A steam boiler repipe......

The Steam Whisperer (Formerly Boilerpro)

Just did this one this week.   This is a 187,000 input Utica with only 300 EDR (70,000 btu) connected radiation.  The system had been banging horribly.  Fixed the plugged pigtail and the homeowner had been doing some boiler cleaning and a lot of the banging is gone.  However, the cast iron baseboard was installed with what I am finding to be a variation on the Chicago style.....run a 3/4 inch supply to the top tapping and then a 1/2 or 3/4 inch return  to the lower tapping and install either a trap or check valve in the return and then just reconnect to the one pipe steam supply pipe with a tee. Needless to say this doesn't work well.   Also the second floor convectors were not heating at all. However, with the lower steam pressure,  The vents now work upstairs so the convectors now heat too.  The owner decided to re-pipe the boiler first, which I agreed to be a good first step after getting the  basics taken care of. Here's what we started with.

The Steam Whisperer (Formerly Boilerpro)

The improvements...

The poor boiler only had a single 2 inch supply in use and it was directly connected to the system allowing all sorts of water get up in the piping.  The repipe brought up to the manufacturer's recommended piping.   Two 2 inch risers with a 2 1/2 inch header with enough horizontal run after the last riser connection before the supply up to the system to allow the water to settle out.  Also  the supply was full size 2 1/2 inch off the top of the header to keep the velocity low so water on the bottom of the header didn't get drawn up into the steam main.  Adequate piping after the supply take off in the header helps make sure any water hitting the downward elbow won't tend to splash up the steam supply.  It will be interesting to see how the fuel bills are effected with alot drier steam making it up to the system for more effective heating.

The Steam Whisperer (Formerly Boilerpro)

Skimmer, etc

While looking at the internal design of the boiler, it became obvious that the manufacturer recommended piping for the skimmer connection was quite ineffective.  The problem is that the upper connections between the sections are smaller and above the 2inch supply tapping ,so if you skimmed the boiler with a 2 inch pipe, you would only skim the end section.   The water from the other sections cannot flow through the top connections to the skimmer without the water level being higher than the connections between the sections.  To solve the problem, the skimmer port needs to be higher so oil from the top of all the sections can flow out of the boiler to get the whole boiler clean.  Reducing the horizontal skimmer piping to 1 1/4 inch should get it high enough to be much more effective.  A convenient valve was installed to encourage regular maintenance skimming of the boiler.  The nipple upwards is to provide a place to add cleaning chemicals and boiler treatment chemicals to help extend the life of the system and boiler.  This is our standard set up now for new boilers.  This same configuration of reduced piping would also help greatly on Dunkirk's smaller steam boilers, as the internal passages are also too high for proper skimming

gerry gill

Nice looking repipe there BP..

And good thinking on the skim tapping..i'll have to remember that one.

Steamhead

Beautiful job!

I know that system is much more efficient now.



BTW, I've seen that CIBB piping method in Baltimore too. There are knuckleheads everywhere.

STEAM DOCTOR

CIBB

what does CIBB stand for? Thanks

kcopp

that would be...

Cast Iron Base Board

The Steam Whisperer (Formerly Boilerpro)

Sort of Figured...

that this type of "creativity" for piping CIBB was not limited to Chicago.  That last steam boiler install I posted with the Burnham Independence had one of those.  It now has a radiator in place of the baseboard.   Life is much quieter and comfortable in that beautiful old 3 flat in Lincoln Park, Chicago.

The Steam Whisperer (Formerly Boilerpro)

Thanks Gerry,

As always that means alot coming from one of the best of the best.  I hope to be in touch soon to get more info on your mini tube system.   I am gathering the pieces for my website and would like to use your system as an example of new steam heat.