Is this right?

icesailor

I replaced a bronze Taco circulator gasket today and when I was done, I flipped the circulator back on. I heard a clisk by the steam boiler. Later I heard a hissing sound. Then, I noticed a cloud of steam from behind the boiler. Coming out of the condensate return reviever. It gies to a steam/hot water HX. I showed the owner and he dsaid it has always been like that, for past 8 years since it was installed.And the hot water doesn't work well.

I told him that the trap needs to be flipped 90 degrees and re-piped. That the float part could never close. You don't install toilet tanls in a vertical position.

The reciever is in the background.

Am I correct?

Paul48

ice

Very similar to this... http://www.armstronginternational.com/steam-traps-float-thermostatic-a-series-cast-iron

icesailor

What it is is:

What it is is a Hoffman F&T Trap.

Model # FT 015H 4

250#

400'F

Max Pres Diff 15#

I am going to replace it with a Barnes & Jones because the Hoffman is the only one there and there are eight other Barnes & Jones ones there.

Is there any sizing to the critters? The DHW HX doesn't work all that well as I have been told. The person who installed it wouldn't know a minor fact that there might be any sizing to it or an orientation.

Instructions are for others to read. If there were instructions around, I would have read them.

icesailor

Next question:

Is the 250# on the plate, how much steam in # per hour the trap is supposed to pass that would be 400 degree steam vapor??

If it is running at 15#, does that down rate the amount of steam available?

The owner says that it has never worked properly, no wonder. I'm just trying to understand how to make it better and how it works.

Like the Steam HX has a rating plate on it. Should the F&T trap be sized and rated for the size of the HX and steam pressure?

Some wonder about these things. You can't fix it if you don't understand how it is supposed to work.

BTW, it has leaked steam out of the vent for so long that it has rotted the plywood on the bottom and rats have moved into the wall. There is ripped out insulation all over the floor.

Steamhead

I'd stay with that size trap

a HX like that will produce a lot of condensate. That Hoffman body is similar to a B&J body and takes the same repair kit, so if the pipes don't break you can just reposition the body and replace the plate assembly with B&J's.



If you don't have enough pitch on the line to position the trap correctly, you can get an in-line F&T trap from Spirax-Sarco on which the inlet and outlet are on the same level. I think the model number is FTI-015 or similar. Not sure if Hoffman or B&J make similar units.



The 250# is the maximum pressure the trap can handle. The 15# is the trap's maximum ΔP.

icesailor

New Trap:

Thanks Steam,



I have a new B&J that I'm installing in the AM. Pitch isn't a problem. The trap is at least 30" above the return. Same size as the old one, just a different manufacturer.