Peerless boiler install

humhead

I recently had a gas fired New Pearless 63-04L I-B-R 383 installed.  I replaced a 28 year old Oil fired Mclain. After the installation I had a disagreement with the installer.  The Pearless installation manual says that  2 1/2 inch pipe should be used for the header. The take off from the boiler should either be one 2 1/2 inch pipe or Two 2 inch pipes.  My installer used one 2 inch pipe  from the boiler to the header. He said it should not make a difference.  He used the existing two inch header from the Mclain.  The new boiler has been in operation for three months and it hammers hard.  The major hammering is coming from the basement in one of the mains.  It only hammers during the first 20 Min's after the boiler is called to fire. My vents are also spitting and i hear pulsating air coming from them. I removed all the vents and cleaned them and made sure the were not clogged. My # 2 vents on my mains are also passing air. I never heard them with the old boiler. I also Skimmed my boiler two weeks after the installation.  I read Dans books three times before I did it.  My old system was quite as a church mouse. What happened?  Is this a classic improper near boiler installation or is there something else going on.  <span style="font-size:12pt"></span>

BobC

has to be done right

That boiler will not work right until it is piped per the install manual. If the guy who installed it won't respond it might be time to contact Peerless and ask them if this install will affect your warranty.



Bob

Rod

Boiler Piping

Hi- You should consider the manufacturer's piping recommendations as the minimums rather than the optimums. Installing a boiler with smaller piping  than what the manufacturer recommends invariably leads to trouble.  Both boiler ports should have been used and it wouldn't have been a bad idea to go up one pipe size greater than the manufacturer's recommendations on the header pipe.  Also Dan mentions that you should go with a minimum of 1 1/2 inch  on the equalizer pipe. The whole idea of the header configuration is to separate water out so that you have "dry steam" going into your mains.  Using both boiler ports slows down the exit velocity of the steam which helps the water to precipitate out and flow back to the boiler via the equalizer.

  You might want to post some pictures of your boiler and near boiler piping piping as there maybe other things that aren't correct with the new installation. I should think you are being reasonable to insist that the installer redo the piping and follow the installation instructions of the manufacturer.  Some of your problems could relate to other things though getting the boiler piping properly straightened out would probably go a long way in fixing your present problems.

- Rod

Big Ed_4

3"

The 63 has 3" supply Taps ... just for info

nicholas bonham-carter

good reason for disagreement

i hope that you have held back some money from the total to get him to come back.

the pulsating could come from lack of insulation of the steam main supplies. however since some major changes are in order for your piping, it is best not to insulate them until the "installer" repipes.--nbc

Jean-David Beyer

Hold back ...

Where I am in New Jersey, you need a building permit to replace a boiler. You are not permitted to make the final payment until the installation has passed all inspections. Of course, after that, you are at the mercy of the contractor.

clammy

3 inch

I usually use peerless for my steam jobs and usually on a 63-4 i would have used both 3 inch tappings into a 3 inch header and never have any issues.I usually also do a 2 inch equalizer and a 1 1/2 Hartford loop.The downfall of doing this is that it does increase the price of the job and puts your price above every bodies Else's who is pricing the job but the bigger up side is dry steam .As for the splitting air vents i would check the pressure troll setting he may have not set it correctly also was the boiler skimmed and leaned as written about in the I and O .Even though the I and O manual does state miniun riser and header sizes it still seems some may be good at math but have failed the reading portion of there education and they still show that fact being they do not read the instructions.One last note if you did not price those bigger pipes in the job price then it ain't gonna happen unless the installer is forced to eat his shirt .This why when i do a proposal i include the riser and header size that i will be installing ,it lets the HO see what is going to be installed and they are able to compare apples to apples and make the decisions themselves .Peace and good luck clammy

humhead

My mains

Off of the header are two inch pipe.  At what point in the piping would you go from 2 1/2 or 3 inch  (header) to the mains.  My equilizer is piped with two inch pipe. The hartford loop is 1 1/2 inch.  I have the pressuretrol truned all the way down. Thanks for the previous post. 

clammy

3 inch

I would have piped the risers in 3 inch and did the whole header in 3 inch .If  i was dealing with 2  -  2 inch risers i would at the 90,s for the swing joint i would use a 2 x 3 reducing ell . If the whole header where 3 inch your existing velocity would be below 10 fps whih in my book is better then ideal it 's excellent .Hope that helps some but again just look at the installation instruction and remenber those piping header sizing charts are mimiun and if one manafacture showed using 3 inch while another showed 2 inch the one that recommended the 2 inch woukld be flying outta the supply house.Most do not want to spend the extra and some can never see or understand the benefits .Peace and good luck  clammy

humhead

if you were

using three inch pipe then you would reduce after the header to connect to the mains?  If the installer had said that he would have to repipe from the mains to the boiler and, i would not have batted an eyelash.   I told him I know the job costs money just do it right. I am installer and I don't work for free either.