Best Of
Re: Utica now offering 12 year warranties, longest in industry
Not exactly. Taking the steam, from closer to the top of the water, makes it that much more challenging to keep the water out of the steam
Re: steam radiator removal and installation DC area?
Great if only one pipe, but what if there is a return pipe? Or what if the valve does not close completely? And what if they want to get the valve all new lookin' again. The valve needs to be removed for the refinisher. I might have a cap on hand just incase.
@chesapeake: Sometimes you need to ask the question differently. "What would it cost to replace a radiator?" Then when the plumber gets there, ask him to remove the radiator so you can refinish the floor while he gets you a price for the replacement radiator. (that you will never purchase). You will happy to pay for that service while he is there, and he can walk away with a profit before he even gets the estimate to you.
When the radiator is refinished, you can see if the same plumber wants to comeback to put it back for you. If not, then call another plumber and ask "What would it cost to replace a radiator?" When he gets there, you can ask him to put the radiator back and he can make a profit without even offering you a quote.
The way you ask the question often will generate the response you need. Too much detail will reveal that there is not enough profit in just unbolting a radiator. You need to offer just enough to get the home visit to happen. Once there, the work part is easy. And they can charge you for services rendered.
You may need a moving company to actually get the radiator to the refinisher. they are equipped to move heavy things like refrigerators, furniture, and radiators.
Just some random thoughts form an old man.
Re: Utica now offering 12 year warranties, longest in industry
Was concluded that it was not installed correctly. That on top of turning the system completely off during the winter without draining looks to have cracked the iron chamber. With steam leaving the system everything else rusted. The system prior was Utica and lasted over 30 years.
Re: Utica now offering 12 year warranties, longest in industry
My Utica was installed in 1983 and is still going strong despite little maintenance done until I moved in a couple years ago. It’s also piped wrong with no header but somehow makes dry steam.
Tezak
Re: One year old Williamson-Thermoflo heat exchanger failure
If the high limit failed to shut off the burner, then the cause of the heat exchanger failure is the manufacturer's failed high limit. I would look at the High Limit to see if there is a problem with it. That part whould be covered by the warranty and therefore the HX failure that was a result of the warranty covered failed limit. I would avoid anything related to poor duct design. I wouldn't even look for that condition.
In the meantime, you need to get the customer's heat back on. Order the HX and Limit control using a credit card. That way you have recourse with the credit card to file a charge back to Williamson or the wholesaler.
w
Re: Replumbing: Solder or Threads for Ball Valves
Hi, I found one that had failed by a water heater, in a seldom used room. Just a fast drip. Nobody saw it, and it caused roughly $10,000 in damage. It does seem that chlorine and EPDM rubber don't get along very well. So, for me, I'll only use these fittings for temporary repairs.
Yours, Larry
Re: Oversizing a Modulating Boiler with 10 to 1 turndown
To @EdTheHeaterMan and @jesmed1
Sorry, I have been dealing with the boiler for the past week including some obvious things I had overlooked. But I finally have everything working PERFECTLY. I thank @EdTheHeaterMan for his help, and #jesmed1 for referring him to me.
It turns out 2 of the Honeywell Zone Valves that I installed 8 years ago have gone bad. As I mentioned before, in order to maximize emitter heat dissipation, I open up all the ZV by using the manual override lever. I taped it with the aluminum tape. However, the ZV manual override lever was bent totally out of shape (I don't know why, but I think it is Honeywell using soft metal for the lever), and the ZV valve was closed even with the manual override. I only found that out when I tried to flush the system from air, and realized I couldn't with those zones. The trickle of water running out was not ice cold , so I knew the pipe for that Zone wasn't frozen. I replaced the valves, and the water is now running through as it should. The two Taco 007 are pumping fine. Secondly, the unused HW heater I had added (to increase thermal mass) to one of the 7 zones is doing a spectacular job, reducing the short cycling completely. I haven't measured it yet, but it is so much longer than before that I didn't bother to wait.
The only reason I was looking to replace the 8148J Aquastat was not because it was failing, but because the temperature differential was only 8F. I wanted something wider. However ,I did not even need to replace my Honeywell L8148J aquastat after all. In my research, I leaned something very useful —- I found out that the Honeywell H8124A1007 thermostat would be totally compatible . The L8124A1007 has a temperature differential setting of 20F instead of the stock H8148J which has a non adjustable 8F temperature differential. So that would have been a good upgrade, even though the thermal mass from the 40 gallon HW heater made it unnecessary. I found that out only because @EdTheHeaterMan was kind enough to tell me that the temp bulb size is universal, so I didn't have to worry about the physical issue of fitting the temp bulb into the existing cavity. And when Ed referred found a generic Aquastat that was less expensive, I realized that the electronics part of it should be universal too, as long as the new aquastat is 24V. By that I mean 24V output to Ignitor, and 110AC to circulator and the power vent. Again, many thanks to you Ed!
mwong00
Re: Seeking Engineer for Off-Grid Religious Facility Heating in the Mountain States
The beauty of gravity hot water is the energy density of the heating medium, so in theory you could heat an entire 11,000 sf building with just one properly-sized boiler and distribution system consisting mainly of water pipes of reasonable size.
By contrast, air has much less energy density, so your distribution system needs much larger cross-sectional area vs. water pipes. Very large ducts, especially since you're relying on gravity, with no blower systems. So now your ductwork is taking up quite a large amount of your interior space.
To put it in numbers, you would need over 3000 cubic feet of air to carry the same number of BTU's as 1 cubic foot of water, assuming the same delta T. That is a massive difference that has major implications for the entire interior design of the building. Assuming the same flow rate in linear feet per second, that means an air duct would need to be over 25 feet by 25 feet square , or the size of a large living room, to carry the same number of BTU's as the water in one 6-inch pipe.
And the low energy density of air also means you have very little buffering effect. As soon as you stop heating the air, interior temperature falls quickly. Whereas the thermal mass of the water holds the heat and releases it slowly, so the stored energy in the water continues heating the building for hours after the boiler stops firing.
And then you add the compexity of having to manage the firing of multiple air heating units distributed throughout the building, vs having just one boiler to manage in the case of hot water heating.
jesmed1
Re: One year old Williamson-Thermoflo heat exchanger failure
@SuperTech said:
Airflow on the other hand....that was likely the culprit. Homeowner was using an extremely restrictive 1" filter. The evaporator coil was really dirty. But the manufacturer didn't even ask me about that.
I'm not a heating pro, just homeowner/engineer. But I had to troubleshoot an overheating gas furnace at my church last year, and airflow was indeed the culprit. Installers had installed an undersized return plenum that increased the static pressure far above mfr's spec, choking airflow and causing repeated shutdowns due to overheating.
My question for your situation is, why didn't the customer's furnace shut down on thermal overheat protection? Our church furnaces, standard Carrier models, all have temperature sensors on the heated air side of the HX that will shut them down when the sensed air temp gets too high. This is supposed to prevent damage to the HX in just such a low-flow condition. So why didn't your customer's furnace shut down to prevent those overheats? Faulty sensor?
If you can prove the temp sensor is faulty, then maybe you have a shot at warranty remedy.
jesmed1