Peerless 63-3L Install by All Steamed Up, Inc.

Gordo

The old steam boiler didn't die in the usual way.  When we took it apart to haul it away, the sections themselves were in pretty good shape.



What happened was the boiler was installed directly on a dirt floor (?).  A thin coat of cement was added later (?).  Or, alternatively, the heat from the boiler caused the thin coat of cement to fail, exposing the burner tubes to the dirt and moisture.



The burner tubes rusted out and flames were burning directly into the dirt.



The CO readings, not surprisingly, were off the scale.



No Hartford loop or equalizer line, of course.

Hap_Hazzard

Amazing what can happen in a year.

Surely they wouldn't let it go more than a year without cleaning and inspecting the burners, would they?

Jean-David Beyer

Gas boilers and furnaces do not need maintenence.

My title here is wrong, of course. But it seems widely believed by heating contractors. I cannot understand this. Perhaps it is as difficult for contractors to find qualified technicians as it is for me. But I would think boiler manufacturers would train technicianc in their own products, and contractors would pay for this training if the manufacturers would not. I imagine I am wrong about this.



I had an old GE boiler in my house. The burner in it quit (after about 25 years), and was replaced with a Beckett flame retention burner. Perhaps they inspected the inside of the boiler when they did that. I had a service contract and they came out once a year and changed the filter and nozzel. A couple of times they measured the flue temperature and told me the efficiency. Mostly they did not. At some point, possibly 10 or 15 years later, it would not run right and they pulled the burner out for the first time. Took two guys. They literally lifted big chunks of stuff out and threw them into the trash. They then vacuumed it out some. And put it back together. It then worked correctly. The boiler had never been inspected in the meantime because it was too much trouble. They never inspected it in the next 10 years either. Sometimes they looked at the color of the flame, sometimes they did not. They mostly judged the combustion by looking at the top of the chimney. If it was white (water vapor), it was OK, and if it was gray or black, it was not OK. Pathetic.



When I switched to a gas mod-con, the installing contractor did not want to follow the instructions for maintenance. They allowed only 15 minutes for annual maintenance. Gas boiler do not require more. Yet the Installation manual requires a lot of things they would not do. So I got a new contractor who does pretty much what the manual says, though they will not test the pressure relief valves. No one around here will do that. The new contractor sends a tech and a helper and they take an hour to an hour and a half. They come with a kit of parts including a new igniter, all new gaskets, and a cylinder of boiler treatment (Sentinel X-100 and test kit). At my insistence, they now bring a digital combustion analyzer and use it.

gerry gill

we know that didn't happen overnight.

its truley amazing that it wasn't caught at some point, and more amzing that it was still providing heat say last month...but they got the right crew on the job now and you'll have another life long customer!

Steamhead

Wait till you see the After pics

Gordo took this series and I'm sure he'll post them as soon as he can.



We were called in to look at an uneven-heating issue. This system has a long "circuit main", 55 feet or so of 2-inch pipe that wraps around the basement. Originally there was no main vent, at some point someone had drilled and tapped the end of the main for 1/8" pipe and mounted a cute little Hoffman #4A vent on a 1/8" nipple and a 3/4x1/8" reducing coupling. Right idea, and the vent was working, but it still took 15 minutes or so to get the steam to the end of the main.



We enlarged the hole to 1/2" and installed a Gorton #2. Now the last rad, in the kitchen, heats quickly. Problem solved. Then we tightened all the valve packings and rearranged the rad vents according to the sizes of the rads. The house heats evenly, possibly for the first time ever.



When we tested the boiler, we found high CO which led us to the rusted-out burners, and advised the owner that it was time for a new boiler.



This job only has 187 square feet of radiation or so, which made it too small for the available power-burner boilers. So we went with the 63-03L, which still has enough capacity to add radiation to the two small second-floor rooms that do not presently have rads.

Gordo

End-Of-Main Gorton #2

Here is a photo of the new end-of-main vent, our favorite, the venerable Gorton #2.

Gordo

The nice thing about the Peerless 63 series

are the HUGE outlet tappings, 3", for such a small boiler . 



Because they are so large, the end sections have to be rather voluminous.  This helps create an almost old-fashioned style "steam chest".



For the 63-3L size, the instructions call for one 2" riser and header.  All Steamed Up, Inc. installed a 2-1/2" riser and header.

Gordo

This Boiler

 has a separate tapping and supplies a 3/4" by 1/4" bushing for mounting the pressure gauge.  The gauge has an "internal siphon" to protect it.



What All Steamed Up, Inc. does is to plug that hole and mount the gauge off of the pigtail with a 1/4" brass tee, 90, and nipple. 



This allows the gauge to be removed easily and the pigtail tested by blowing into it.



  

gerry gill

nice looking install guys!

we use alot of the peerless steamers also..they are pretty nice..

Gordo

Thanks for the Kudos

I can see why you like Peerless.



We also like the large return tapping .  Since the other side of this install is effectively blocked, we used the full 2-1/2" return size on the accessible side to make flushing the boiler easier.



We should also mention that we poured a new concrete slab for the new boiler to rest upon.



The customer also took our advice and had his chimney inspected.  The chimney was subsequently re-lined based on that inspection.



One thing about this series of boilers: On paper at least, they are listed as one of the most efficient atmospheric steam boilers out there.  However,  combustion testing doesn't seem to bare that out.  It is mainly due to the very high excess air reading.

Dave in QCA

Nice!

Thanks for posting this and taking the time to tell the whole story that the job entailed.  It is always great to understand the whole picture and be able to see the before and after pics. 

Thanks, and Great Job!

AaronH

Please Explain The Copper

Please Explain The Copper tubing in the return - I'm getting ready to repipe my near-boiler plumbing and am curious why you switched to copper for that short run? 

Steamhead

No steam will ever reach that piping

so copper is fine- and won't corrode from the return water like steel can.

Dave Stroman

Dropped header?

I was surprised not to see your typical dropped header.

jpf321

did something similar on ....

my aunt's boiler .. in fact I used the gauge tapping for my pressure-trol tree and the other tapping for my vaporstat tree ...

ChrisJ

Nice

Another beauty by Frank and Gordo!





Keep them coming, I love looking at before and after pictures of jobs.

Gordo

This Size Didn't Need a Drop Header

For the Peerless 63-3L, the  pipe sizing instructions call for one 2" riser from the boiler and a 2" header. This is the minimum, of course.



 We used one 2-1/2" riser off the boiler and the header was 2-1/2".



We determined that this was more than enough to provide nice dry steam to the connected load without using a drop header.

Gordo

I Also Like Your Nice Skim Tapping Valve!

Nice work, indeed!



 My friends, please remember to install a proper sightglass blowdown valve to make sure the sightglass is kept cleaner and telling you the true water level.