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WM SGO-3 Counterflow RePipe...Lots of Photos!

AaronH
AaronH Member Posts: 59
in Strictly Steam
Many of you have seen my threads and questions about my current steam system:



<a href="http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/142662/45s-vs-90s-on-Header-design">http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/142662/45s-vs-90s-on-Header-design</a>



<a href="http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/139183/Help-me-tune-up-my-single-pipe-counterflow-system">http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/139183/Help-me-tune-up-my-single-pipe-counterflow-system</a>



All of your help and Dan's book are helping to make this possible - so THANKS for all of the advice so far! 



Please feel free to comment on anything you see that you think I should change.



The big weekend has arrived and here are the photos of the before:

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Comments

  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    edited October 2012
    Cutting out and dissaembly

    Started at 8:00 this morning.



    Everything vent very smooth at first, the boiler's riser separated nice an clean, so did the two copper-steel joints on the mains. I removed the pigtail to keep the pressuretrol and gauges out of harms way.



    The equalizer tapping at the back of the boiler is another story. The idiots that originally plumbed the unit put in a 2" to 1 1/4" reducer. I can't get it out. Lots of PB Blaster, MAPP gas, a 3' pipe wrench (that can move the boiler!) and no luck. I wanted to up this to 1 1/2" but may have to just leave it and have a short nipple of 1 1/4" before I connect to all of the 1 1/2 fittings I now own...

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  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    Dry Fit

    Dry fitting everything together using stock nipples and fittings. Tomorrow I'll be setting up the Ridgid 300 to thread all the odd-ball sizes together.



    The pipes are as follows:

    Riser and drop-header: 2 1/2

    Mains: 2"

    Equalizer: 2" to 1 1/2" @ water line

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  • Hap_Hazzard
    Hap_Hazzard Member Posts: 2,846
    Hey, no fair!

    I had to thread all my pipes with a manual threader.
    Just another DIYer | King of Prussia, PA
    1983(?) Peerless G-561-W-S | 3" drop header, CG400-1090, VXT-24
  • Hap_Hazzard
    Hap_Hazzard Member Posts: 2,846
    Tough break.

    The only way to break joints with joint compound is with impact, but unless you can get your hands on a strong 3/4" impact wrench and whatever socket that takes, I don't think it's going anywhere.
    Just another DIYer | King of Prussia, PA
    1983(?) Peerless G-561-W-S | 3" drop header, CG400-1090, VXT-24
  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    Impact Wrenches & Pipe Threaders

    I've threaded a lot of 1 1/2 by hand and it sucks! The Ridgid 300 was only $85.00 to rent from Sat evening to Monday am - seems worth it to me, although I'll let you know this evening.



    Hap - what was the torque spec on your electric impact?

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  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    Day Two!

    Had to take apart the front main and shorten it. Took lots of MAPP, PB, a 3' pipe, a cheater bar and a sledge hammer... but it came off and I was able to cut and rethread!

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  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    Day Two...Continued

    Assembly is going well, I'll need the threader for a little while longer to finish the drips/wet returns.

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  • crash2009
    crash2009 Member Posts: 1,484
    edited October 2012
    It's too late now, but

     I would have bet, you wouldn't have gotten this far in a single weekend.  Looking good!  You have done this before, havn't you.
  • Toymotorhead
    Toymotorhead Member Posts: 54
    Lookin good

    That looks like a really solid chunk of work for only 2 days by yourself.

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  • Hap_Hazzard
    Hap_Hazzard Member Posts: 2,846
    Electric?

    I'm not sure what my electric one is rated at. Probably less than 100 ft-lbs. I only use it for driving screws. My 1/2" air impact is 450 ft-lbs. A decent 3/4" impact wrench in good condition will give you about twice that.
    Just another DIYer | King of Prussia, PA
    1983(?) Peerless G-561-W-S | 3" drop header, CG400-1090, VXT-24
  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    Thanks Guys/Day 3 Progress

    Thanks for the compliments - this is the first time I've done anything to this extent but not my first time working with schedule 40 threaded pipe.



    By bedtime last night I had all of the iron pipe done as well as the copper for the water feed.

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  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    Side Project/Main Vent

    While I had the threader I finally was able to add a main vent to the front main!

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  • crash2009
    crash2009 Member Posts: 1,484
    Rod's Steam Man List

    "Please feel free to comment on anything you see that you think I should change."



    Before you pack up and take the tools upstairs, you might want to review the main vent situation.  The ideal location is at the very end of the mains.  I would assume that the very end of both mains is jammed right up against the main floor, floor boards.  I have seen others, run the main vents into a closet (or the wall) up on the main floor.  I have often thought that a pair of Gorton 2's installed under the coffee table, in the living room, would make a nice foot warmer.  (There's another one for Rod's Steam Man List)
  • crash2009
    crash2009 Member Posts: 1,484
    edited October 2012
    Where is the boiler?

      Towards 1 or 2.  Looks like the boiler is towards 1.  If the boiler is towards 1, how is 2 going to drain?
  • Mark N
    Mark N Member Posts: 1,115
    Counterflow

    Crash this is a counterflow system. The boiler is the low point, so I would think #2 is going to the boiler.
  • crash2009
    crash2009 Member Posts: 1,484
    edited October 2012
    Yea

     I know it's counterflow.  The reason I brought up the 1-2 thing is that it appears the boiler is towards 1.  If so, and I'm sure you will agree, that's a problem.



    Just another thought, if the boiler is at 2, why isn't the vent at the end of 1.....
  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    Vent is at the end of the main...

    The vent is at the end of the main, #2 is to the boiler and #1 is to a single radiator.



    The picture looks confusing because even though the system stayed at 2" pipe, through the turn, it's only a runout to the one radiator going about 40" before it necks down to 1 1/4." Not sure why the dead men piped it that way, but that's what they did! 

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  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    edited October 2012
    Oy vey...

    So just when I'm really excited as the system is warming up and building pressure slowly and silently, some of the joints start weeping their dope. I'm ticked. I used "Hercules Real-Tuff w/Teflon" specifically because it was rated for steam, up to 550 degrees, and on the label it said "won't drip or run." It's a mess.



    Only one joint is hinting that it might be leaking steam, though, but of course it's the first elbow on the riser coming out of the boiler, which would require disassembly of the whole header to fix. What really kills me is that this wasn't a thread that I cut, but a store-bought nipple into a WARD made-in-the-USA fitting. Maybe I'll just roll a bead of JB weld, but that's pretty hack. I knew I should have put another union in there... silly me.



    Thoughts on this?

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  • crash2009
    crash2009 Member Posts: 1,484
    Thats a relief

     Good thing I'm not a bettin man. That woulda been 2 hun I lost on this job.
  • fixitguy
    fixitguy Member Posts: 93
    Looks good

    I use Blue Monster tape & dope and never have leaks. Am I mistaken or are those fittings malleable iron?
  • Big-Al_2
    Big-Al_2 Member Posts: 263
    Horizontal

    That looks like a McDonnell & Miller Uni-Match water feeder.  I just put one in myself. The instructions state that the unit MUST be mounted upright on a horizontal pipe.  I'm not sure why they want it this way, but I doubt that the instructions would be so explicit if it wasn't important.  You might want to change that part.
  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    Answers... and a Vaporstat!

    Just installed the latest piece of the puzzle, a nice new Honeywell Vaporstat set to cut out at 1.0 psi (16oz) and cut back in at 0.25 psi. The system spends a lot of time at around 0.5psi before the vents close, then the pressure goes up to the 1.0 pretty fast. A side bonus, my little leak isn't leaking at the low pressure, but my plan is to fix it right this weekend and do more skimming as the pipes get cleaned out.



    Rather than disassembling the whole header, I'm going to cut-out the 6" nipple coming out of the boiler, remove the coupling, and replace with a shorter nipple and a union. That will also make a future boiler-swap a breeze. I should have done it this way from jump.



    Big-Al: Good eye - it is an M&M uni-match. Not that I use it, it's always valved off and I maintain my W/L manually. I can't seem to find the instructions online, but I'll keep hunting as I'm curious. The previous iteration of the piping had the feeder vertical, but that means nothing!



    Fixitguy: Yes, they are BMI fittings. BMI is just cast iron that's been heat-treated.

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  • crash2009
    crash2009 Member Posts: 1,484
    Rod just posted

     a good feeder diagram
  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    Feeder...

    Thanks  Crash - that's exactly how it's piped right now if you turn the diagram on its side...



    Still looking for a manual for this thing!  

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  • crash2009
    crash2009 Member Posts: 1,484
    edited October 2012
    Link

    to M & M .  http://completewatersystems.com/brand/mcdonnell-miller/iom/



    http://completewatersystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/7423.pdf
  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    Fixing the Leaky Joint

    A union, a new 2 1/2 x 5 1/2" nipple, some Blue Monster teflon tape and dope, a portaband, two pipe wrenches, 1 hour of time on a Saturday afternoon... and we're fixed!



    Honestly, the union should have been in there from day one. Now with a union above the boiler and another below the hartford-loop tee on the equalizer, if this boiler needs to be changed it'll be a snap (let's hope I don't have to do it!)



    Next steps are some serious skimming and insulating the giant radiator I just built! ;)



     

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  • AaronH
    AaronH Member Posts: 59
    edited October 2012
    Modifications Working Well

    The system took 27 minutes of thermostat call time (unsure of burner run-time) to go from a cold boiler and the house at 66 degrees to a setpoint of 68 degrees! 



    The system seems to be depressurizing at a much slower rate than before, and quite happy with the 1 psi cutout of the vaporstat.



    It might be overkill, but I'm thinking of adding a second gorton #1 to the front main.

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  • crash2009
    crash2009 Member Posts: 1,484
    edited October 2012
    Run-time

    If you wanted to monitor burner run-time, you could try



    http://www.lascarelectronics.com/temperaturedatalogger.php?location=us&datalogger=364 



    I have been using EL-USB-TC for awhile now.  I installed the probe between the flue and the mortar.  At the end of this cycle you can see the vaporstat cycling between 3 and 8.
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