All Steamed Up, Inc.'s First Big Job (El Gordo & Steamhead)

Alan R. Mercurio_3 · June 2006

Congrats Frank! This is outstanding news brother. You already know if you need anything from me I'll always do my best to be there for you, as you have been for me.

Your friend in the industry, Alan R. Mercurio <a href="http://oiltechtalk.com/discuss/index.php?sid=63c67a82829fdbdda388591b32998104">www.oiltechtalk.com</a>

Steamhead (in transit) · October 2005

Gordo and I have started a new company-

"All Steamed Up, Inc.". Gordo's wife, The Lovely Pam, came up with the name- among other things, it puts us in the "A" section of the Yellow Pages under Heating Contractors ;-)

This is the Calvert Court Cooperative, in the Charles Village neighborhood of Baltimore, which has 36 apartments in five connected buildings. It was built about 1915 and has a large one-pipe steam system. The complaints were typical- high fuel consumption ($35,000 worth of NG last season!!!) uneven heating, and water hammer.

The second pic is the view looking straight into the courtyard. Stunning, eh?

Steamhead (in transit) · October 2005

The Vents we Took Off

When compared to a system like this, having almost 50 cubic feet of air in the mains to vent, these Hoffmans are essentially toys. Their combined capacity at 3 ounces is 1.6 cubic feet per minute. The green Hoffman is a #74, the high-pressure unit heater vent.

Jeff Lawrence_24 · October 2005

Way to go!

Congratulations Frank.

Think you can fix their problems? We all know you can.

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Steamhead (in transit) · October 2005

Using the Gerry Gill/Steve Pajek Venting Charts

we knew we would need some serious vent runout capacity, for which drilling and tapping would be cumbersome and time-consuming at best. So we decided to have thread-o-lets welded onto the pipes. Here we see ace welder Francisco Aguilar of Winkler Welding, assisted by Antonio Franco, welding a 1-inch thread-o-let to a 3-inch pipe. I took the pic from the fire-watch position, well back, using full zoom.

The second pic is the finished weld. These guys do fine work. On the reducing ell to the right of the weld, you can see the plugged opening where that Hoffman #74 was mounted.

Steamhead (in transit) · October 2005

One of the venting stations

the largest of them all, using five Gorton #2 vents. These vent about 63 feet of pipe, most of which is 5-inch but about 25 feet might be 6-inch (I couldn't get to the top of the boiler room to check, so we built in excess capacity in case more vents are needed).

Steamhead (in transit) · October 2005

For the vent stations in storage cages

we extended the vent runouts outside the cages. This is the same one we saw Francisco and Antonio in previously. A 1-inch runout feeds three Gorton #2 vents. There are three of these extended installations.

There are nine new venting stations, using a total of 21 Gorton #2 vents and two Gorton #1 vents. They all have excess capacity so more vents can be added if the system demands it.

Bob W._3 · October 2005

Wish you the best on your new venture. Tell us how much that heat bill goes down (in amount of fuel used).

J.C.A._3 · October 2005

Keep....

Us updated, and the pictures flowing!

I'd be interested to see the #of therms used this year vs. last when all is said and done.(with the price rises coming, the cost isn't going to be a good judge of how effective your work has been.)

GREAT NAME for the company!!!!! Chris

Steamhead (in transit) · October 2005

The boilers

two Slant/Fin 80-series units, each with a rating of 7285 square feet EDR. Both have been fired together for years, and the operating pressuretrols were set to cut out at 5 PSI and in at 3, with the CESD-1 manual-reset ones set to cut out at 10 pounds!

We haven't finished the EDR count yet but it looks like the system can heat the entire five-building complex on just one boiler. That'll be the first thing we do tomorrow. Good thing there are king valves on them!

After the EDR count is done and we confirm whether one boiler will handle the load, it'll be time to fire up. Stay tuned, and thanks all for your support!

Constantin · October 2005

Congratulations!

Your transformation is eye-popping and confirms the need for the fabled Gorton #3 (or whatever they will call it)... I look forward to reading more about this system, your remedies, and pictures! Thanks again!

gerry gill · October 2005

outstanding work Frank!!

and congrats on the new venture..I hope you do well enough to own that building someday..my crystal ball says you'll have no trouble cornering the steam & water market..way to go!!

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Jamie_6 · October 2005

Congratulations Frank, I'm glad to see you take the plunge! With all that knowledge and the passion you have I know great things will come about!

Jamie

Question: Why the long run out on that one main w/ the 3 Gordons?

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Steamhead (in transit) · October 2005

We thought it would be a good idea

to get the vents out of the storage cages. They're moving parts and will eventually go bad, so this way they won't damage anything in the cages and we won't have to open the cages to change them.

Mike Cascio · October 2005

Just out of curiosity what kind of one pipe system is there in these buildings? Is it a Mills system? Also if it isnt a mills system, are the tops of the risers vented?

Looks like you are doing a great job!

Michael J. Cascio

jbplumber · October 2005

All Steamed Up, Inc.'s First Big Job (El Gordo & Steamhead

Wow, Frank you don't fool around. That's a great start for the new venture! I'm so happy for you.

jbplumber

Jim Bennett · October 2005

All Steamed Up

All Steamed Up, And Everyplace to Go!!!

Congratulations! I see Great things and Much Success!

Only Please, do not get so busy that you can't stop by "The Wall" on a regular basis! Your input is one of the reasons this place is so Great!

Good Luck,

Jim

Christian Egli · October 2005

With steam, you're half way there already

That's halway to bliss.

So now I know what your secret undercover operation was. You were waiting to build a full head of steam.

Thanks for sharing the news and your success.

El Gordo is a great guy, I wish you both lots of happiness.

CH

jackchips_2 · October 2005

A through Z

they would find you Frank.

Excellent name and best of luck to you both.

Jack

Steamhead (in transit) · October 2005

It's parallel-flow, up-feed

the risers terminate in the top-floor apartments. We haven't vented these yet, but will if needed. The extreme ends of the building hardly ever got steam so we're tackling that first.

Steve Ebels_3 · October 2005

More power to ya Frank

You'll do great. Challenging jobs will always find great talent like yours. Looking at the measley vent package that was on that system, I have to think that the residents will wonder what happened to their heating system. No more hissing, banging, popping etc., just heat. Nice even comfortable heat. If your assumptions on EDR are correct, the person who pays the gas bills will think the building is in standby mode due to only one boiler, running correctly. What are you going to shoot for cut in/cut out PSI? The difference in btu's required for 5 PSI and 1/2 PSI alone should pay for your work through reduced consumption.

Steamhead (in transit) · October 2005

We'll start off

at 1.5 PSI cut-out, 1/2 PSI cut-in. Not sure what the pressure drop is for this system so we may have to fine-tune it.

I'm waiting for BGE to come in to ascertain that they were not bypassing the gas meter! That's how much fuel I expect they will save.

bob young · October 2005

best wishes

Best of luck for your new business,Frank.

Steamhead (in transit) · October 2005

This will be proof

that your venting charts work. For those of you who don't have them, go directly to the Books and More page to get your copy.

And check your e-mail, Gerry.

Steam Bunny · October 2005

Congratulations!

And, I sure hope the Calvert Court Cooperative knows how fortunate they are to have access to your capabilities!

If you have any contact with BGE you might see if you can find out when the meter was installed. That info, the latest reading & you just might have the ability to approximate prior average annual consumption of all gas used.

Mike Cascio · October 2005

If the pressure drop is low enough, a Vaporstat might be in store for that system. Perfect timing before honeywell stops making the mercury switch version.

Does anyone know if honeywell is going to/or making a vaporstat without a mercury switch?

Best of luck to you in your new business.

Michael J. Cascio

jerry scharf_3 · October 2005

congrats

Frank,

I wish you good customers, good steam and time off now and then. You were in the As long before you picked a company name that put you at the front of the list.

jerry

tommyoil_2 · October 2005

Service Van?

Is that your new service truck in front of the building? I've got a 2000 GMC for sale in the near future if you need a "backup" vehicle.Good luck Frank. You deserve it. Check your email if you havent already.

Steamhead (in transit) · October 2005

Don't forget El Gordo

I might be the more visible on the Wall, Oil Tech Talk, DragonTalk etc but this company would never have happened without my partner. Here he is looking at the Hoffman #74 vent before we removed it. This is the same location where we saw the welders. Note the wrong pitch on the elbow below the vent.

thfurnitureguy_4 · October 2005

Frank, I hope this time next year you guys are wondering why you did'nt do this years ago! Best of luck. You have found a niche that will save people many times what they pay for your services. The higher the price of fuel the more your worth. Any thoughts of a PA licence? Best wishes T.

Steve Ebels_3 · October 2005

El Gordo.........??

My brother in law went on a mission trip to Haiti a few years back. He's about 6'4" and tips the scale well past 300#s, I mean WELL past 300. The cane cutters that our church group was working with nicknamed him El Gordo because of his obvious girth. The "El Gordo" in the pic portrays a different image than I had when I first heard his name. Funny how you form mental images from a name. I think your compnay name will be about perfect!

bob young · October 2005

Steve, maybe your b-i-l spelled it EL GOURDO !!

Steve Ebels_3 · October 2005

I don't think

The Haitian cane cutters never took the time to spell it for him. Hence, my non-existent knowledge of Spanish/Creole phonics came up with the abbreviated spelling that I used.

Dan Foley · October 2005

Congrats

Congratulations on your new company, steamhead. Nothing like a small little job to kick things off. I know you will do well. Maybe we collaborate a steam job somewhere down the line. -DF

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Steamhead (in transit) · October 2005

We fired the boiler today

that's right- the "boiler" not the "boilers". The EDR load including the "phantom radiators" (those that have been removed) was just under 6100 square feet. So the entire complex can be heated by using just one boiler. That alone will save them 50% of their fuel consumption.

We had to add two more Gorton #2 vents at the furthest part of the building from the boilers. These two mains proved to be a bit slow, I think it was due to a lot of elbows in them. Now the steam gets to the furthest apartment in a few minutes. We'll probably end up down-firing the boilers a bit also.

There are a few more issues with this system. It has both a large condensate pump and then a boiler-feed pump, complete with master traps, so the condensate is delayed getting back while it waits for the condensate pump receiver to fill. Now that we know we only need to run one boiler at a time, I think it will be practical to revert to good old-fashioned gravity return. There's also some start-up water hammer in the formerly wet returns, which gravity-return will cure. Some radiators were moved around and piped completely wrong. And the outdoor-reset control is all screwed up.

But these are jobs for days to come. This part of the job is finished.

Thanks for all the kind words- they mean a lot.

gerry gill · October 2005

outstanding

that says it all!!!

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Unknown · October 2005

Good luck

in your new endeavour Frank . Not that you'll need luck , your work ethic is top notch .

Chemeclimber · October 2005

\"All Steamed Up\" in Hagerstown?

Frank,

Now that you got this new business going, I hope you can come out to Hagerstown and put in a new boiler for me. I don't trust the locals.

Good Luck!!

Rodney Summers · October 2005

Nice to see you

two getting into the serious end of the biz.

Between the two of you, the venture will surely fly well.

Warmest regards to you both.

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Bob W._3 · October 2005

Got a job for him in Minnesota too but he'd have to stay at the house:)

Dean_7 · October 2005

Congratulations

Congratulations. And thank you for your advice. A properly functioning steam system is amazing isn't it?

All Steamed Up, Inc.'s First Big Job (El Gordo & Steamhead)

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