Condensate pump needs replacing. Should we get Boiler Feed Pump?

nicholas bonham-carter

if you can restore it to gravity, and observe the difference,do that.
i am in the process of doing this type of arrangement on the peerless,because i occasionly have to wait for returning condensate:


http://forums.invision.net/Thread.cfm?CFApp=2&&Message_ID=420500&_#Message420500

sreja

Condensate pump needs replacing. Should we get Boiler Feed Pump?

We have a condensate pump in our 5 store apartment building.

It was suggested to us by previous contractor that it was on its last leg for a couple of years.. we recently had a new contractor work on it for many hours, and the end result is that it's still deathly loud, and is unreliable.

By unreliable i mean that once a day at least it seems to stop switching on.. and water floods up through the seals and the switch to pump water into the boiler never triggers. At that point one can manually trigger the condensate pump switch by pushing the contacts closed, but no amount of adjustment by the contractor seems to be able to keep it from happening again and again.

I guess i'd be interested to hear if anyone had any suggestion about how to fix the condensate pump (and cure that airplane volume noise as well),

BUT

What i'd also like to know is, if we need to / decide to replace the entire condensate pump, should we bite the bullet and go for a Boiler Feed Pump instead?

Anyone have any idea what kind of price difference we are talking about, installed?

I've read Dan's book about how boiler feed pump can require some piping changes.. I'd love to hear people's feeling about this as well.. It's one of the things that has me most spooked about going that route.

Thanks in advance!

Brad White_203

Condensate Pump versus Boiler Feed Unit

These are essentially the same device, just set up differently. Let's see if this helps explain:

The condensate pump discharges based on when it is full. It does not need an external signal. Think of the aftermath of your last beer drinking contest....


A boiler feed pump discharges based on an external signal, most often a contact closure on a boiler water level controller. It may also have a water make-up function directly piped to it. (Personally, unless well thought-out, I hate seeing this.)

Boiler feed units, unless set up with a high limit overflow control, will not have their pumps come on until asked. You CAN set them up to run on a higher than high limit (second stage float or high level contactor), but the discharge needs a place to go. An overflow receiver or to waste as a last resort, should the boilers not be calling. This setup is not common to do, but just illustrating a way.

It is entirely possible for a boiler feed unit to flood if undersized and no boiler is calling. You may well HAVE a boiler feed unit, but possibly undersized or with a water make-up valve responding to the volume within it in addition to returning condensate.