after the dead men and before Dan

j a_2

As a a small heating shop here in eastern Mass. I visit many one pipe steam jobs, as a side note those are my favorites...What I do notice, is there was an era after the real dead men, that replaced the original systems, and for the most part wrong..Mainly with the venting,  the near boiler piping, and the poor workmen ship...and last but not least sizing.  I am sure there are many guys like myself who have read Dans books and gone to the training offered and walk in and quietly laugh at what we see...Thanks to Dan we now have a generation of well trained steam guys who go in and not only replace the boiler but  return the system to how it is suppose to be...To all the trained installers, isn't it nice to walk into a job, fearless if anything we may find, because we  now know how to fix it.. How funny to listen to the guy ahead of you at the local supply house asking for pictures of  how he should pipe the job, you lost ..   I feel working with you head before you hands is so very important....Thanks Dan

Al Letellier_21

after the dead man

I can't agree with you more, J A. I truly love steam work and even though I've put the tools away, I still get to see a lot of stuff and am mentoring a younger wet head to the wonders of steam heat. He is replacing a boiler in the next week that I came across with a lot of issues........cross overs in the mains, returns joined above the water line, poor wiring, bad venting, and improperly pitched returns......a great way for him to see how not to do it. I don't think it was another generation that came along and did it wrong....its more like the steam knowledge skipped a generation and we raises a bunch of new installation mechanics. Now we have to pass along the wisdom and knowledge before we joing the ranks of the Dead Men.

Carry on and pass along the knwoledge.

Greg Maxwell

Dead Men

Amen! Also, find a supply house with one or two guys that have experience in steam, to bounce things off, and if necessary, go look at jobs. There is no such thing as a stupid question!

Charlie from wmass

Actually as I get older I find

There are stupid questions and there are even more stupid answers. But even the stupid questions need to be asked.

Charlie from wmass

I find that even the Dead men

did things wrong. Concentric bushings, bending pipe to avoid fittings, undersized mains and returns. Venting that was bad even for coal firing. Even the dead men had the low bidder running around. I find great satisfaction in customers being amazed when they are more comfortable in their home and paying less for fuel. Improving sleep patterns by reducing costs and quieting the beast in the basement.

j a_2

stupid quwstions

I kinda agree there are no stupid questions.however that depends on who the question comes from....New guys, ask away, but please read first...I cant stand the people who use the excuse I am bad with books but good with my hands...Today there  are many visual aids to learn from....My point is a little two fold...If your out bidding a job that say is around 6k you best know what your getting into, and hopefully your a seasoned guy to boot, asking stupid questions after you bid a job is a stupid question....you and the customer will lose evey time...Him awake at night listening to banging and you awake at night answering his calls and trying to figure out what you did wrong...Call backs cost dearly,don't they...Now you find yourself unable to go into you regular supply house because you owe him money......I cant say enough about proper training....Its out here...

DanHolohan

My pleasure.

Thanks for reading!