Dual fuel Conversion(Oil & Gas)

Athana

I have Oil one pipe steam heat 400,000 btu Boiler. The price of oil is is too much.

I have been told (vaguely)that it can be converted(Weil Mclain 478)to a dual fuel burner to be able to switch back & forth with just about the flip of a switch...?

Thanks

nicholas bonham-carter

oil to gas conversion

why not look at the mfg's website, for the specs for your boiler. that should tell you which burners are approved.

are you sure the system is properly setup?

this means:

1.proper main [not rad] venting [do the rads hiss at start-up?] does steam arrive at all radiators simultaneously?

2.pressuretrol/vaporstat set properly [under 1.5 psi for basic functionality, 8 ounces for economy]

3.thermostat properly setup and located-anticipation/cycles per hour.

4.boiler capacity matched to the radiation-edr, can the burner be down-fired?

5.water cleanliness?

even if gas is cheaper per therm, it is important to cure these problems before the switch.--nbc. 

Tim McElwain

I doubt you are

going to find a dual fuel burner that fires at 400,000 BTU's or less. At least I do not know of one here in the USA. I have been dealing with conversions for 50 years now and have installed over 3,500 conversions to gas power conversion burners. So you can get a power burner gas that will handle your application just not dual fuel.

Charlie from wmass

The 78 was the boiler replaced by the

80 series. I am pretty sure Weil-McLain can recommend a burner for that. I am also sure it is not what I would do. A boiler that old is most likely looking for retirement in the recycling facility by now.

Charlie from wmass

Is this in a home or a commercial building?

I would like to know what the current boiler's fire rate is before proceeding. If the boiler is an oversized boiler down fired to your heat load installing the "right" burner in Weil-McLain's eyes may really open a can of worms. Lots of banging, clanging, and short cycling. One reason oil was more popular in my area for steam was and is because it can be down fired when they install too large of a boiler.

Charlie from wmass

here is the manual for that boiler

It lists BGL as an option.



http://www.weil-mclain.com/en/multimedia-library/pdf/weil-mclain-pdf/products/discontinued/discontinued-boilers/78-boiler/78manual.pdf



and here is the dual fuel boiler most likely to fit it.

http://www.weil-mclain.com/en/multimedia-library/pdf/weil-mclain-pdf/burner-specifications/boiler-model-80-series/powerflame_wcr_80.pdf

Steamhead

Carlin or PowerFlame

would probably have a gas burner that would work fine on that boiler. Tim's right, I don't think they make dual-fuel burners that small. But you could hang onto the oil burner and re-install it if the pricing structure tilts the other way.



Charlie's right too, a W-M 78 series boiler is rather old. But a current-model gas burner could probably be used on a replacement boiler, though you may need to change the air tube assembly to match the new boiler.