Jet-Lagged (Steamhead)

Alan R. Mercurio_3

So nice to have the two of you home safe and sound :)

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Steamhead (in transit)

Has it really been two weeks?

The Lovely Naoko and I are back, after a great vacation in Japan. For those of you who have never been there, you'll find the Japanese airports (especially Narita) and rail systems to be models of speed and efficiency that are unheard of in the USA. I couldn't believe how well thought out they were, and very easy to use.

As always on such a trip, we wished we had a lot more time. But we did get a couple boiler room tours and some other interesting pics, which I'll be posting over the next few days as we get organized. Watch this thread for more.

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Joe Brix

Welcome back, Frank!

Glad to hear you made it home safely. Looking forward to the pictures....

Starch

DanHolohan

We missed you.

Welcome back to both of you. Looking forward to the pics!

hr

Glad you're back

did you see much solar or alternate energy stuff?

hot rod

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gerry gill

welcome home

isn't Japan just the darn'd cleanest country you'd ever see..been a couple decades since i'd been there, but what i remember most was how clean the country is and how pretty the girls are.

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Unknown

I`m glad you`re back too Frank,

the Canadian side of the border missed you also! Hope you both had a great trip, I`ll be waiting for your pics!

Dave

Steamhead (in transit)

Toto Showroom at Kokura

located on Kyushu, the southern of the three large Japanese islands.

This isn't just for plumbing fixtures, but also kitchen and other eqipment, most of which is not available here. Some examples are a ductless range hood that uses centrifugal force to separate the oil and grease from the air. So you don't need a filter, just drain the sump every so often. Also a ceiling-high cabinet that lowers itself to counter height so you don't need a ladder to get to it.

The Toto people have set up their display toilets on what I think is a recirculation system, so you can actually see them flush without wasting water. I don't know of any American showroom with that much imagination.

You can also see that the display toilets have "Washlet" seats on them. Every hotel I stayed in had these, as well as many public restrooms. So I tried them and found they really do get you cleaner. I'm putting at least one of these in my house, that's how much I like them.

There was also a display of the Neorest toilet that was made with transparent plastic so you could see it work.

There is also a museum here, but they didn't want us taking pics. If you go to Japan, you can go there and see where General MacArthur sat.

This afternoon I stopped by the local supply house that carries Toto, and learned that the only two Toto toilets with the Cyclone system (best I've seen so far) are the Soiree and the Guinevere, both one-piece units. C'mon, Toto- how about a Cyclone Drake?

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Christian Egli_2

How about some steam?

You certainly don't seem pooped after such a long trip. Welcome back.

Did you get any pictures of the oh so exotic TLV steam traps made in Japan? They are huge in Europe too.

Weezbo

Thanks *~/:)

someone wanted me to install one of those toilets with a sink on top except it was a bidet and Sight un seen during rough in, after the radiant was tested and the gypcrete poured ... What happened to the boiler room pics?

Japan must have been a fun Vacation ,you will need some time off to relax from the vacation

Did any of the people from Minot send you a postcard saying "installing a new steam boiler, wish you were here?"

Leo

Hey Steamhead

Glad to see you had an enjoyable trip. Have the Japanese lost industry to China? Both my Toshiba lap tops came in a box labeled Product of China.

Leo

jalcoplumb_7

Loved that place.

Spent a year over there back in 90/91 when I was in the Marine Corps. I stayed in a hotel in which the bathroom was molded fiberglass. Toilet, sink and tub one piece. Pretty cool stuff.

A Ton of ductless splits and on demand water heaters over there as well.

Glad you are back. I hope you had a great time.

Steamhead (in transit)

Right on both counts

but as for the second one, I only have eyes for TLN ;-)

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Steamhead (in transit)

Boiler Room Tour #1

First of two at the OIN Jr-Sr High School in Tokyo, where my brother-in-law Shinjiro Ogawa teaches physics. This is an all-girls school that was started in the 1920s, and is regarded as one of the best in Japan.

We were shown around by the school's engineer, Mr. Arakawa (Arakawa-san in Japanese) who holds a first-class engineer's license in Japan. This means he is licensed to handle large high-pressure steam systems, as for generating electricity.

This boiler feeds one of the three school buildings. It's a steel boiler built by Sanyo, and is unique in that it is insulated by a vacuum surround- just like a Thermos bottle. The boiler was operating while we were there, but it was nice and cool in the boiler room.

As is expected in a boiler of this size, it can be fired by oil or gas burners. The school used to burn oil, but switched to gas due to environmental concerns. Oil burners in Japan apparently are perceived as not burning as clean as gas, they may be waiting on low-NOx oil burners there. I'm not sure what the relationship between gas utilities and politicians is in Japan........

The distribution system is fairly standard by our practices, with hot water feeding air handlers and unit ventilators, and an indirect for domestic water. Notice how clean this place is! Mr. Arakawa respects his equipment, and it certainly shows. That's him standing with me by the base-mount pump.

Both boiler systems are hot-water. We didn't get to see any steam on this trip, but there may still be some in use. The third school building has huge heat pumps- the climate in Tokyo is mild enough that they don't usually need backup heat sources.

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Steamhead (in transit)

Boiler Room Tour #2

This boiler was built by Maeda, and also used to burn oil before being switched to gas. BTW, we believe this Maeda company is the same company that made the SunTour derailleur for 10-speed bikes. The SunTour was the unit to have in the 1970s, before we got our driver's licenses. Yes, I really am that old......

This is the first boiler room I've been in where we had to take our shoes off before entering. The reason was, you get to the boiler room thru the swimming pool enclosure. The boiler not only heats the building but also the pool. As with the first one, this boiler room is also incredibly clean. Also I did not see any ill effects from the chlorine in the pool.

We didn't have time for a lot of questions, but did ask if they use digital combustion analysis there. Mr. Arakawa showed us the analyzer that is permanently installed on the boiler, with a huge readout panel shown in photo 142. These setups are not as common in the USA as they should be.

I've included a couple more photos from the school. One is of the underwater robot they use to clean the swimming pool. It was actually in the pool doing its job when I took the photo (143), you have to look close but it is visible thru the water.

The last one (144) is one of a bunch of sinks installed in the hallways. The cylindrical device on the far wall is the water heater. Look closely and you'll see a sight glass on it, just like you see on a steam boiler. This unit is essentially a tankless coil in a water bath, and the vessel is open so it cannot build pressure and explode. It vents into an exhaust hood, and is controlled by a Unitrol that looks exactly like the ones you find on water heaters in the USA.

At the end of the tour, Mr. Arakawa gave me his old engineers examination book, from 1950. I will always treasure it.

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Steamhead (in transit)

Japanese Residential Equipment

I'm not sure how "typical" these are, but this is what I found in TLN's parents' house. This house was rebuilt after a fire in the mid 1990s, so much of what we see dates from that time.

This part of Japan has a rather mild, sub-tropical climate so it rarely gets down to freezing there. Accordingly, the only heat in the house is an oil-fired console heater in the living/dining room (photo 147). Beyond the heater, you can see the tatami mats of a sleeping area. The heater is fed by a small outside tank on a metal stand (photo 150), and direct-vents thru the wall. Higher on the wall is one of two mini-split A/C units in the house, which are rarely used.

The LP-fired instantaneous water heater is placed outside the house, just outside where the soaking tub is (photo 149). It can reheat the water in the tub, and also provides hot water for the kitchen and laundry. There are control panels for the heater in the tub room and the kitchen. My father-in-law says that unvented indoor gas-fired water heaters were used for years in Japan, and there were a lot of CO deaths as a result. Can't say "Only in America" on this one.....

For those who haven't been to Japan, the bathing procedure is different from what you find here. The tub room (photo 148) has a very deep tub that is kept filled with hot water, and covered when not in use to hold the heat. The tiled floor in front of the tub is actually a showering area, which also serves as the tub overflow receptor. You shower first, get all the dirt off you, then get in the tub for a soak. The tub water stays clean as a result, so it doesn't have to be drained after each use. The Japanese have been doing it this way for centuries, and I found it extremely relaxing.

The toilet rooms (photo 146) are entirely separate from the tub room, which makes lots of sense because it's kind of hard to break away from that nice soaking tub, so people tend to be in there for a while ;-) . These rooms are similar to the old "water closets" used here in the late 1800s, and are rather small, so there isn't always room for a sink. No problem- you flush the toilet, wash your hands under the spout on top of the tank, and the used water then fills the tank for the next flush. The toilet itself is a Toto, with an elongated washdown bowl. The seat isn't a Washlet, but does have a heater.

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Steamhead (in transit)

That was probably made by Toto

they had a couple pre-fabbed bathrooms in their museum. It really cuts down on the installation time in large buildings where you have a crane on-site anyway.

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Steamhead (in transit)

Didn't see any solar

or other alt-energy stuff, but I met an engineer (see Boiler Room Tours below) who says its use is increasing.

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Steamhead (in transit)

Many Japanese companies

have manufacturing facilities all over the world. I'm not surprised they've gotten into China too.

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DanHolohan

Steamhead,

thanks for the education!

Maine Doug_65

All this brings back fond memories.

Thanks for the journey Steamhead.

The hotel on the hill in Nara where I used to stay had an outside bath in a rock garden. The hot water flows down a rock wall into the bath which is more like a sculptured pool. There were little 3 legged stools and one would sit next to the bath (pool) and dip out water to wash. After one was nicely scrubbed and rinsed we would get into the water which was VERY hot and soak. It was fantastic. The wash cloths were the size of a towel and the towels were the size of a blanket. A little Sake and Saporo "afterbath" and one would sleep quite well.

Enjoyed the pictures. Arigato gozaimasu.

I trust that you will be building a proper two person bath in your house?

Bill W@Honeywell

Thanks for the update...

Those boiler rooms were spotless! My compliments to the gentlemen who operate them. Did you get to ride to "Bullet Train"? I was very fortunate to get that chance back in 1971, when we pulled R&R in Japan. If you were looking for steam, the Japanese railroads saved several of their post-war 4-6-2 steam locomotives and they run occasionally. They have a "scrubber" that fits over the smokestack while the engines are fired up, and it removes soot & other emissons which are highest when the engine is sitting still.

These engines are fast & efficient, they can haul an 8 car passenger train at about 100 MPH. You certainly are right about their railroads. The trains are crowded, but run on an air-tight schedule, and can get you anywhere you need to go, a necessity in such a small and densely populated country.

On a completely different note, I hope you got a chance to visit the Empress's Garden. That was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Steamhead (in transit)

Yes, we did ride the Bullet Train

it's called the "Shinkansen" in Japanese, which translates to "super-express". Also rode one of the monorail lines in Tokyo. Didn't have my camera accessible on these trains.

We also visited the East Garden of the Imperial Palace complex, which is on the site of the old Edo Castle from the Shogun period- is this the same place you mentioned? TLN's oka-san (mother) came with us- that's her to the left of TLN in photo 133, which was taken on top of the base of the old "donjon" (tower). Yes, we're a bit off-topic now but I'm sure Dan will understand ;-) The stonework was recently restored in areas where it had come dangerously loose- look at the size of the one TLN and I are standing in front of and you get the idea of its sheer bulk. And it was all built without mortar of any kind!

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