After 2 months - finally success

TeamBRAZO

After spending 2 months trying to learn / fix the steam system in one of our buildings, I finally had a full day of successful running.

I started out trying to figure out why the boiler was always overfilling (11 years).  After cleaning/replacing/etc - I found that the "smaller" new Dunkirk boiler just didn't hold enough water to counter the slow returns.  I added the VXT and set the feeder to a 8 minute delay and it worked perfect - the water line stayed the same every day.  But, you fix one problem and then you notice another.  The VXT has a water meter and it showed that every night I was losing a gallon of water.  The building is a apartment building, so it took a while to get in each unit - but I slowly went and replaced all radiator vents along with tightening all nuts.

Yesterday for the first time the system did NOT feed any water - VXT meter read 000.

I'm not declaring victory with just one day of success, but after 2 months of seemingly endless research - I'm very close to getting everything in balance.

Thanks for all the help - and I'll probably need more when I re-pipe the boiler at the end of the heating system.

Paul Fredricks_3

yeah!

I love it when a plan comes together!

TeamBRAZO

Success in energy use also

Just wanted to share this information with anyone that is trying to get their system in balance and more effeceint.

Just received our heating bill for February - here is a therms per heating degree days comparison:

February 2008 - therms/degree days =  .573     (33% savings)

February 2009 - therms/degree days =  ..486    (21% savings)

February 2010 - therms/degree days =  .383

It works to insulate, balance, etc.

Steamhead

That's about a third!

Nice work.