First picture of New Amateur Install

Mike Reavis_2

consult your manual concerning the importance of preventing cold water from entering the boiler for extended periods of time. I am assuming that this is a W/M GV series 3 or 4. The boiler will protect itself from cold water entering the cast-iron sections. The manual will show you how to pipe it in for low temp applications. Should you find the boiler locking out, check the piping to be sure it is correct
Mike

David_24

First PICTURE of New Amateur Install

Here is the first shot of the work I've been doing on the hydronic heating system. The wiring and electrics are not yet installed, and the tubing from the manifolds to the upstairs baseboard radiation are not hooked up yet. This system uses 3 boiler sources - electric on dual-fuel rates, propane, and future outside wood boiler for which the secondary side of the heat exchanger is already installed - the outside boiler can be added later without interference to the house system. It is set-up using primary/secondary pumping, with check valves isolating each boiler on the boiler/primary loop. Some stubs were added for future expansion, and lots of unions and drains were used to make replacing valves easy in the future. I'll post another shot when finished. Comments welcome. A lot of help came from the guys here on The Wall. Dave

gerry gill

wow...very pretty..

i'm impressed..

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Josh M.

Looks like a work of art to me. You definatly have a gift for layout. I see alot of peoples work as a rep. and that is some of the best I have seen. Not amateur at all. Can't wait to see the controls! What are you going to install?

Terry_14

You'd Be welcome in My home

Great detail a man after my own heart. I can tell you did not leave your level at home!

Maby Dan should run Best Photo contest with a book as reward! hint hint Dan.

Merry christmas
Terry

scott inM.E.

More like semi pro

Dave if more people would put in the extra effort for detail like this it would make selling an upgrade easy. Customers friends see this in their buddy's home and word spreads fast. No need to pay for advertising word of mouth is free. A credit to our trade!

Brian (Tankless)

Very, very impressed, Dave.

What model "Seisco" did you use? The RA-28 can put out 95,564 btu's if needed, great choice. I hope you made sure you got the Radiant version, because the standard RA only goes up to 135*F. The infinite modulation on Seisco's is second to none, and it doesn't give a hoot what the return temps are.

Very nice work, I'd be proud to that in my house.

Tankless (Seisco freak) in Swampland.

Joe Grosso

D-I-Y job

Nice job Dave, you should be proud of it.

SCOTT K_2

work

Very nice, I have 11 years in the buisness, it seems you have a natural talent for layout & you should seriously really think about a career in this feild. I too, try to put my heart into everything I do , & now I work for a co.that lets me do it.Awesome work! Once you get that plan in your head, its just a matter of putting it together; and you did it well! have a great christmas. Be safe. --SCOTT K

paul_52

work

good job on the lawout of the piping. i wish that layout was in my house. happy holidays everyone

Christian Egli_2

Boiler watch

I know where the couch will go in this home and what it will be facing...

Beautiful view.

Mad Dog_2

Hats off, Sir..................................................

We should all be so amautuerish. Mad Dog

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Ralph DiTore

One thing I see...

that I would have done is have stand off's on the piping,
for when you have to replace something? Looks really good otherwise. I didn't take alot of time to look it over better.

David_24

THANK YOU for COMMENTS !!

One of my favorite was about knowing "where he would put the couch". Well - it's not that great - lots of nice installs posted on The Wall and on the web, although this was a first-timer - a house I built myself - just a cabin in the woods, really.
To questions that were asked...
1) The pipes are on standoffs - flat photo so it is hard to tell.
2) It's the RA22 Siesco, rather than the SH (bought before they came out). After studying, I can't see any difference between the two - I'm guessing it might be just a fixed resistor that sets the range for the temperature control - looking for more info on that - not sure if the company will tell me how to make the mods, but I suppose worst case might be to buy a replacement SH control board.
3) Not sure what controls to use, although I like something that combines multiple relays in one box, and I'd also like something with a bit of a brain to it. I did NOT go with an injection design which might allow outside temp reset, although would be interested maybe in thermostats that use outdoor temps to set anticipator (if there is such a thing - there should be !!) I can see where one of those new outside-controllable circulators might be used on that electric boiler directly to do the same thing - looking now into what sensors might be needed in the system to make that work, how the attach, etc - since the electric boiler will be used most of the time - our dual-fuel rates (3.7c/kwh) are hard to beat, and it is usually off only a couple hours per day at the dinner hours - sometimes never.
Currently have the system pressurized with air - weeding out the leaks. Found a couple fittings not soldered at all, plus the usual union tightening - now down to losing about 1 pound/2hrs and the soapy water method won't reveal where the last leak is - I wonder if air can leak from the circulator pumps that have never had water in them. I plan to run a 40-50% glycol solution. Also - presently runing all UP15-42 circulators, but have a couple UPS15-58fc multi-speed, and trying to decide which circulator might best be replaced with a 3-speed unit. It seems there should be some type of pressure switch available to go ahead of the zone valves which would allow that circulator to adjust speed depending on pressure (how many valves are open simultaneously). Any comments on these points would be welcome!! Thanks again!! Dave

David_24

THANK YOU for COMMENTS !!

One of my favorite was about knowing "where he would put the couch". Well - it's not that great - lots of nice installs posted on The Wall and on the web, although this was a first-timer - a house I built myself - just a cabin in the woods, really.
To questions that were asked...
1) The pipes are on standoffs - the flat photo makes it hard to tell.
2) It's the RA22 Siesco, rather than the SH (bought before they came out). After studying, I can't see any difference between the two - I'm guessing it might be just a fixed resistor that sets the range for the temperature control - looking for more info on that - not sure if the company will tell me how to make the mods, but I suppose worst case might be to buy a replacement SH control board.
3) Not sure what controls to use, although I like something that combines multiple relays in one box, and I'd also like something with a bit of a brain to it. I did NOT go with an injection design which might allow outside temp reset, although would be interested maybe in thermostats that use outdoor temps to set anticipator (if there is such a thing - there should be !!) I can see where one of those new outside-controllable circulators might be used on that electric boiler directly to do the same thing - looking now into what sensors might be needed in the system to make that work, how the attach, etc - since the electric boiler will be used most of the time - our dual-fuel rates (3.7c/kwh) are hard to beat, and it is usually off only a couple hours per day at the dinner hours - sometimes never.
Currently have the system pressurized with air - weeding out the leaks. Found a couple fittings not soldered at all, plus the usual union tightening - now down to losing about 1 pound/2hrs and the soapy water method won't reveal where the last leak is - I wonder if air can leak from the circulator pumps that have never had water in them. I plan to run a 40-50% glycol solution. Also - presently runing all UP15-42 circulators, but have a couple UPS15-58fc multi-speed, and trying to decide which circulator might best be replaced with a 3-speed unit. It seems there should be some type of pressure switch available to go ahead of the zone valves which would allow that circulator to adjust speed depending on pressure (how many valves are open simultaneously). Any comments on these points would be welcome!! Thanks again!! Dave

scott inM.E.

40-50% glycol seems like alot....

I would check with someone on this one.

Jed_2

All I can say is...

I need more "Amateur" customers. I've been to many installs by "Pros" that would pale in comparison. Get a License, you'll do very well.

Regarding circulators, 2006 will be very exiting,indeed, for the technological application you desire. How about ‡ variable!?

Jed

David_24

Appreciate the license comment, but

I'm in electronics. And pros can't take as long as I did - I'd imagine they could knock this panel out in 2-3 days, but I spent 2 weeks - 5 minutes working, 20 minutes thinking, repeat.
Yes - I see Grundfos is coming out with an outside temp controlled variable pump - that seems perfect to get outdoor reset from some boilers directly (my electric especially) without more complicated piping.
Or one thing I'd retrofit (if available now??)is a pump that varies speed from a pressure sensor - to keep pressure balanced in a multi zone valve arrangement. Is this available now???
I'd like some recommendations on controls, too. I'd like to build my own, but want to keep everything standard off-shelf. Perhaps I could get away with just a Taco multi-relay control box, but I'd like something smarter that can do post-purge and circulator excersizing, etc. And it seems like next-best thing to outdoor reset would be outdoor thermostat anticipator controls. Any help in good controls to look at would be greatly appreciated. (I'm in northern MN - can get chilly up here).. Dave

David_24

\"Chilly explained\"

I mentioned in northern MN, it can get a bit chilly. We do chuckle up here at near-disaster declarations when New York City hits +10. We have had many winter days where the high for the day is -25. It has been -42 at my place, and was actually 62 below once, a few miles away in 96, and -30 nights are very common in Jan/Feb. I think it breaks down like this:
Nice day - anything above +10 ...
Little chilly - from -20 to +10 ...
A bit nippy - from -40 to -20 ...
Freeze your Arctic off - below -40 (sometimes called cold)

Seldom do you see locals wearing a coat over +30. Dave

David_24

This is northern MN

so I think my target is 40% glycol, and 50% in the future outside boiler system. It can get a little chilly up here. The system is in a relatively small cabin in the woods - photo attached.

David_24

This is northern MN

so I think my target is 40% glycol, and 50% in the future outside boiler system. That might still be a lot, since the pipe burst specs are far below the freeze points for the solution. But it can get a little chilly up here. The system is in a relatively small cabin in the woods.

David_24

This is northern MN

so I think my target is 40% glycol, and 50% in the future outside boiler system. That might still be a lot, since the pipe burst specs are far below the freeze points for the solution. But it can get a little chilly up here. The system is in a relatively small cabin in the woods.

Simply Rad_2

So cold it hurts

In early December we had an artic blast we hadn't seen in about 12 years. The coldest morning was -40 and the high for the day was -5. Granted even at those extreme temps the sun keeps you relativly warm, the great thing about living in sunny colorado. All my system worked well though I did get some service calls for two 27 degree homes(frozen toilets). The cold lasted for about a week but I sure don't miss it. Like you said and NY, Denver was in a panic because they dropped to -5 degrees! Our design temps are -20. Great job on your first system, better than most people who have been doing this their whole lives.
Happy Holidays
Jeffrey