HO system, comments?

Scram Bulleggs

Unless the cover is stamped with ON and OFF markings that will look upside down many can be installed either way. Almost all Square D panels can be.

Sometimes it makes for a much neater install not to mention getting some extra room in the panel for trouble shooting later.

Jay_17

comments? observations?

Well, after lurking around here for a few years I built my own system, despite the general comments against HO built systems, hopefully I am the exception to the rule. I am kind of proud of it, but the proof will be in the pudding, which will be in a week or so. So I submit for your commentary! Btw, it is an 80k munchkin, mainly because of the HW tank, the floor it is on should need less than 50K based on the performance of the floor below. There are 2 loops of baseboard, and of course the water tank. No vision, I would have done it but didn't think I had time to go to the class, though in the end I worked on it for a year or more, and could have found the time. Yes, I also have a combustion analyser to set it up. As far as knowlege base, I am a mechanical engineer, and I do all my own plumbing, electric etc, I guess if my career had gone that direction I would be competent to design boilers and stuff like this. (just a little pre-defense because I know these things will be questioned)

Jay_17

missed one picture

Norm Harvey

I cant see much of the piping to critique that end of it. I notice the primary/secondary but I cant see all of it.

That electrical could be cleaned up a bit...

Drill some holes in the plywood mechanical wall and run your circulator wiring behind the wall and back out into the zone control. Hardpipe some conduit for your power wiring and run a second hardpipe conduit for your low voltage along site it.

I would repipe the expansion tank to a serviceable location or put a union between two ball vavles isolating the tank from the system (if your local plumbing code allows this)

I also cant see the water feeder and backflow. Is it in a serviceable location?


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Ted_9

can't see...

It's hard to tell.

Is there a way to get the indirect tank out?

Massachusetts

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jp_2

upside down ele panel ?

Is that panel upside down? never seen the main breaker at the bottom?

how far are you away from the meter?

Al Corelli_2

Not bad. nice solder joints

The location of the LWCO is not optimal in my book, but, as long as you've gotten it to work, cool.

The expansion tank appears to be in a place where it would be difficult to change.

The cover should be ON the electrical panel if it is live.

Nice work! If not asked, I would not have picked it to death.

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Weezbo

You are a \"Natural\" *~/:)

from the amount of space you have in the Mechanical room .....i for one would have thought you were an architect rather than an engineer

You did well to get all those pieces in there..."Keep the Faith" ...

The Wire Nut

Juice...

I thought the panel was upside down at first until I saw the hanger holes were right side up.

The feeder cable seems to be too tight as it's pulling the connector through the concentric knock-outs, or there was a bit of a problem removing the smaller KOs. You should (with power disconnected at the meter panel) remove the connector and insert some KO washers, then reinstall the connector. Also, do you have an appropriate earth ground? The NEC has updated it recently, so you might want to check that out too.

It looks like you have the ground bond screw on the neutral bar that isn't directly connected to the feeder neutral. I'm not sure it makes a difference but I was taught to keep those together.

Do you have anti-oxidant on the aluminum feeder conductors at the connections?

I believe that your feeder cable has to be secured within 6 or 8" from the panel box.

Sorry this doesn't address your heating installation, but I wouldn't want to see it all zapped by incorrect electrical work...

Alex

Jay_17

As far as the box, it is not live yet, it is a sub panel off of the main panel in the basement (this is the 2nd story) so the grounding etc is all off that panel, It is a 1910 house, the downstairs panel is grounded to the incoming city water pipe, which is typical, and probably works ok, but I think about driving some ground rods in occasionally. The panel is "upside down" but it is one of the mounting options. Since the picture I ran the feed wire in conduit up close to the panel, what appears to be an off kilter connector is actually a loose pvc nut on top of the connector. I did clean and coat the Al feed, and while I was at it I did the same to the feeds into the main box, which had never been done since they were installed in the 60's I guess. Good eyes to spot all that stuff, or a practiced eye!
It is a tighter spot than I would have liked, but the benefits of getting the system onto the 2nd floor were worth it to me. The expansion tank isn't as hard to get to as it looks in the picture, and by shutting off the feed and bleeding off the pressure in the system it can be removed cleanly (it is almost the highest point in the system. Removing the indirect is a little bit of a project, I originally planned to have the panel in a different spot which would have made it easier, but it turned into a bad spot, so there it is..
I should do something with the low voltage wiring, I don't like it just laying there either. If I did it over I would do something better with the pump wires too, but I am willing to accept it as is now.
Thanks for the comments all, I should have taken pictures before the wall was framed up so the piping would be fully exposed. I would love to build another system now and improve on a few things, but first I'll have to get another house I guess!
Jay

Jay_17

My logic with the LWCO was that as long as I have water in the lower section of pipe the boiler still has water in it, perhaps the upper section would be better yet?

The Wire Nut

Electric City...

Jay,

Glad to see your electrical work is up to "snuff" as it were... I too am a homeowner who has wandered in to this wonderful field and am now trying to become a pro, though, as my alias alludes, in the wiring and technologies side...

Are you in Scranton PA? I have a house just north of Honesdale.

Alex (aka Stonehouse, aka "The Wire Nut")

jp_2

check your code

not sure I understood your post.

but i believe you need a separate ground going to that panel.

Jay_17

If it isn't clear in the picture the ground and neutral are separate in the sub panel, I am going to go back to the book and check on the ground issue though.
Jay

The Wire Nut

Well grounded...

On a sub-panel you do not bond the neutral to the cabinet. I am pretty you do not need a separate ground wire. The idea, I think, is to have the neutral and ground have a 0 volt difference and not potentially have a potential (ok, that's bad!) between the two. This would be a definite possibility of you ran a separate ground...

Alex

Jay_17

That is how I understand it should be set up, and what I did. Honestly the whole deal with the ground and neutral makes perfect sense when i read it, but a month later the exact reason somehow slips my mind, but it makes sense to me to keep them separate fundamentally. I rechecked my book and it doesn't indicate a separate ground (only a separate ground wire)
Jay

Unknown

Get the outdoor sensor installed.

What water temp are you expecting to run the baseboard at? You're wasting this boiler if you're just running it on high temp.. and you probably don't have to.