Atmospheric out, Power Burner in

Steamhead

This set of pics isn't as good as our usual, since they were taken on my cell phone.



This was a Weil-McLain EGH-115. It had been shipped as a split-block and joined with two short draw rods in the middle- and that was where it was leaking. It reminded me of a dachshund, which has a long body that sags a bit in the middle.



The header was serving mostly as decoration. It was a colliding header where the steam outlets were between the boiler risers- and the equalizer connection was made with a reducing elbow turned on its side. When we took it apart we could see where the water had backed up inside. Unfortunately we see bad headers all too often.



The house is a large Baltimore 3-story rowhouse, with two apartments in the rear. Years ago the tenants complained that they didn't get enough heat, so they disconnected the steam and installed furnasties back there. When we got there we found a 65-foot main, composed of 3-inch and 2-1/2-inch pipe and vented with a cute little Hoffman #4A, which again was little more than decoration.



I kept thinking- "You can't fix stupid".......

Steamhead

New Weil-McLain 3-80

We chose the Carlin 201Gas for this one, mostly because Carlin is so well represented here.



We were able to re-use part of the original header, since it was 4-inch. It sloped toward the front of the boiler, so we fed it from the rear and put the equalizer and Hartford Loop in front. The 3-80 can be installed with a 3-inch riser and header, but using 4-inch kept things simpler and dries out the steam better. And the fact that this boiler has only three sections instead of 10 or 11 means fewer section joints, and less possibility of leaks.



The back main now has two vents- a Gorton #2 and a Gorton #1. The front main is 50 feet long, same pipe sizes, and got a single #2. Now the steam gets to the ends of both mains quickly and evenly.



The customer says the system has never worked this well, and wishes she'd known us 20 years ago. Fortunately she still has the radiators from the back two apartments. She insisted on taking the last pic- fortunately the camera didn't break.

ChrisJ

Picture

Another beautiful install!





Who is in the last picture and what is that beautiful large dial gauge I see?

Steamhead

The gauge

is a 30-0-30 (30 inches vacuum to 30 PSI) that comes with the boiler. Not sure who makes it.



That's me standing by the new boiler. You can see Gordo in the old-boiler pics.

ChrisJ

Gordo

Yeah, I recognized Gordo I guess I've never seen you before.



Ah that gauge isn't any good to me. I'd like a nice large dial 3 PSI gauge in ounces but can't find one.

icesailor

Knowing How:

you really know how to fix a mess.

A lost art form.

bill_105

The Pics.

Frank, has anyone ever told you look like Neil Young? Now Gordo looks like someone off the food network with the apron:) Keep up the good work!

nicholas bonham-carter

Class act as usual

How did the home owner find you? Was it through Heatinghelp, or word of mouth?

Would you have considered a pair of smaller boilers instead of one large one?--NBC

Hap_Hazzard

What???

You've never seen those pictures of Frank with his tuba?



You should really browse his old posts sometime. I do it mainly just to soak up the steam wisdom, but there's a lot of entertainment value there too.

Gordo

The Apron

works very well to help keep the uniform from getting too grubby.



Along with the suspenders, it also adds to the "old fashioned" professional look.



Thanks for the comments!

ChrisJ

Apron

I wanted to say you always look like you're about to butcher a pig.

However, you're 100% right and a clean uniform is important.

Gordo

We Also Prefer

to put the pressuretrols as high as possible to keep them out of the muck.  Weil-Mclain likes, for reasons we cannot fathom, to call for mounting the controls on the front with 1/2" steel fittings just above the boiler's water line. 



We have always thought this is radically unsound!



 

Steamhead

Naaaah

if I really looked like Neil Young, I'd be a lot richer................

Steamhead

This customer is a real-estate agent

who knows a home inspector who recommended us. Some years ago we spoke at the local ASHI chapter's meeting, which has resulted in quite a few referrals.



This boiler room is smaller than it looks, so a twin-boiler setup would have been unwieldy. Given the choice I'd go with lo-hi-lo firing on a single boiler if such were available, we've had good results with this on larger jobs.