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Bad water hammer

ozzman
ozzman Member Posts: 5
in Strictly Steam
i just had a new utica steam gas boiler installed. i am now getting bad water hammer on start up. i dont believe the installer skimmed the boiler because i dont have a skimmer tee installed in the piping. should he have installed a skimmer tee? can i post a video on here so you can hear the noise?

Comments

  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,578
    Skimming the oils out of the boiler is an essential part of any boiler installation. What does the installer have to say about the water hammer?
    Download the installation instructions for your make and model, and you will see where the skimming port should be installed.
    Post some pictures of the boiler piping, so we can see what else he may not have done.--NBC
  • ozzman
    ozzman Member Posts: 5
    Thank you for the help. The installer doesn't know why it's hammering. He came back and put some stuff in the relief valve and drained some water from the relief valve but that didn't do anything. I see in the manual where the skimmer valve should be. Its a utica peg150eid.
  • KC_Jones
    KC_Jones Member Posts: 5,840
    The elbow coming off the side should have been a tee to skim through. The installer missed this detail. There is no substitute for a good skimming, actually several good skimmings on a new boiler. The installer made an error on the install and no chemical will replace the skimming. Also it should have had a tee at the bottom connection for maintenance purposes, this is also shown in the manual.
    http://www.ecrinternational.com/secure/upload/document/3421.pdf
    2014 Weil Mclain EG-40
    EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
    Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
  • ozzman
    ozzman Member Posts: 5
    Do you think the oil in the boiler is the reason it has the water hammer? Its banging around the header area.
  • Mark N
    Mark N Member Posts: 1,119
    edited December 2014
    Your boiler has 5 sections it needs 2 risers to the header. Also if you have 2 mains you need a separate takeoff to each main. Have it piped like page 29 of the manual, it will work much better after it is skimmed. The header should be 2.5" pipe also for better separation of the steam from the water.
    KC_Jones
  • KC_Jones
    KC_Jones Member Posts: 5,840
    Mark is correct I missed the size, that install is completely wrong according to the manual. Also was a proper EDR done to size the boiler? If that boiler is the proper size, the return piping seems really small to me. It looks to have 1" max return from the entire system which seems very small. If they didn't do the EDR you might want to, to verify they installed the correct boiler. The skimming may stop the water hammer, but the inadequate piping along with not being skimmed certainly isn't helping matters. As Steamhead has said many times, those style boilers are very sensitive to improper piping which is what you have. It sounds like your installer might not know what they are doing.
    2014 Weil Mclain EG-40
    EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
    Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
  • Danny Scully
    Danny Scully Member Posts: 1,440
    Where are you located?
  • ozzman
    ozzman Member Posts: 5
    I'm in connecticut.
  • ozzman
    ozzman Member Posts: 5
    Mark n I have 1 main so it should have 2 risers into the 1 main like page 29? Thanks for the help.
  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,578
    Have him make the new header the same size as the main. The order of connections into the header would be: riser 1, riser 2; main, equalizer. This will dry out the steam as much as possible.
    There is a video here of a boiler with Pyrex piping, and you can see the amount of water which is being thrown up into the header by the boiler, (which must be separated, and directed into the equalizer). Show it to the installer, and he will understand the need for making these changes. now I can't find the video-can someone help.--NBC
  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,578
    Here it is:
    http://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/152119/steam-boilers-the-inside-story-lots-of-videos
  • Mark N
    Mark N Member Posts: 1,119
    You're welcome.
  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,578
    that video is one of the most important ones here to see for homeowners, and non-steam pros--hats off for finding it!!--NBC
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    Along with the corrections to the header, the riser(s) and the tie into the old Main (riser(pipe), make sure the Header has a little pitch back towards the Equalizer. Hard to tell from these pictures if there is any pitch or if it is pitched back towards the riser from the boiler which will let water sit in the Header.
  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,578
    also suspect is the check-valve on the wet return, from an older installation. I suspect an earlier boiler waterline was low enough to make some wet returns into dry ones, hiding some water.--NBC

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