Best Of
Re: Calling Peerless 63-series Owners: A Venting Mystery
Yep that's them.
Oswald doesn't stock this stuff and won't drop ship from PTYD if the order is < $25 and PTYD said "5-7 days" upon request, and then got back to me and said, we out & we ain't makin' any.
And they wanted to know what happened to the original, and what was I thought I was doing:
"Production would like to know what the serial number is of this unit. Also, what is the reason for replacing this and what caused it?"
Now PTYD sort of "is" Peerless, and that Peerless isn't talking to me, officially, so it's not like i can call the engineers and ask what they think they're doing.
mattmich
Re: Calling Peerless 63-series Owners: A Venting Mystery
I called PartsToYourDoor, which is their in-house vendor.
The parts we're talking about, of course, are not the kind that tend to wear out and need replacement. But I agree, not wonderful.
I'll just wait until you build your extension and then we swap parts in the summer ;)
mattmich
Re: When to NOT use sharkbite? A question
You can't trust code approval in my opinion any longer. You have to use your own smarts.
The electrical code approves CFCI and combination breakers that are nothing but trouble because the electrical MFG beat the code panel over the head and told them how many lives would be saved if you install our junk. "you have to do this"
But the electricians know this stuff is junk and is not reliable and is expensive and cause needless call backs. I installed a new microwave a year ago and ran a dedicated 20 amp circuit with a combination breaker (because I am supposed to.) It trips randomly for no reason 4 times since last July
Look at the construction of CSST. The stuff is junk and is about as substantial as a piece of tin foil. Yet it is approved and people install it.
Gas is hazerdous, look at what NYC requires as far as permits and testing but tin foil gas pipe is ok in some areas.
Re: When to NOT use sharkbite? A question
I'm with you, Dog. I'm not part of the "race to the bottom" of the trade.
Many professionals share our thoughts on this, and that is what keeps the trade and the profession alive. Every innovation has a place in the toolbox. Wisdom, knowledge, experience and morals tell us when it's proper to use what.
The mark of a professional is one who views code requirements as minimums.
In our jurisdictions, we have never seen an inspector who would permit a sharkbite-type push fitting. No engineer I know would specify them. I wouldn't - generally because they are too easy to install improperly and because many of them are Chinese imports with horrible quality control. They are permitted by Canada's codes, and many jurisdictions in the US allow them too.
An unskilled homeowner with no money is fortunate to have a quick fix available to them. Yesteryears' Grandpas could only wrap their leaks with rags and garden hose.
Internet forums give equal space to anyone.
It's important to know your sources.
Re: What Do Space Exploration, Beer, and Hydronic Heating Have in Common?
Bill (William) Coors was a good customer of mine. He hired our company to replace his existing poorly designed (DHW heaters as boilers) boiler system in his home on Lookout Mountain, As we were in the process of disassembling the existing plant, he came down into the boiler room and asked us to save the Grundfos circulator because it has one of his companys' ceramic seal assemblies built into it. Quite the interesting fellow. He had miniature steam engines throughout his home, connected to a compressed air system. He had built each and every one of them as a child in the Coors machine shop.
Talk about small world syndrome, my friend who owns the Space Ship house in Genesee, across the valley from Bills house, ended up purchasing. Uncle Bills house after he passed away (102 Y.O.) and is in the process of rebuilding/remodeling and adding a 20 car garage to his expansive (8k sq feet) home. BTW, when I asked him about the book, he said it contained a lot of "mis truths" about him and his family…
He was a lot of fun to talk to, because of his depth of not just mechanical systems, but he was also a very well known agronomist/horticulturist, and besides inventing the completely recyclable aluminum beer can, which he intentionally did NOT patent, he also invented the process for using ice crystals to enhance beers flavor.
I remember an incident where one of our employees got dressed down by his wife (Crazy Rita Bass), when it wasn't my employees fault. I called Uncle Bill to inquire as to what had transpired. He apologized for Rita's incorrrect response and reaction and said the employee could help himself to whatever was in the refrigerator in the garage. The employee emptied the refrigerator out (Killians, Coors Gold and others). Bill just laughed it off. He was that kind of guy.
Everyone at the brewery loved him, because he remembered EVERYONES name. He went in 2 times per week while 80 years old, just walked around talking to the employees. We were later introduced to his nephews and to my knowledge, are still taking care of their comfort needs.
I will share some photos of the completed installations when they are complete. I'm doing the design work and will supervise whomever gets the job. Too old to be burning and turning anymore.
ME
Re: Best electric pipe threader that won't break you
You can have my 65R when you pry it from my cold dead hands.
Although, I might feel different if I used it for more than the occasional handrail.
ratio
Re: Calling Peerless 63-series Owners: A Venting Mystery
@ethicalpaul wrote "We agree on much, but I don't think I've seen radiator runouts vented by a #4 get much if any steam before a well-vented main."
Paul and I had been going back and forth about this since he wrote "a #4 is not too fast , ever" at the bottom of page 4 of my DIY-boiler-install thread.
I disagreed with this sentiment because I observed MoM-#4-vented radiators start to get hot before the main was completely filled. I have a single main that is a square loop, 20 ft to a side, with fourteen risers branching off, twelve of them active.
The first riser goes to a large radiator on the south side of the living room — where the thermostat lives — and the last riser goes to the living room's north side, with eighty feet of main between them. The earlier observation was that several sections of the south radiator were hot before the north radiator saw steam. Since that one is vented with a #5, it fills quickly and warms the room, eventually ending the call for heat.
Some months back, I had done a simple experiment by maximizing the venting of my main, removing one of my two vents, leaving behind a 1" hole — and I found that the main filled a little quicker, like in 8 minutes instead of 9. No big deal, right? What I didn't do in that test is go around the house checking radiators.
So last night I repeated the exercise, but more carefully.
Once again I removed the MoM main vent, leaving behind a threaded one-inch opening.
I started the call for heat and set a stop watch when the flame came on.
04:54 Steam develops
05:34 The elbow at the start of the main is hot to the touch.
Now I knew I had a few minutes before the main would fill completely. I put my hand over the one inch hole and felt the air pulsating out. A LOT of air.
I opened the valve to my low-pressure gauge and read a fairly stable 5 inches of water column.
[07:55 Cyclegard does its thing]
[09:05 Cyclegrad is finished, burners resumes]
12:32 Seven minutes after the FIRST elbow of the main is heated, the LAST elbow is hot to the touch. At this point, all risers see steam.
12:55 The main vent antler gets hot. At this point, I shut the boiler off, which I had not done in earlier tests.
I went around the house and checked the radiators.
All of them were cold, and so were their riser pipes coming up out of the floor.
I reinstalled the main vent and resumed the call for heat. The living-room south and north radiators heated pretty much in unison. Was Paul right after all? How awkward…
This morning, I repeated the exercise with the main vents in place.
The observed pressure was unchanged, at 5 inches water column.
Once again, as soon as the antler got hot, I cut the power to the boiler and checked my radiators.
They were all cold.
BUT: the steam risers were hot, and steam was just starting to enter the radiators. As soon as the main vents were closed, there was lots of steam available and radiators started heating quickly. The upstairs radiators, which have 20 to 30-ft risers, were well behind, of course.
What did I learn from this exercise?
(i) My main is vented well. I can speed it up a little by playing tricks, but there's no need to add more vents.
(ii) The #4-vented radiators are so slow that they 'steal' only enough steam to heat the risers. Once the main is hot, the radiators farther downstream do a good job catching up. The system is pretty well balanced.
(iii) Once the main is full, there is a LOT of steam available, and the first-in-line radiators heat up quickly. That is what caused me to believe the #4 vents were still too big.
(iv) The main obstacle to even heating throughout the house are the long 1-1/4 inch risers to the upstairs… which is why our bedroom radiator, which is the second-to-last riser off the main, also has a #5 vent on it. It is fairly small, and quickly heats all the way across.
So that's what I did on my summer vacation, submitted here for your edification and reading pleasure.
cheers -matt
mattmich
Re: When to NOT use sharkbite? A question
We love you Paul, and most of all we love the glass piping.
Nobody else would have ever done that. Incredibly fascinating.
Re: When to NOT use sharkbite? A question
Hi @RascalOrnery , It was in another thread, but I have seen a Sharkbite fail, and it caused roughly $10,000 in damage some years ago. I think they are good for temporary repairs, particularly if the line cannot readily be made dry. I don't know of any rubber that we can expect to last as long as copper. I want things I build to far outlast me. 😇
Yours, Larry
