Burnam Mega Steam - COMPLETE!...almost

Tim Gardner

Nice work!

Billy_11

First, let me thank Dan for this site. It has been a windfall of knowledge for my install I probably would not have attempted it if I haden't discovered the site. Thank you to everyone who made suggestion and responded to mine and everyone's elses issues as well.
This was by far the most enjoyable project I have done on my farm...and I've done them all. Probably had something to do with the fact that my dad was an old steam guy - first on ships then in big buildings.
I hope I did everything correctly.

The system is running great. I have not flushed/skimmed the system yet (running for 2 days so far). There is minor water bouncing by I suspect this will die down when I clean the water and insulate. Just ordered the insulation today.
Oh, I am totally embarassed about the pipe dope. I took my time and put it on so neat. It looked great...then I turned on the boiler. It started to melt and drip and cause a mess. I should have cleaned up before I posted pics. I hope you guys can forgive me.
For homeowner who question estimates from the pros, let me reassure you that when you find someone who knows steam, pay them what they ask. This was not a cheap install even though I did it solo. The material cost was thru the roof. Specially on the 3" fittings. Email me if you'd like details.
I have not done accurate timings yet for steam and heat creation, but I will post when I do.

Again, thank you all!

rich on heat

Very Nice!!!!

JackR

WOW

You should be proud of that!!!!!!!!!!!

Great looking job!!

What did it replace?

Marc_17

This is what it replaced...2000lbs & 70 years old.
Thank you all for your compliments.

Mad Dog_2

Does Billy want a job??????????

Wow! vERY impressive - period...way to go..what kind of farming you do? Mad Dog

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Steamhead (in transit)

Uhhhh, Billy

where you reduce from the 3-inch header to the equalizer, did you use an eccentric reducer? Can't tell for sure from the pics as there isn't a good right-side view.....

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Tony_23

Steamhead

My money says it's a bushing, just like all the others.

What's up with all the dresser couplings ? Should've rented a threader.

And, the relief valve inlet should be on a vertical, not horizontal.

Good luck...

Marc_17

You guys are good. And that's why this site is great. Yes it's a bushing and when I put it in I looked at it and scratched my head about how the water would drain properly at that point. I did nothing about it because I didn't know. I will swap in out this weekend. And rotate the relief valve as well.
I also question the hartford loop but wasn't sure. Notice that the return from the rads in higher than the return into the boiler? Is this an issue?

Marc_17

Ha, funny thing about the dresser couplings. I have the 2" hand threader but when I attempted to thread the pipe, it wouldn't. The teeth looked pretty worn and wouldn't grab. Went to 2 supply houses and they didn't have the teeth in stock...then it started to snow...in NJ...on October 28. Wife was complaining about no heat and I was so close to firing her up...the boiler not the wife, so I used dresser couplings. Are they an issue or should I do it right?

Marc_17

Thank you. Sure was more fun than my desk job.
My wife and I have a small 40 acre farm in north Jersey. We hardly farm anything but we have horses some chickens. We keep a big garden in the summer. Just for our happiness. We both work full time and rest of the time is spent keeping the farm from falling apart.

Steamhead (in transit)

Nice Pipe!

Nice pipe, indeed.

It looks to me, however, that the Hartford Loop pipe/Equalizer Line may need a slight change to make it just absolutely perfect.

Ya done your ol' man proud.

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Ross_7

Relief valve

I hate to be the critic here, your work is very nice otherwise. Your relief valve is installed in correctly. It should be mounted in the vertical. This needs to be corrected ASAP. Good luck!
Ross

clammy

nice job billy

Very nice piping job Bill ,besides the safety valve it looks like your next big step is insulation .I see your from north jersey check out white and shauger in paterson they usually have 1" wall insulation and most of the time and all the fitting covers also that's would be your best investment besaide the mega and one of the bigges in a quite systems and help prevent more promblems in the future like groving and leaks at old joints down the road plus it helps your system put the heay where you need ity in the rads ,again besides the safety and dresser coupling excellent job ,peace and good luck clammy

Norm Harvey

Great work Billy!

I agree with Gordo that the equalizer and hartford loop looks a little funky from the pictures. The equalizer is going directly into the return, rather than to the return on the boiler. Your cad drawing shows it piped properly, but the actual piping is a bit off.

The safety valve is an easy fix.

The two ten micron spin on filters may be a little too much resistance. I'd install a vacuum guage in the one closest to the burner (in the little bleed port on the filter assembly) I typicly install a fulflow B-4 bowl with a loose yarn filter right at the oiltank to catch the beefy sludge before it can enter the oil line, then the spin on protects the burner.

Also, depending on your state code that oil line needs to be protected with either a plastic sleeve or an oil safety valve.

I also agree with an eccentric reducer on the equalizing line, or you could go with a 3 inch by 1.5 inch (or whatever your equalizer is) reducing elbow.

Im not crazy about those compression couplings but without a threader I understand.

Those critiques aside, that is one fantastic job. Please dont think that I'm trying to break down the great job you did. Just making a couple suggestions on how to make it perfect. You've just installed a steam boiler better than 90% of all the heating contractors in the world.

Congratulations on a job very well done!



Now the positives!

I love how you piped the boiler drain out off of the pad for easy access!

The three inch is well worth the money I'm very glad to see you went that extra mile!

I also agree with Mad Dog. With those pictures in your resume you could get a job at the best heating companies anywhere in a heartbeat.

Also to answer your question about the return from the rads being higher, thats not a problem at all, so long as they are on the hartford loop side. Ideally you could have a boiler drain and a valve set up to allow for flushing of the returns, but its not necessary. With the unions you have installed the piping can be disassembled for cleaning if there was ever a problem.



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John_193

leak lock

Yup Leak Lock will turn to goo if you didn't give it enough time to cure. I used it on some studs that I had to tap because the old ones snapped off when I had to replace my coil gasket. Well after a few hours when to boiler got to temp I noticed small drips around the studs and the Leak Lock very gooey!! Well I had to to reapply and let sit for approx 24 hrs. So if you get any leaks its prob because of the leak lock not cured.

David Nadle

Metro Supply Company in West Paterson is good too.

nicholas bonham-carter

main vents

nice job,i am sure that was very satisfying to do that work,and get acclaim from some of the worlds most renowned steam experts.
what type of main vents are those?
it would probably be a good idea to protect them from "early retirement" by piping them off on a branch.
maybe there exists some sort of transparent insulation so you would always be able to show off your handiwork! --nbc

Billy_11

Thank you all for your compliments AND your critique. How else would I learn if my mistakes weren't pointed out?
I will update my system with all your recomendations. They are all easy fixes including rotating the hartford loop. The hard part is no one in my area has a 2" 3" eccentric coupling. I've called 5 places so far. They don't even have 2"-3" reducing elbow.
The burner manual suggested a 40 micron and a 20 micron filter. I didn't think 2 10's would be a problem. I will put the guage on to see what's happening.
I will also attemp to thread the pipe again where the dresser couplings are. Wow, you guys really don't like those couplings. Ok, I will try to get rid of them.
Thank you again all for the critique.

JohnL

Holly Molly!!!

Norm Harvey

Hey Billy,

I get my supplies from F.W.Webb http://www.fwwebb.com/html/locations.html Id be glad to ship you any fitting you need if you cannot find it locally. Feel free to send me an email if you like

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Billy_12

Thank you very much. I will let you know. It's shocking how expensive these fittings are. I thought china made stuff was cheap?
I might have a solution with existing material. I will see if I could add a 3" nipple from the last T then 3" elbow THEN the bushing and down hill from there. That way there's nowhere the water can get trapped. It'll be 3" horizontal then the switch to 2" will be on the vertical...and that way I'm not spending an additional $95 for the eccentric coupling.
What do you think?

Norm Harvey

that works!

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Rollie Peck_3

Mega steam boiler

Wow, Billy, how did you get that old monster out of

your basement? A professional grade Sawzall and a

gross of blades?

Rollie Peck

Homeowner

Billy_12

I had to jackhammer the sections apart. It wasn't easy and I'm always working on my own. It was worth it though.
Made all modifications that were recommended by you guys. System runs real nice. Waiting on the insulation to come in then I'll post finished pics.

Strange thing happened. The couple we bought our farm from were very old and unfortunately the old man died 2 years ago and the wife died last week. The children of the couple gave us a huge box of old photos from the 30-40's of the farm, original mortgage, etc AND the original description and contract of the boiler from 1940. By the sounds of the description it was state-of-art for back then.
Just a weird coincidence since I had just finished doing the install. If I get around to it I can pdf it for anyone who is curious.

Brad White_203

Billy

Not sure how I missed this posting, but man, is that fine pipe work!

I do have one suggestion to keep it that way: Hangers. Right now it seems that all of the pipe weight is bearing on the risers and the equalizer. Long-term though, I see that possibly loosening those unions or putting stress on the top boiler tappings/casting.

That 3-inch array of fittings has some weight for sure as you well know.

I strongly suggest that you get a handful of properly sized clevis hangers (B-Line is one source), insert saddles and galvanized hanger rod, all sized for the OD of the pipe when insulated.

I would hate to have that EXCELLENT pipe work droop on you, even if you will be covering it.

I bet it runs great- I do not know where you are, but it would be on my tour guide wherever you are.

Brad

Paul Fredricks_9

Very Nice

I especially like how the pipe dope matches the boiler color.

I'm not a fan of the silver tape on the smoke pipe. I've been to a few calls lately for odors and traced it back to the glue on the tape. That tape is really for ductwork. The only problem is that the glue is now stuck to the pipe, so even if you remove the tape, the glue will still be there.

We just had to replace smoke pipe on a job where one of our techs put it on the pipe. Really stunk up the house

Tony_23

I agree

I know guys who use that crap and NO screws. Scary. Three screws per joint !

Billy_12

I wasn't a fan of the tape myself - looks sloppy, I thought I had to do it. I did use screws as well. These are the little tricks you learn when you are a pro...smoking tape, melting blue pipe dope, fittings I didn't know existed, like a eccentric coupling. I want to ask these questions here on the site but sometimes I feel like a pest. You guys have already given me so much info.
I didn't notice the tape smoking because of all the smoke from the residual oil on the pipes and the blue pipe dope. That took about 2 days to cook off. You should have seen my face when I saw the excess pipe dope boiling.

Thanks Brad for the compliment. I didn't even think about sagging that may occur. I will address that immediately. I just noticed that one of the existing return lines sagged from no support and wasn't returning the condensate, so it does in fact happen.
You are welcomed anytime - I'm in North Jersey and I'm serving Makers Mark.

RMA

farmer?

Did you say you were a farmer?

I'll sign you up in a heartbeat.

Sweet job