Willaimson GSA125 vs GSA150 steam boiler

mtlight

Bear with me. Prior to Hurriacane Sandy, I owned a Williamson GSA125. It produces 325Sq ft of steam. My connected load is 280 sq ft. This was very slightly oversized but seemed to work well. After the storm with boilers in demand I had to accept a Williamson GSA150. This provides about 380sq ft of steam and it oversized and shuts off on pressure a little to often and more hissing vents than before. My cutout is about 2 and cut in is .5. Okay here is my question. From viewing the specs of both of these boilers, they appear identical. The weight is the same, the dimensions the same, the sections the same, the tappings the same, all controls the same. the one difference appears to be the burner tray. The burner tray has 6 burners on the gsa150 and 5 burners in the gsa 125. It appears to me that smaller burner tray is what seperates the two size boilers. If i remover the larger tray and put in the 5 bburner tray, will i be converting the gas 150 into a gsa 125 which more fits my needs? It appears to be the only difference and maybe a draft hood size also. Both of these changes are easy to do without much cost . Please comment and let me know what you think. Thanks in advance

ALIGA

to save some hassle, may want to consider

installing a 1/8 npt plug into one of the burners.



this is what i would do, but others here will disagree about downfiring.

kevin_58

williamson boiler

A williamson steam boiler is a weil mc lain boiler painted green A 125 weil and 150 weil have the same size block. the 150 has 1 extra burner. I wouldnt plug a burner i would get a manifold for a 125 and problem solved.

ALIGA

why shouldnt he plug a burner?

in this case, both units are identical, minus one burner, not sure why he should change it out.

Jamie Hall

I wouldn't know for sure...

but if I were the designer of the thing, the geometry of the two manifolds would be different.  If I just plugged one of the burners, I would have uneven heating in the firebox.  Would this be a problem?  Got to admit I don't know -- but if there is a manifold combination for that firebox with the lower firing rate, I'd sure go that way.

mtlight

new burner tray vs plug

I know plugging is a viable option. My only thought was with the 6 burners and one plugged versus a new tray with the 5 burners spaced perfectly, I thought that would be more efficient. I priced a new tray and its not that much money. So I guess which ever way I decide to go, I believe it should help with my oversize. Instead of 100sq ft oversized, i might be about 45sq oversized with the 5 burner gsa125 tray. Thanks for the feed back

ChrisJ

More

The manifold and the draft hood are different.  When I was installing my 150K btu EG-45 I was concerned it was too big (which its not) so I looked into what was involved in converting it to an EG-40.



The manifold has the 5 burners spaced differently as there is one less and I think the EG-40 (125) has a smaller draft hood.

JStar

Boiler

Never plug an orifice. Change the whole manifold on that boiler.



Plugging a single orifice can lead to improper heating of the water, causing condensation and may rot out the boiler. It may also produce excess CO due to irregular flame and draft patterns.

Jrock

Draft hood

I have the same oversize problem & for the same (Sandy ) reason I would not plug a burner tube , but if I buy a smaller tray do I need. To change draft hood ?