Biggest Webster Vapor we've seen so far (Gordo & Steamhead)

Steamhead (in transit)

a grand old building with something like 120 units, built in the 1920s.

Buildings like this were first-class establishments that offered a whole lifestyle, above and beyond just a place to live. They typically had their own restaurants and other amenities. As long as the rent, utilities etc. were paid, you didn't have to leave the building if you didn't want to. There's something darkly attractive about that.....

Currently the building has a chocolatier and a well-known Indian restaurant. When I get some time I'll have to take The Lovely Naoko there.

The Webster system has gone thru several phases. We believe it was originally Vapor, then a vacuum pump was added at some point, possibly to accommodate a unit heater (with lift fittings, not being used at present) in the lower parking garage- remember, there was no automotive antifreeze in those days. The vacuum equalizing lines, still there but valved off, are drilled and tapped into the steam and return pipes instead of being connected with tees. This is why we think they were added later.

The boilers are at the south end of the building, at the right in the pic. The original boilers were huge National Steel units. Originally they were coal-fired, then fitted with Hev-E-Oil burners, now abandoned in place.

<A HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=367&Step=30">To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"</A>

Steamhead (in transit)

One of two redundant 175-HP Federal Scotch-Marines

which now provide heat and hot water to the building. The Webster system is split into North and South zones, each with its own Tekmar #269 controller.

This system had a number of issues, and we've been working on it off-and-on since spring. For starters, there were a bunch of bad and improperly-piped traps, the Tekmars were not wired to start and stop the burners along with the zone valves, the return line to the boiler-feed tank was too small and master-trapped, and the mains weren't insulated. As a result, the active boiler maintained SIX POUNDS, 24-7 during the winter!

Oh, and neither of the full-modulation PowerFlame burners had ever encountered a digital combustion analyzer. On both, low fire had way too much air and high fire not enough. The boiler in the pic actually had quite a bit of soot in it as a result- from burning gas!

We're told they went thru an average of $25,000 worth of natural gas each month during the winter.

So far, we've reworked the controls so the Tekmars can shut off the burners when they're satisfied, straightened out a couple other control system glitches, replaced some bad traps, tuned the burners on the analyzer, fixed some bad bottom-drain piping, dealt with the boiler inspector, handled damage control when a hot-water coil that another contractor had installed improperly wore thru a couple of boiler tubes (what fun), installed a larger hot-water recirc pump (Taco 0012 bronze) to get decent recirc at the far end of the building, etc. etc.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Steamhead (in transit)

Our most recent work

repiping the line to the boiler-feed tank and installing a decent air vent on it.

We tore out all the old 2-inch piping that was reduced- concentrically- from the 4-inch return, as well as the master trap. We ran 4-inch from the existing 4-inch to the inlet strainer of the boiler-feed tank- Gordo designed the vertical support for the return main that is anchored in the floor. The strainer has a U-bend in it, with a small vent hole as a bypass. This and the fact that the tank only has a 2-inch tapping for a vent, were two factors that severely restricted the outflow of air.

In order to get around this, we built a 4-inch vent stack from the return line to the ceiling, over to the wall and down. Now the air can vent freely, and if any steam ever gets this far it will go out the vent stack and not into the feed tank- take THAT, master-trappers! The drip from the trap on the main system header had to be rerouted around the vent stack.

When we fired the boiler, instead of building pressure and short-cycling, the pressure stayed at about 1 pound on the gauge. The burner modulated its firing rate to maintain this pressure, responding to whether one or both zone valves were open. We didn't go into any apartments to check for heat there- that will come later- but we got a lot of warm condensate coming back.

You can see the old vac pump in the background, abandoned in place.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Steamhead (in transit)

And here's what we tore out

laid out pretty much as it was. Can't find any "before" pics...

The master trap was piped in above the bypass line, which caused the return to fill with water unless the bypass was open. It's not hard to see that nothing could get thru this kludge at normal Vapor pressures. And the concentric reducer did a great job of forming a pond of water at its inlet- which discharged intermittently when the bypass was open, creating a pulsing effect at the tank vent and the boiler pressure gauge.

No wonder the boilers had to build so much pressure to get the steam to move! This monstrosity clearly was older than the present boiler-feed tank and pumps. Anyone in the market for a nice, heavy, rebuildable 2-inch F&T trap?

Forget super-high-efficiency equipment for the moment. How many systems are out there that have been this badly knuckleheaded? How much could we save if we just got the basics right on each and every system out there?

Hopefully, we'll have numbers next spring that will help answer this question.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

gerry gill

that sounds like a fun job!

those kind of jobs a fun..bet your in steam heaven over there..its going to be great to see what the fuel savings will be..you guys are going to be their hero's.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

RonWHC

\"How many systems

out there have been badly knuckleheaded?" More than will ever be re-done properly.

Way to go, Frank. Keep fighting the good, & sometimes rewarding, fight.

BTW. That 2 pipe we talked about. Threw away the cond unit. Left the vents off the dry returns. Ran 3/4" pipe up a foot & turned 2 90s. W/ 1 psig gage pressure, water stacked in dry returns 27" above boiler water line. 10" left over.

TimS

That last question you ask is exactly what I wanted to ask our green governor when he announced how much subsidy money there was for helping people who can't afford heat this winter. Subsidize the permanent reduction in inefficiencies, not the continued feeding of pigs!

Then I did a bit of research and realized there were, surprisingly, doing just that. It's a good start. This is where the libertarian in me retreats a bit and the socialist advances. I don't think I'd have a problem with people having to report the fuel usage and measured efficiencies of their heating system, with the sole goal of being targeted for a subsidized upgrade. But then we get into messy things like tax brackets and personal income reporting and it falls apart.

Nice work guys. It warms my heart (no pun intended) to see this kind of work being done, not to mention the envy generated.

jim

tim smith

Jeez, that is a huge ground joint union. Lots of fun though. Tim

Brad White_200

By the Numbers

Excellent work as always, Frank and Gordo! Not just the manual crafting but the ever-present detective work.

(I can imagine Peter Falk here, in that role. "The only thing that bothers me is, you say you never Master Trap, but...)

Do keep us posted on the fuel use numbers. After spending $25K per month on gas (how the heck can you burn about $850 a day in those??), I bet the savings will be nothing short of impressive.

Steamhead (in transit)

Nice!

a simplified system. Wonder if one could sell those surplus pumps on eBay?

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Steamhead (in transit)

It really has been fun

and the manager and staff of the building are great to work with.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

nicholas bonham-carter

steam improvement

i'd like to know how the management knew they had problems bad enough to find your company to do a survey and the repairs.
usually the maintainance staff resist outside help because it can show their lack of skill over the years.perhaps this place has a new owner and employees.
$25k a month is a lot of money but 160 apts. are a lot to heat!
when you go to the indian restaurant do so with a least 5 others so you can have a selection of family style dishes.i like to start with tandoori chicken cut up smaller as an appetiser and choose 50-50% vegetable and meat dishes.don't forget the indian bread!have a look at the tandoor oven and see the hairless arms of the cook who uses it!that oven could probably heat the bldg. on its own if it is like the one here.--nbc

Steamhead (in transit)

Well, they knew there were problems

and had gone thru several contractors who weren't much help. We had worked for a doctor whose home has one-pipe steam and who has an office in the building. He recommended us.... spurred on by the banging right below his office ;-)

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"