one pipe steam

Paul S_3

Having problem with new installation.....piping is all correct...manufacture wants 2" header...that's what I installed...piped equalizer in 1" 1/2"....which is what manufacture states.. Dimension "A" =34".....seems like water is either backing out of boiler or not returning fast enough....on a cold start boiler lights makes steam....water in gauge glass starts to drop...it drops all the way below gauge glass....kicks on auto feeder....this all happens within five minutes...after feeder kicks on....boiler floods....also having bad water hammer in in basement radiators....like its water backing up....boiler was not skimmed yet....could the oil in water cause all of this thanks Paul S

Unknown

wheres?

Where's the pictures?

Paul S_3

pics

Here are some pics....I know should've used 2 risers and a bigger header but this is another companies job which I helped them install it and now problems....Paul S

Paul S_3

more pics

More

Paul S_3

pic

Pic

Bio

Skimming

Seems that you need a lot of skimming and there is no port installed, look behind that insulation next to the sight glass for a plug

Paul S_3

skimming

Yes behind that insulation is a 1" 1/2" port will put full size tee to skim.....but water backing out of boiler you think is because boiler hasn't been skimmed yet? Or is the eater surging making it look like its leaving boiler.....anyway before I do anything it should be skimmed thanks Paul S

Unknown

eg 50??

Eg 50... 2" header too small?? And why wasn't it properly skimmed as needed?

Bio

Skim

Yup, oils are driving the water out of the boiler

Paul S_3

Peg 50

Peg 50=2" riser and header.....I helped another company install boiler....they do not know how to work on steam....they just wanted to go by what manufacture states...personally I never go less than 3"on any boiler....and always drop header with both risers used...I instructed them to skim boiler apparently they didn't do it and I'm back to fix problem....Paul s

Unknown

according

According to spec... riser from boiler is 2.5 inches..

Paul S_3

correct me

Correct me if im wrong but on page 17 in the installation manual it shows 2.5 inch in the white area and 2 inch in the grey shaded area....am I reading it wrong?? Thanks paul s

Unknown

agreed

I did have problem reading the new format in spec sheet... look again... one for parrallel system and other figure is for counterflow system which asked for smaller riser and header pipe.

Paul S_3

skimmed

I skimmed boiler...it helped a bit but water line is still dropping and tripping low water cut off....boiler water is clear now....thanks Paul s........also is a peg 55 which requires 3"inch riser and header should recommend to change? could that be problem

ChrisJ

Manual

I have never been able to figure out why they show two different rows of piping for the EG-40,45,50 series boilers. Personally I went with two 2" risers into a 3" header with a 2" equalizer on my EG-45. If I had to do it over again I'd use two 12" long 3" nipples into reducers for very little extra money simply because I feel it would dry the steam more.



On an EG-55 I would rip that single 2" riser and header out as it is definitely too small and is likely causing a whole lot of water to be pulled out of the boiler with the steam.



If it was mine, I would do two 3" risers into a 4" header but that is just my personal opinion. If its any easier you could simply add a second 2" riser but you're going to need at least a 3" header. Two 2" risers would likely work better than a single 3" one as well.



Please be aware I am not a pro.

ALIGA

how much pressure is the system running at?

Might be too much pressure, causing water to get pushed into the returns?

Paul S_3

psi

Im running boiler between 1.5psi and .5psi.....another thing if you guys look at the last pic of the takeoff to the system main ....its back pitch toward the boiler could that cause this problem...im just trying to consider all possibilities thanks Paul S

ChrisJ

Don't know

But the boiler isn't piped to the manufactures MINIMUM specification.

Keep in mind that is the absolute minimum piping needed for it to function properly. Larger is better, smaller won't work.



How much of the main is pitched back towards the boiler? If its only a few feet with no radiators in that length it shouldn't matter.

Paul S_3

pitch

The main is back pitched only about 7 feet with no radiators attached to it....paul s

ChrisJ

7 feet

That should be fine as there won't be much condensate at least once the pipe is warmed up.

Paul S_3

3 inch

So basically re-pipe header in 3 inch pipe with 4 inch header and all should be good?can the return be too small its 1 inch ...boiler 200,000 btu....thanks paul s

ChrisJ

Pro

I would prefer for a pro to comment on the return as I don't feel comfortable giving an answer. My wet return is 1 1/4" and connected to an EG-45 but there might not be any specific reason for that.



If you're going to go with a 4" header you should do two risers from the boiler. Otherwise might be simpler to just do a single 3" riser into a 3" header. Two risers will always work better though.

Paul S_3

pro's

Any body have any insight on this.?paul s

ChrisJ

One thing

I can add, is my system has 1" dry returns. Two of which both feed into a single 1 1/4" wet return. This is the way it was installed in 1924.



To me that suggests for a wet return it required more than 1" for a 150,000 btu input boiler. Other than that I really don't know.

Mark N

Return

According to LAOSH a 1" wet return can handle 700 sqft of EDR. This boiler has a single 2" riser the steam velocity is like 40 ft per second. That will pull quite a bit of water out of the boiler.

Unknown

since

Since u will have left over fittings when re-doing the job, so keep it 2 in for eqealizer

Paul S_3

header

Basically change the header..but why am i losing water....is that small header sucking ALL THAT WATER out of boiler to make it trip on low water?thanks PAUL S