Sandy still haunts my home!

Charlie from wmass

I feel for her too,

but in the city limits I let the city guys do their magic. The boiler was installed poorly, with the way the boiler is in the photos I would second guess the boiler size, the piping size, and the circulator size. Installing a multi-speed pump or a variable speed pump will cover up some of the sins for a small extra use of electricity as long as the boiler is the right size.

Durachka

=(

Please forgive me for sounding angry.  I'm just tired of every plumber and "expert" coming to my home and telling me they don't know what to do.  Joining this forum has given me more insight than any of these NY "experts."



I'm not even looking for someone cheap--I know you get what you pay for and even this won't persuade someone to do the job right.

heatpro02920

Ill admit I have stepped outside

my area before but NY is risky, lol.... Im sure someone has to be up there and doing things rite, time to hit the phone book until the problem is fixed, explain, I don't pay until the problem goes away... {but now we are getting into the warm seasons, this is going to be tough to remedy with no load...



I can't see why this is such a hard problem, let the boiler run to 180 then make sure just that zone is calling, if it doesnt see 170+ water at the first radiator within the time it takes to walk up there, you have too much head for that pump or the heat is being diverted, if there are no other valves and it is a straight shot, put a larger pump.... the heat has to go somewhere, even if its just staying in the pipe going up the wall, it will be somewhere, if it stops, that is because it is blocked or too much resistance for the pump...

Im curious to why no one has fixed this yet, I wish it was closer, I would run up there with an alpha and my thermal imager {get the boiler hot and zone cold, then plug the alpha into the wall recepticle and see where the heat goes if anywhere}, I'll bet real money I find the problem inside 20 minutes, whats wrong with these NY guys she is hiring, is it that bad up there rite now, I see a lot of posts on here looking for ny service, may have to open a new branch lol...

Charlie from wmass

Then call me we can talk

my cell # is 413-841-6726. We can talk and see if it can be resolved. After 6.00 pm will be the best time to talk.

JohnNY

I'm new to this thread, but Tim Smith just asked me to check it out.

First, where in NYC is this home?



Second, this post is very telling to me:



"I found a "boiler expert" who took a look around and told me there shouldn't be any issues with the boiler. He told me he needs to take down the walls to reveal the piping below the rooms that aren't receiving heat. I agreed and he's on vacation now. He said there's a single switch that needs to be on and that'll make it work, but cannot find it unless the walls come down.

This is getting really frustrating and I'm surprised at the lack of knowledge on such an issue from the "experts" that have been coming to my home."

------



It seems to me the original poster has a big problem with the "experts" who have given her guidance that she neither understood, cannot repeat accurately, and doesn't offer the silver bullet she hopes will solve her problem.





What makes the OP think that guy has some "lack of knowledge" that must be avoided. I have ZERO idea who he is/was, but is it possible the guy was right in saying some walls must come down to expose something in the system that will help it make sense? Of course it is.



Not knowing what transpired during that conversation, you're probably not helping by suggesting she not let that person back in her house.



The helpful threshold for troubleshooting this via internet postings has clearly been met and now she needs to contract a reliable company who carries insurance and is licensed to work in her home.



To lob out suggestions from the hip just prolongs this condition and makes her feel distrustful of the people who are actually available to help.



Ladies and gentlemen, please do forgive my tone here, but I did about 60 houses under the Rapid Repairs Program here in NYC and it's been a disaster in its own right.

We were told on January 4th that our first check would be 6 weeks from then, then progress payments every 2 weeks.

We got our first payment after 13 weeks. Yes, thirteen. We're still waiting for our second check and we've spent close to $500,000 on materials, labor and admin costs to get this work done in the time frame we did.

It's not something I can recommend to anyone.



Fitting thousands of nearly destroyed homes with electric, heat and hot water was an unprecedented program and it came in with a lot of problems and left with a lot of lingering pains...for everyone.



Keep this in mind when listening to homeowners dump on the "experts" involved.

Our installations went well, but a lot were very challenging given the conditions, time frame allotted, and temporary labor we were under the gun to hire and monitor.



That's all the venting I've got for now.



Best to all.

JC



edited for grammar

Charlie from wmass

JC I am surprised the OP never called you.

I figure you have things covered in NYC and if she were to simply do as was suggested she would probably all ready have the system fixed. I had hoped she took me up on my offer for a phone conversation to get this thing to a resolution but  am still waiting for the call. I find sometimes people do not understand the issue with their system and they want it fixed fast, and for free. If she calls me I will keep you posted. Her best net would be to call you.

JohnNY

Thanks Charles.

NYC is a pretty big area, so I'm not sure the home will be in an section I travel to, but let's see what happens.

I'm always willing to help, but I suspect the problem with this install has at least as much to do with the system as it does with the near-boiler arrangement.

tim smith

Gateway plumbing

John, thanks for considering this. I know there could be hidden things we are not aware of on these jobs. I just thought if anyone could figure out, you could. I just hope there is not a hidden agenda but have to have faith sometimes.  Thanks again. Tim

JohnNY

Thanks for thinking of me, Tim.

I'll wait to hear from the poster.

Durachka

hoorah for John from Gateway Plumbing!

Hello all!  I apologize for not getting back sooner.  Between work, my mother’s cancer, and construction it’s been difficult for me to get online.  I’d like to first say thank you to all the posters who have replied to my post: nicholas bonham-carter, Steamhead, heatpro02920, Dave H, knotgrumpy, tim smith, russiand, RobG, and John Mills.  A special thank you to Charlie from wmass who called me and recommended JohnNY. 



JohnNY got back to me very quickly and decided to help me despite my home being outside his usual area.  He arrived promptly and not even an hour passed before he got the heat to work upstairs!  I was amazed.  He switched my pumps around (perhaps he can fill you out on the details).  He told me my installation wasn’t great but being that everything was working, I decided to leave it as is.  One of the radiators is still not working but I’m going to get someone local to fix it as it isn’t that big of a job.   The heat is finally working and I couldn’t be happier after many puzzling months. 



John—THANK YOU!  I will recommend Gateway Plumbing to all my Manhattan friends for any heating trouble they might have.  He’s a lifesaver and went well out of his way to help me without even charging me.  

knotgrumpy

Great news!

Now, JohnNY, let's please hear what you found!

JohnNY

Finally getting back to this:

There are two zones on this system.

One is a monoflo system with several radiators removed without the tees looped together and uses a Taco 007. The plugged monoflo tees are reducing gpm and adding resistance to flow that can't be spared.



The second zone uses series loop baseboard fin-tube radiation, 3/4", about 120' total and uses a Taco 0015, 3 speed pump.



I did a quick head calc and, working with what I had, switched the two pumps. It worked for the most part but there is still one radiator in the house not getting sufficient flow.



I advised to have the monoflo tees looped together and ascertain proper pump size for the 1-pipe zone. I suspect the 0015 is fine, but the piping needs alteration and the pumps should be repositioned to pump away.



Happy I could help.

knotgrumpy

Thanks JohnNY

Glad someone could go and help.

tim smith

Re: John from Gateway

 John, it is nice to hear a good outcome to a not so good problem. These days all of us get so caught up in doing business that we can't always get to these small problems, i.e. PITA.  They are not so small to customers but they tend to be a nagging thorn to many of us. We try our best to fix things for clients who have had less than ideal installs by others, I know there are many reasons that it may happen but in the end I still enjoy a happy customer.  Kudos to you John for helping this lady out.  Tim

Charlie from wmass

Glad John was able to get things going better

We would like for every job to be perfect when we leave it, but much better is sometimes all that can be done for right now. Glad things are working better.