bring the pressure down with the hose and the valve.
BTW, what is the pressure this morning with the boiler dead cold? It might be down below 18 psi already. If so, lower it to 15 psi.
LRCCBJ
Re: Oil Boiler Water Marks on Side of Unit Behind Paneling, Cast Iron
@HVACNUT @Steamhead i have no idea if it’s needed, was put in before me. Yes, will have a heat loss done.
dmalk118
Re: The "equalizer" is mis-named. It does nothing to equalize anything.
And when you finish the first page of that application @ethicalpaul, page 2 needs
Social Security number
current address
previous address for the last 25 years
names of all you children
Your mother's madden name
at least 5 of your most used passwords (especially your debit card PIN)
annual income
marital status
and your dog's name.