Two Recent Steamers

Steamhead

For some reason, I can't find the "before" pics. The old boiler was a Columbia atmospheric that rotted at the waterline. The chimney connector had the boiler and water heater on opposite sides of the run of a tee, and the chimney with new liner connected to the bull. It worked......

We upgraded to a CSFE-3090 3-section with Carlin EZ-Gas, proper chimney connections and a 2-1/2" drop header. Packaging all this was tricky, but Gordo rose to the occasion- one of many reasons he's my partner.

Steamhead

This one was a Bishop & Babcock Vapor system that still had its original Spencer boiler. Spencer was one of the best you could get in those days- it was a magazine-feed unit where you loaded the coal into the door at the top and it fed down as it burned. And like some other coal-converted units we've run into, it had no low-water cutoff. I'm pretty sure low water killed it.

The house landed at the edge of a flood zone when FEMA re-drew the flood maps recently. We had to get a surveyor to verify where the flood level was- turned out it was 6 inches below the floor level, so we had to have an 18" high platform poured to raise the boiler to the required 24 inches above.

We also replaced the crossover trap with a Barnes & Jones #122A and the dry return vent with a Gorton #2, which you can see in the third pic.

This basement was a bit dank. That's true of most basements, but this one had a twist: The washing machine and the sink had been installed without traps! So when we started the burner, the basement got a lot more dank as the draft pulled sewer gas out of the drains. A plumbing company had installed foundation drains recently and had removed the sink to do so- the owner is going to get them back in there. Even if the traps were missing before, they should have corrected the situation.

You never know what you'll find out there...........

Robert O'Connor_12

It must of been fun getting that thing on the new pad.
Nice work!

gerry gill

Nice work as always Frank! Was it the homeowner or the city that wanted the boiler 24'' up? Lucky he has a tall basement i guess.

Steamhead

It was the city. The Ferguson delivery crew got the boiler up there with their stair-climber- one reason we buy from them.

icesailor

Its obvious to me that the installer that installed the water heater isn't the same one that installed the boiler.

The water heater installer is just Plumb Loco.

Abracadabra

Frank, nice work. Not a fan of the blue tape and blue paste I see, eh?

Steamhead

Tape and hi-temp silicone. Works every time!

JStar

Delete.

RobG

Maybe a dumb question, but what is the orange box to the right of the boiler?

In the first photo the door is ajar and it looks like it may be an in house outhouse?

Abracadabra

I'm guessing it's just some kind of storage locker/closet.

Gordo

It's a water closet with a Sloan flush valve.

ChrisJ

Gordo said:

It's a water closet with a Sloan flush valve.

I like how you remember specifically that it had a Sloan flush valve.

I've always wondered why they aren't used more in residential, they certainly seem to flush good without the stupid flapper / fill valve B.S.

SWEI

Residential flush valves are quite common in other countries. They are a bit noisier -- especially the low flow ones.

Abracadabra

ChrisJ said:

Gordo said:

It's a water closet with a Sloan flush valve.

I like how you remember specifically that it had a Sloan flush valve.

I've always wondered why they aren't used more in residential, they certainly seem to flush good without the stupid flapper / fill valve B.S.

cause you need to run minimum 1" supply to the valve.

ChrisJ

Abracadabra said:

ChrisJ said:

Gordo said:

It's a water closet with a Sloan flush valve.

I like how you remember specifically that it had a Sloan flush valve.

I've always wondered why they aren't used more in residential, they certainly seem to flush good without the stupid flapper / fill valve B.S.

cause you need to run minimum 1" supply to the valve.

I'm on it!
Give me a few years.

ChicagoCooperator

SWEI said:

Residential flush valves are quite common in other countries. They are a bit noisier -- especially the low flow ones.

20's - 50's apartment buildings are chock full of them stateside. I've got on of the original 20's valves, nothing stops it!

Gordo

Here is a picture of the delivery crew of Ferguson delivering the boiler.
Their stair-climber cart was not designed to get the boiler up onto that 18" plinth.
We supplied numerous 4" x 4" pieces of lumber to make a stairway to get the boiler and climber up onto a hydrolic lift cart (also supplied by All Steamed Up, Inc. - weight limit 1000 lbs.) to get the boiler and the climber up to the final level safely.

ChrisJ

Did you let it sit upright for a while after tipping it?

Gordo

The climber cart with the boiler attached was set upright upon the hydrolic cart.

ChrisJ

Gordo said:

The climber cart with the boiler attached was set upright upon the hydrolic cart.

I was trying to make a refrigerator joke but failed.

RobG

Did you mix the concrete for that slab or get a short load?

billtwocase

Another fine job Frank

Steamhead

Thanks!

I had a friend who is a GC handle the concrete. We'd never done a pedestal that tall so I figured we should be careful and let someone do it who's done stuff like that before. He mixed the concrete on-site.

bob_46

ChrisJ said:

Gordo said:

The climber cart with the boiler attached was set upright upon the hydrolic cart.

I was trying to make a refrigerator joke but failed.

bob_46

Thats not a joke Chris , you don't want the water in the top of a steam boiler. After you tip it you have to let it sit until the water settles to the bottom.

Fred

WHAT??? OK That was the joke, LOL