Best Of
Re: Estimated life expectancy?
So you've had one, Ed? Because mine has already paid for itself in 5 years.
But I get your point because we never have people come to this forum with hot water coil and indirect problems…
Re: What do you think the future of our industry looks like?
I Like the White Collar comment…Which is probably why the Big Ben Franklin supply white shirts to the Technicians.. Make them feel Valued and Don't eat the Young.
On a serperate note:Years ago when i was working for a company called Dillon Plumbing and Heating(DPH) a Attorney complaint about the price of the services rendered and explained that he does not change these kind of rates per hour..The owner of DPH told the Attorney that he should have become a Plumber instead.
Did not go over to well but he ended up paying the Bill. 😑
Re: What do you think the future of our industry looks like?
It's pretty simple. We're all going to have to stay healthy for a long time. In a while you'll see us 90 year olds clambering around in attics and squeezing through tight crawl spaces, making sure things still work.
Just came to me that if I put a white collar on my blue work shirt, I could claim to be doing white collar work 😇 Maybe that would make it easier to get new blood into the field.
Yours, Larry
ps. As long as homes are stick built, every HVAC job will be custom. If we go to manufactured homes, the new stuff could be more plug and play. I'll add that when technicians are so rare that they can charge as much as lawyers, more will be wanting to learn our trades.
Re: Old oil boiler controls
@mnessen , @SuperTech makes a good point. The R8184 no longer meets Code, unless the trial-for-ignition period is 15 seconds. The usual version was 45 seconds, and such a long trial for ignition is unsafe.
Picture this: The burner starts but the flame doesn't ignite. So it continues to spray oil into the firebox. At 37 seconds, it finally ignites- and there is a "Major Disturbance in the Force" better known as a backfire or puffback, that belches soot all over the place, and possibly sets the basement on fire.
If we find a primary control with a longer trial for ignition, we replace it with a 15-second one. You should too. Beckett, Carlin and Honeywell make suitable controls.
Re: Old oil boiler controls
The situation in this thread is about the only one where I am ok with someone installing a crappy R8184
Re: DWV Install
Dont rule out atmospheric venting. Assuming your using PVC, it's not a big deal to tie all the vent together in a header & get it over to an ideal point for penetrative through the roof.
Additionally, a clothes washing machine should have it's own dedicated stack and vent or your creating a "suds-pressure zone." Mad Dog
Lil things mean alot...
When I repiped this the old boiler drain was buried halfway under the lift blocks...essentially useless. It's alot easier to access boiler drain and flush wet returns now! A little "Value Engineering" as we go. Mad Dog
Re: First time using the Taco 0026e.......
Not me...That was the Homeowner. Although my pops was a Master Woodcarver! Mad Dog