help with neighbors system

ChrisJ

My neighbor has finally decided to do some work to his single pipe system.  He has a 50+ year old coal boiler which has been converted to oil years ago.  It is not a snowman or anything like one.



 Right now the radiators hiss quiet loud even though I have the modern non-mercury pressuretrol  as low as it will go without tweaking it it beyond its stock settings.

All radiators have cheesy USAV vents.  I gave him four heat-timer vari-vents to use as main vents for right now which seem to be working ok.  Because his boiler is oversized and goes off on pressure quite often before the rads are filled completely I'm thinking of switching all radiator vents to Gorton #6s  or Cs.  He doesn't seem to have any complaints as far as balancing goes and most radiators are around 30 sqft EDR.



In this mess something else I'm wondering about is his mains are not insulated. With a grossly oversized boiler wouldn't insulating them actually make the situation worse? 

I meant to get the burner model as well as the boiler model but haven't been down his basement in quite a while.  The boiler is an American radiator and the size of a Buick.



What do you think?  Are Gorton 6s or Cs ok on most systems or am I asking for trouble?

Mike Kusiak_2

Downfiring?

If he is burning oil, he may be able to downfire the burner with a smaller nozzle. A competent burner tech should be able to reduce the firing rate and readjust the combustion for better efficiency and lower steam generation.

ChrisJ

downfire

Hi Mike,



I also mentioned this to him. My concern would be it already takes him a good 25-30 minutes to produce steam with that 40 gallon monster hes using. I would think downfiring would make it even worse?

Mike Kusiak_2

Good point

Downfiring of that massive boiler most likely would increase the time to steam even further.



Might be worth trying faster venting, so at least you could fill all the rads before cutting out on pressure.

BobC

Maybe a combination if not complete replacement

Does it have a flame retention burner on it? Down firing would slow the steam production but insulation would counteract it it to at least some extent and it's a DIY job. My Burnham v75 is much too large but between down firing, keeping it tuned up and running at low pressure it's reasonably efficient.



What about the main vents? Usually it's best to vent the mains fast and the radiators slowly.



Expensive as replacing that boiler would be it's probably very inefficient and it might pay for itself sooner than he thinks with the price of oil.



Bob

ChrisJ

main vents

Bob C, hes using four heat-timer varivents I gave him as main vents. Two per 2" main. Its a good temporary solution and there is nothing near them that may be damaged by water.



Replacement is not an option at this time, regardless of what it would save him he simply cannot afford it. I just switched from oil to NG which is half the price of oil here in NJ.



Not sure which type burner it has other than its a Beckett with four electrodes, I believe this was due to the length. I was suppose to get the exact model for a thread I had started months ago I never got around to it.