steam header

marty_g

i am installing a weil mclain egh steam boiler approx.400,000 btu's i currently have 2- 2inch risers comming up 90 ing towards the back of the boiler then they 90 towards each other to a tee, the bull of the tee feeds the building. i do have a tee instead of a 90 on the horizontal runs for the equalizing line, is it ok for the steam bullhead at the tee,? will it cause water to carry up into the system, the bull of the tee is 3 inch

Steamhead

That's called a "colliding header"

and it's wrong. It is likely causing wet steam, which you don't want.



This article has a pic of a well-done drop header on an older EGH:



http://www.heatinghelp.com/files/articles/1348/127.pdf

[Deleted User]

Proper risers and drop header

Twin 2.5" risers (36") dropping into a 4" header with twin King Valves on a 266K ECR..............in a proverbial "closet"!

Steamhead

Nice job!

one question- does the return lines' teeing together above the waterline allow steam to get into the returns and bang?

[Deleted User]

returns

The waterline is at 24" and the factory LWCO is at 21.25". I'm definitely not pleased with only 2.75" of available water height but, apparently ECR is.



The return is piped at exactly 21.75", 1/2" above the factory LWCO (with water feeder control).



We'll see how it runs..............I'm a bit concerned that it will feed water before the condensate returns. I don't have a good solution to that problem as there is no easy way to lower the factory LWCO. The bottom of the gauge glass is at 19" so there is a huge amount of available capacity that is, effectively, wasted.

marty_g

drop header

thanks for the drop header pics, i'm i right in thinking the supply tee in the drop header cannot be in the middle of the supply drops or were back to the same issue.If so i will 90 over to keep both riser drops before the supply tee followed by the equalizing line. thanks!

nicholas bonham-carter

Size matters

Are the risers big enough, even with the bad piping. The manual of installation should show the minimum riser dimensions.--NBC

BTOW2MMR

Use of a "wye" fitting?

Never "bullhead" steam for a list of reasons ranging from excess turbulance (creating moisture, condensate, and water hammers to wear `n tear on fittings. 2 45`s offer less resistance than a 90. And the use of a wye fitting usually works well if I`m understanding you`re installation.

PMJ

Bull Heads/Pipe size

I have a 460,000 Bryant installed in the 50's as a replacement to coal fired. They used the original header that is at least 4" pipe. Two risers at least 24" that 90 towards each other to a tee then up into the main.



I understand why this is not recommended and have wondered from what I read on this site why it works so well for me. System is dead quiet and I have run it for the past 22 years. The pressure is very low - maybe an ounce or two. It was originally Mouat installed in 1926. While expensive to install originally it has always seemed to me that large pipes make life downstream a lot easier. Large pipes and low pressure make it easy to produce dry steam.

Steamhead

That Bryant

likely has a larger steam chest which lets the water separate from the steam. Piping on one of these units is less critical. But you can't get away with that on a new boiler.

PMJ

Less Critical

is the key thing here I agree. I'm not an expert in steam but I am a mechanical engineer. And it seems we can add boilers to the already long and growing list of equipment that used to be bigger/thicker/heavier and had a usable life far longer than the new stuff.



This is particularly distressing in steam to me as I watch systems get taken out all around me. The fact that the details of boiler replacements are more critical now than before and also that there is a dwindling number of qualified contractors able to do them the end of steam will come even sooner. More critical might be good for the only contractor for miles around today who really knows his stuff. But it is definitely not a good thing in the bigger picture. In that picture there are even more unhappy customers and more tearouts.