Thanks to everyone!

Brian_74

I hope this doesn't jinx it, but I seem to have successfully replaced all the traps in my house. I'm very grateful to everyone who helped me through this. I didn't sleep well last night--visions of broken and leaking pipes were dancing in my head. But all went well this morning. I could not have do it without all of you. Thanks.



I did learn something that anyone replacing an Ideal outboard trap might find useful in determining which B&J replacement to use. The local Barnes & Jones rep. forwarded the following from HQ:





1.) Ideal trap with cover thread of 2.485-20 and an orifice that is 3/8 would take a 3224 and 3224C cover



2.) For Stay Rite/ Mouat trap with a cover thread of 2.468-20 thread and an orifice of 11/32” takes a 4017 and 4017C cover.

Unknown

Good for you!

Hi Brian- Congratulations!  Have you noticed a big improvement? I imagine it should make a

big difference to your fuel bill!

- Rod

Brian_74

There's less banging

But it's not as quiet as I had hoped. It's been relatively warm here (low 40s) so I suspect there's been plenty of time between cycles for the system to cool down enough that I'm hearing the thermal expansion.



I hope you're right about the gas bill. I keep reminding myself of something I think I read in TLAOSH, namely that I was already paying for the traps every month in the form of higher fuel bills.



One interesting thing that I have noticed is that the heat feels "fuller." I don't really know how to explain it. It's a good thing.



I'm grateful for all of your help, Rod.



Brian

Unknown

Working Well

Hi Brian- That "fuller" heat is just want you want as it means the steam is now staying in the radiators and doing what it supposed to do. This will heat the house faster which will result in a shorter burner on time which saves fuel. You want to make sure your thermostat has a cycle per hour function as this will allow the system to "coast" a bit between thermostat heat calls which cuts down the burn on time.

- Rod

Brian_74

Cycles are longer now

I hope the new traps lower the gas bill. The reduction in banging alone is pretty nice. The funny thing is that since I've replaced all the traps and replaced one of the main vents that was broken, the cycle times are longer. Not a whole lot, 22 minutes instead of 20, but I was expecting the cycles to get shorter. Maybe there are fewer cycles per day. Today (mid-30s, some wind) it has been firing every 3 hours. I have a Honeywell thermostat that "learns" how long it takes to satisfy the thermostat, so the benefits might not show up for a few days while it is busy learning. :-)