Mod-cons and volcanoes

Darrell_4

Speaking of Combustion air quality ingested by Mod-Con boilers check out this link and see what Steve Eayers to the south of us is dealing with today!

www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes

I wonder just what happens to a burner ingesting a highly abrasive and corrosive airborne contaminant like volcanic ash? And just what should one do to mitigate the damage?

Good luck, Steve. it has mostly missed us here in the Central Peninsula.

Mark Eatherton

Cheap and easy filters...

Darrell, What a mess... Nothing like being fiddle faddeled by the fickle finger of fate from Mother Nature eh...

We had an issue on a ranch with dust being induced into our modcons. We put a bag filter on it made as follows.

(exhaust was 3" vent) Purchase two each Mission 4 X 3 no hub couplings, the bell shaped ones.

Grab a 1 foot section of 4" PVC. Also buy a vacuum cleaner bag (we use The Stinger model).

Cut enough 3 " pipe out to accommodate the 4" piece and couplings.

Place the filter bag over the top of the 4" pipe with the filter bag hanging inside the 4" pipe. Hold it in place with the upper 4 x 3 NH coupling.

Place the whole assembly inline with the bag hanging inside the 4" inverted in the direction towards the appliance.

Under normal consideration, the filter will need changed once a year. If there is exceptional particulant loading, you can place a magnahelic gauge ) 100th of an inch, 1/2" full scale maxium. Teach the HO to keep an eye on the gauge any time the appliance is doing DHW, and if it ever reads greater than X" W.C., to call you for replacement.

Cheap and easy.

ME

Darrell_4

Can you maybe send me a schematic so I can get the local gas folks to buy off on it? Sounds great!

Mark Eatherton

Actually....

I think you're going to have to run it by the manufacturers, cause that's who the AHJ's will defer to. If it's OK with THEM (manufacturer) then it's OK with them (Auth. having Jurisdiciion).

By the way, I think your volcanoe vomited on our snow storm...

As I was loading the Cherokee to head back to Denver this morning, I noticed a bunch of red mud all over the windows of my car. As I started looking around, I noticed a pink pall on ALL of the snow we got in the mountains Saturday.

Now, I'm not a vulcanologist, nor a meteorologist, but I know for a fact that this recent series of storms we've been enduing (seems like every 2 days) slide right down the Gulf of Alaska on the jet stream, right past your spewing volcanoe, then hang a left at Washington/Oregon and head east, right across Colorado.

Anyone else between me and the west shore seeing reddish pink snow?

Maybe WE need to worry about the fall out...

Will find something for you tomorrow.

ME

bill_105

This one was nothing

Remember about 15 years ago when Redoubt blew. About a-quarter inch of ash landed here on the Turnagain arm. Never thought about the sensitivity of a a mod/con to a volcano. Bet they never tested a volcanoes effect on a boiler. The 747 that almost crashed years ago took 50 million to repair. Small change compared to if they could't restart those engines.

[Deleted User]

Bag filter drawing AND PICTURES

I have some actual pictures around here somehwere. If I come across them today, I will ad them later.

Best of luck, and don't forget your NIOSH respirator...

ME

EDIT: Credit given where credit due. Tim Reini, of my former employer, came up with this idea. THe guy is freakin' amazing, I'm tellin' ya...

ME