peerless boiler install

George_35

Hello again, I am trying to skim clean the boiler, but finding it very difficult to remove the skim plug which is 1" & 1/2 plug. it wont budge. any suggestions are appreciated. Have a Happy New Year!

George_35

number of risers used

happy hollidays first off, I had a new boiler installed 2years ago.At the time i did not know much about steam heat.i have come to realize, that the installers only connected 1 of the 2 risers that my boiler has.The boiler is a peerless ect-04-175. is this something should be worried about.

George_35

I would like to add that from what i learned from this website is telling me that it is a problem,they also used the wrong tapings for drains and the safety valve,also this boiler has 2 gauge glass types a shorter for a float type and a longer for a probe type cutoff, my boiler has a probe but they used the shorter gauge glass.Our oil company did the install.I got a supervisor over to the house and he assured me that this install was on the level.can one of u real pros on this site give me a straight up answer. Thank you.

lchmb

pics?

To start with, I would sit down and compare the piping and installation with the I&O manual with the boiler. They tell in great detail how they want the boiler trim and close boiler piping done. Then of course, pic's, we like to see install pics..:)
Memory serve's me right, they do recommend 2-2" riser's coming from the boiler.

George_35

lchmb thank you for replying.thats what i did. and the install er did not follow trim and near boiler piping instructions.but the technical supervisor swears by the install. u r right he only used 1 riser and i believe its a 2 1/2" pipe. but it does call for 2-2" risers, to 2-1/2" header.what should i do.
gona try and post pics. thank you.

scrook_2

bump

I do notice you're missing a line off the outlet of the relief valve (out a bit, 90° elbow, then down) -- an easy item to fix though.

Can't quite make out all the return & equalizer piping behind it.

How's it run?

kevin coppinger_4

let me ask....

how does the system work? Does it heat well? do you have hammer? do the vents hos and or spit water.....kpc

George_35

hey kevin, system seems to be heating well, but the system is feeding fresh water daily about 3 times a day, and getting some hammer and spitting from valves.

kevin coppinger_4

some of that....

hammer could be piping...or dirty water. Are there any buried returns? the water has to go somewhere? 3 times a day? The other thing I see absent is insulation....need to do that too.

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George_35

What about the fact that he only connected 1 riser when the boiler calls for 2.dosent this affect efficiency of the system?why do they require a larger gauge glass on a probe type?safety valve in wrong location as well.

kevin coppinger_4

as to the risers....

how much radiation in sq. feet? most boilers (3 section) can work fine on 1 riser. The safety PRV valve will be fine if it is in the block...front to back should not make much if any diff. Larger glass...not sure why the diff. w/ a probe type....kpc


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George_35

its as 4 section boiler with 650 net sq/ft steam,as for the house load i am not sure ,before the install they did a heat loss calc. but i have learned now that for steam they should have determined this by the existing piping and radiation. i dont think that was done.BTW thanks for the responses.Also gross output = 208,000 B.T.U./Hr Steam.

Daniel_3

Tough to say from the pics but do you have an equalizer piped of that riser? You should have one off the end of the last take-off. If not you may experience some hammer for the condensate can only feed back down into the supply riser. Most manufacturers' manuals will require them per specs and I know almost every pro here will do so. Dirty water wil cause some spitting. I assume the boiler never got a good cleaning after install and you have no skim tap installed. You'd be surprised how many times I skimmed my boiler after install. Being that it's a 4section rated for 650 sqft of steam amazes me. I knew that Peerless boilers ran a little bit more steam sqft. than most per section but that seems high. I have a 7 section Independence that supplies 533 sqft steam. Looks like your full size on the riser. I wouldn't get too steamed about it as the piping looks okay to me.

EDIT: Now that I look at it closer your equalizer is off your riser which is strange but should still work. Does it still heat the house well? Any buried returns? I see a wet return on that concrete shelf below the A dimension. Water must be going somewhere though.

Lyle C

Install

The very first thing that jumped out at me was your mixing valve on the tankless heater .That's a mixing problem waiting to happen, replace that stop and waste with a real mixing valve and maintain it.

George_35

i changed 1 rad valve yesterday, i think it helped.i havent noticed it to feed today.you r right they never skimmed, to be honest i think i have lost my trust in this company.i noticed all these problems a week ago when i saw the pressure going up to 6 psi before cutting out.a couple of weeks prior i put hercules cleaner and maintance liquid as i did last year.guy came out said looks like a bad gauge,so he changed it.in a off state it was showing a vacuum and was going up to 6 psi.I told the tech i wanted it to cut at 2 psi best he could get it to he said was 3psi i am suspecting a blocked pigtail, he doubted cause boiler is fairly new.looking at the removed gauge i could see brown sludge at the orifice.anyway i think they just want us too waste oil.

George_35

just took a look right now boiler boiler is cycling on at 1.5 psi and shuting down at about looks like about 2.9 psi

George_35

also top of boiler accumulates particles frequently, tech told me it was normal to see.said draft was good because he couldnt sense backpressure.he used no instruments to check.

George_35

boiler install

what should i do if they keep giving me doubletalk, find a lawyer?

bruhl

Lyle, interesting comment concerning the mixing valve. Made me take a closer look at mine. Mine is a generic valve with an adjustment spindle at the top. I am guessing this as I am only looking at a recent picture.
Question, what did you mean by maintaining it? Looks as though not much could be done to it while in service.
What mixer do you prefer to use?
Thanks bruhl

Unknown

The skim plug

If it is the factory installed flat plug , forget about spinning it out . You're better off reworking the 3/4 inch tapping in front , in the coil plate . Here's a pic of an EC4 we installed a few years ago . We used both boiler tappings , like the specs say ( although we didn't increase it to 2 1/2 " , supply problems ) . And we connected both system mains separately into the boiler main . If you look at where we have the pressuretrol , we added a tee there to check the pigtail . But the 3/4 plug can be pulled and used as a skim port .

George_35

What about if i use the 3/4 tapping on top that is for air elimination.since the installer used that as the safety valve.and i can remove it easily. is this ok to use.

George_35

skim tap

can I use this tapping.

Daniel_3

The skim is used just as it name alludes too. When the boiler water is heated up to near steaming the thread cutting oils and any other nasties that rise to the top of the water when heated will spill over through that tapping according to the level of the water by being skimmed. If you try using the relief valve tapping you'll never get anything but a spout of water which does not contain all the superfluos crud. Picture it as a colloidal suspension with the oils and residue being the top portion. You could also visualize the way to make gravy. Oil on the top gets separated using that siphon device that's so ingenious in a kitchen for a good hearty gravy.

George_35

The boiler has a skim tapping 1"and1/2 but i cant get the plug off.Daniel wont the oils and such float to the top.I want to do it the right way but i cant get it off.