Steamed

NickM

Dear Gentlemen,

I hired a self proclaimed Pro (who professes to have 40 years experience installing steam boilers)  to  replace my coal conversion.  I did an accurate radiator survey and came up with 955 sq ft.  The structure is a three story wood structure  built in 1900.  He was suppose to install a Burnham V903A while I was on vacation.  When I returned, much to my dismay,  I found that he installed a Burnham V89VSL.   He had a whole bunch of reasons why he did it, (height issues, pipe sizes..)  all of which proved to be wrong. He also told me that the V8 was already overkill and he had to down fire it because it made steam too quickly

The installer is a nice guy and I really dont think he did it out of malice or wanting to make an extra hundred dollars

He has offered to rip it out and replace it ... but I know that would hurt him in the pockets 

I am concerned with my long term costs

Should I keep the V8

Is it possible he is correct by saying it makes steam too quickly  and he needed to down fire it ?

Can anyone see any problems with the installation ?

Thanks for all of your help. if it wasn't for the Steam Wall I would have suffered at the hands of mechanics over  the last three projects.

Respectfully

Nick

I

ChrisJ

Header

The thing that catches my attention right off the bat is that does NOT look like a 3" header to me.  Burnham calls for a 3" header MINIMUM on a V89.

lchmb

chris

Chris is correct that it call's for 3" and could be part of the issue your installer is having (why he down fired it).  Next thing that comes to mind, did he skim the unit to start? And does he plan to return after the unit has had some run time to skim it again and wrap the pipes?

NickM

More disappointment

I went looking for the Installation manual and  discovered that the v89 is a 2009 model replaced by the 8H

This is getting worse

Thanks guys for your eagle eyes

lchmb

worry

As long as the (boiler) warranty is the same I wouldnt be to concerned with the model (unless its two years into the manufacturer warranty already, check with Burnham). I would be more concerned with proper sizing, piping, insulation and proper follow through. Did he replace all radiator and main vents? Did he flush the system? Again, resolve the pipe sizing issue and you may have the perfect system. I'm not a steam expert so I'll leave that to those who are, but dont count it out yet...you may find you have a perfect fit for your application, it just needs to be tweaked...

NickM

Not sure of nuttin

I would like to say he did all of those things but I doubt it.

Where can I find the 3"min  header in writing.

Can anyone tell me where I can locate the Installation manual for the V89 -- Burnham does not have one on line ?

I AM CONVINCED THE ONLY STEAM EXPERTS LEFT IN THIS WORLD ARE ON "THE WALL"



Thanks

ChrisJ

Burnham's website

Has been down for a while for some reason. Maybe because of the recent hurricane I don't know.



if you provide an email address I can email you the PDF for the V8 series. This shows minimum sizes for all of the V8 series boilers.



As far as V8 vs V8H I never found a difference. I had also asked on here regarding the difference and no one knew. I have a V83 which I just ripped out so I was checking part numbers as I was considering replacing the block. Both V8 and V8H even used the same block.

lchmb

here ya go

http://www.usboiler.net/products/boilers/v8h/

Click on the link towards the bottom right. If you look through the steam piping it show's B=3" page 35

NickM

Please Please Please

My email is

nmarchi103@aol.com

and I greatly appreciate your help