the bleeding edge

[Deleted User]

i like the creativity of the flow rate to swing weight, but the auto spring rate really has my tongue czeched

i'm going down this afternoon to up the overall operating temp, in an attempt to give the all-windowed, heat-sinking caf/aud/stairwell chimney an assist

[Deleted User]

pressure loss/repeated bleeding

the aging process is causing hair loss, and i'm pulling the rest out due to living on the bleeding edge for the past two months; HEELLLLLLP!

i demoed a leaky, '53, four zone, pumping to, boiling behemoth in a local church, and installed two, weil-mclain, ultra 155s in a pumping away config; everything new of course, except for the building piping and the convectors. and even though i filled and bled 'by the book',/zone by zone, i've been back almost every week on a no heat call due to no pressure, normally 15psi, and air in the zones
after being informed, after the fact, about the air vents in the 'attic', i replaced the eight, #7 maid-o-mists, re-filled and re-bled, along with the 57 convectors
a week later, no pressure/no heat in the cafeteria/
auditorium, and again after the fact, there are two more convectors behind the stage in the caf/aud. garden hose drained very dark brown to black water from those and re-filled/bled them, along with the 8 maids-o-misting and the 24 top floor convectors
a week later, no pressure/heat in the caf/aud; hose drained all eight convectors of dark brown/black tx crude, installed 8 amtrol 700-c auto vents and re-filled/bled the boilers' header, the 8 maids and their 24 sisters
last friday, no pressure and the caf/aud doesn't get above 66, even with the stat set at 72, so i told the maint dude to turn the supply water on, normally closed system, until the system read 15psi and i'd be there monday afternoon

****?!

[Deleted User]

pressure loss/repeated bleeding

the aging process is causing hair loss, and i'm pulling the rest out due to living on the bleeding edge for the past two months; HEELLLLLLP!

i demoed a leaky, '53, four zone, pumping to, boiling behemoth in a local church, and installed two, weil-mclain, ultra 155s in a pumping away config; everything new of course, except for the building piping and the convectors. and even though i filled and bled 'by the book',/zone by zone, i've been back almost every week on a no heat call due to no pressure, normally 15psi, and air in the zones
after being informed, after the fact, about the air vents in the 'attic', i replaced the eight, #7 maid-o-mists, re-filled and re-bled, along with the 57 convectors
a week later, no pressure/no heat in the cafeteria/
auditorium, and again after the fact, there are two more convectors behind the stage in the caf/aud. garden hose drained very dark brown to black water from those and re-filled/bled them, along with the 8 maids-o-misting and the 24 top floor convectors
a week later, no pressure/heat in the caf/aud; hose drained all eight convectors of dark brown/black tx crude, installed 8 amtrol 700-c auto vents and re-filled/bled the boilers' header, the 8 maids and their 24 sisters
last friday, no pressure and the caf/aud doesn't get above 66, even with the stat set at 72, so i told the maint dude to turn the supply water on, normally closed system, until the system read 15psi and i'd be there monday afternoon

Paul Pollets

Leaks on returns?

Are there underground returns back to the boiler room? If, so, the piping may have leaks. Isolate and pressure test. If the system can't hold 50 PSI for 1 hr, there's a problem.

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Steamhead (in transit)

You probably have a leak somewhere

also, where is the expansion tank and where does it hook into the system?

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[Deleted User]

nope, no leaks, unless they developed after the initial pressure test @ 100psi for 2hrs, and are in the walls or inaccessible 'attic' space

[Deleted User]

And...

what kind of expansion tank is it? I can almost see it in the top of the picture. Diaphragm or not?

ME

[Deleted User]

if you can see it in the pic, (the top of it is in the lower left-hand corner) and it attaches to the underside of the grey air purger in the header, to the right of the circ pumps

[Deleted User]

diaphragm

[Deleted User]

Big Systems = Copious Oxygen....

I'd do two things. Buy yourself a cheap water meter and put it on the make up. If there is a leak, you will find out.

Secondly, leave the make up on for a month of Sundays (its a church, right?) and allow the oxygen to make its way out of the system. Once stable, you can shut the make up off, unless there IS a leak, in which case you need to find it and fix it.

Lastly, old iron systems, cast aluminum blocks and oxygen spell trouble... Watch your water conditions, and get ahold of Dwight at Rhomar for recommendations.

ME

[Deleted User]

will do all of those, current ph 8+, but my fear of leaving the make-up on is that, if there's a leak in the attic and the ceiling caves on the parishioners.....and even though the old piping isn't my responsibility........

how about......sludge-clogs that are trapping air and giving way after repeated on-offs of the circ pump?
how about a thorough, parker-clean 1/flushing?

Jamie Hall

big leaks

I don't have my catalogue handy, but Watts regulator makes a whiz-bang which will shut off the flow if you have a major leak into a system. You might look into that (at least if there is a little hidden leak which turns into a big hidden leak, it will shut it off -- won't help the drip drip type of thing)

[Deleted User]

hmmm,

thanks for the heads-up on the whiz-bang
is it adjustable for flow rate?

[Deleted User]

You could do the same thing with a swing check valve...

installed upside down and back wards. For automatic reset, use a spring check valve (he said with tongue firmly planted in cheek...) Make sure you put a bypass around it for fill and purge...

ME