Drop Header on a Steam Boiler

Pete C.

Our Company, <strong>Greater New York Plumbing Corp</strong>.,  recently installed this Burnham IN7 steam boiler in a home in Garden City, N.Y.  The customers existing boiler was leaking and she had some radiators not heating.



The radiator heating issue was easily solved.  When the previous installer replaced the original 1926 boiler, it had a much lower water line.  This caused the wet return serving the the two mains, to become a dry return.  Steam and air would "short circuit" from the end of one main to the end of the other.  Condensate wasn't returning properly, the pipes were hammering and the system didn't heat well at all.  So we replaced the returns, dropped them below the water line, added main vents and now the system heats perfectly.



And of course we replaced the leaking boiler with the one in the photos.  You gotta love those Drop Headers!  They really look cool on a boiler and work well.  We were able to get our hands on some "wye" fittings and I was dying to use one on a Hartford Loop.  Ok, this may sound silly, but aren't we all a little "odd" sometimes?

nicholas bonham-carter

nice drop header!

nice work, and i expect the home-owner was pleased too!  

how was the HO able to find you from all the knuckleheads out there, word of mouth, advertising, etc?

can't see whether you have a vaporstat, or a p-trol, but if not mounted well above the waterline, could be tripped by the elevated waterline when skimming.--nbc

Pete C.

Thank you for the compliment

Hi Nicholas,



Thank you for the compliments!  We have worked for the family in their houses for several years now.  They all live in near each other in the area and we first met them on a referral from another customer.  One of the sons had steam issues and we solved that for him, then he hired us for other plumbing and then the sister called, then the mother, etc.  They are nice people and very trusting, so we go out of our way to be honest and fair with them.



We didn't use a Vaporstat on this.  We used the Burnham supplied Pressuretrol and mounted it where Burnham drilled and tapped the section for it.  We didn't have any trouble when we skimmed the boiler but thank you for the heads up on that. 

gerry gill

Thats one of the nicest steamer

installs i've seen in a while..very nice header..you guys do nice steamer work!

Gordo

That's What I'd Call

Steamsmenship,  yes sir.



I'd put on a VXT with a built-in counter to pick up any leaks that would kill that boiler.   That outstanding install deserves the very best feeder to go with it.



My, that's some fine looking work!

Charlie from wmass

just wondering

is that a 3/4" copper return? I am guessing a condensate return pump may be there with the return that size. It may be just the angle of the picture I can not see any other return piping. Nice drop header.

HenryT

Pete.

Pete, can you please send me your company's contact info?

I'm out of nassau and want to enlist you guys for a consulation.



Thanks.

Nycefx@aol.com

Pete C.

Condensate return

Hi Charlie,

The return is actually 1 1/4". I do admit that it's hard to tell the size of the piping from the photo. We used Dan's "The Golden Rules of Hydronic Heating" to size the returns.  There's two steam mains that share the return, so it begins as 1", then when it picks up the load of the other main, it increases to 1 1/4".  When we dropped the new return closer to the floor, we extended the mains full-size down near the floor with iron, then below the water-line transitioned to copper. 

Charlie from wmass

Thanks for clearing that up

Nice job.