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Syracuse

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DanHolohan
DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,527
in THE MAIN WALL
Looking for a good boiler guy in or near Syracuse, NY. Thanks.
Retired and loving it.
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  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,527
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    No one?
    Retired and loving it.
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,322
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    Seems to me we've had folks up that way looking before. And drawing a blank.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,527
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    I have a guy who really needs help. He's had a few contractors come through and none are able to figure out what's wrong.
    Retired and loving it.
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,842
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    What seems to be the problem?
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,527
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    "I have a 30 year old boiler with approximately 20 zone valves...... Last year I don't know why the pressure would rise the pressure relief valve would open.... Had numerous companies come in replace the valve, tank, circuit board to no help..... Usually happens when the temperature was around 40 degrees..... When real cold the three circulator pumps are running good and maybe that's why it didn't do it when it was cold..I don't know. Anyway to this year. All is working good until the other night I noticed there was no heat, and the breaker tripped. Weird. It has never tripped the circuit breaker ever. ... Reset it until the following night when all of a sudden my smoke detectors going off steam all over the place and the pressure was high and the pressure relief valve opened.... Shut the boiler off to stop the pipes from knocking and currently working great..... I hope you can help me figure out why the pressure is building and why it tripped the breaker the other night..... I think I've replaced every part! Maybe one of the circular pumps?
    '
    Retired and loving it.
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,842
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    I bet his high limit aquastat went bad.................. unfortunately, the travel time from Baltimore would be a bit much.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,527
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    I'm concerned about his safety. It amazes me that he can't get any help.
    Retired and loving it.
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
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    Have him join the forum and post some pictures. I wouldn't mind driving to Syracuse, but it might be able to be sorted out on here.
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,527
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    Will do. Thanks.
    Retired and loving it.
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,322
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    He has more than one problem; I can't think of any one single failure or kludge that would do all that.

    I agree with Joe on two counts. First, if he could be persuaded to get Joe to drive up, chances are it could be fixed moderately quickly. However, and even before Joe takes a drive, some pictures and if possible a decent diagram would surely be helpful! There's a lot of brainpower on the Wall -- as you should know!
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,527
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    I asked him and he said he'll try to post later. He's at his son's basketball game right now. Thanks, guys.
    Retired and loving it.
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,527
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    He also told me that three, well-recommended companies couldn't figure it out. How about that?
    Retired and loving it.
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
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    Their are a finite number of possibilities. And who doesn't love a good mystery. We'll see how it stacks up on the wall.
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
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    CSI: The Wall
    Harvey RamerSWEIMarkS
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,527
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    He also told me that three, well-recommended companies couldn't figure it out. How about that?
    Retired and loving it.
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,527
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    Yeah.
    Retired and loving it.
  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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    Hi Dan and
    all....Im the one with the boiler mystery... This problem of pressure building to set off the pressure relief valve is a mystery... Happens rarely, but when it does..you know....New aqua stat didnt help either.
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
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    Need more pics, and from further back. Get every angle covered.
  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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    Best I have..Small room......Colder it is outside, all zones working, all pumps obviously running, better it runs....
  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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    I would like to replace whole boiler, eliminate unneeded zone valves, some are shut off already, direct vent it outside. Notice the hot water heater venting to boiler chimney, I always thought that when boiler blew pressure relief valve that someone was showering causing water heater to turn on and vent and maybe that was back-drafting into boiler but I have no clue.
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
    edited February 2015
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    Are the flames all burning evenly across all the tubes in the bottom of the boiler?

    Get both the water heater and the boiler to run at the same time and check out the flame patterns in the boiler. Make sure all the tubes stay lit and burn evenly.
  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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    ok ill check This happened alot last year when temp outdoors reaching 40+...Old hot water heater went, replaced w new one..Thought problem solved when over a month 40_50 degree weather never caused it to blow..Until last week, Noticed cold in house, looked and boiler breaker tripped, (never had this happen), flipped it back on. all good, till following night,,,20 deg out, kid in shower, 10pm and smoke detector going off and sure enough pressure high steam all over. shut off boiler for 2 hours, been fine since, hence 0 out lately...
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,062
    edited February 2015
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    How about a new main gas valve or was that replaced? They can fail to close completely.......sometimes. With plenty of water flowing thru boiler, this could happen quite a bit and not be noticed until zones shut off.
    Harvey Ramer
  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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    Yes Harvey ..All burning evenly best I can tell..
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
    edited February 2015
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    Has anyone checked between the heat exchanger sections and made sure none of the passage ways are blocked?

    Do you have an expansion tank connected to the hot supply of the water heater?

    Well water or city water? What pressure into the house?
  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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    Hi Jughne, Not sure about gas valve, Ill have to find paperwork from previous contractors. Seems like every time in past I've called someone they just want to guess and replace. Guess its tough when boiler running good when someone comes...
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
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    What size expansion tank is on the boiler system and where is it connected to the piping? How many BTU system are we talking about here? What type of heat emitters, radiators, baseboard... ect.
  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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    Harvey. ex tank on cold side of water heater city water, no havent checked if passages blocked, but wouldnt that cause more of a once in last 4 month isue?
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
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    It would be random. It would depend how much water was drawn from the water heater and what temp the water was when the fixture using hot water was shut off. A lot of the new water heaters have check valves built in. What brand and model water heater do you have?

    Is the boiler fill valve connected to the hot or the cold side piping from the domestic water?
  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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    New Bradford White Model: MI5036FBN,,,, Best I can see , boiler fill connected to cold side...Not sure if Im seeing this right..
  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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    Harvey no clue size..See pics not sure btus... all baseboard....
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,062
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    In this last picture with the boiler expansion tank, is that a blue cap lying on the floor. Has someone been checking the air pressure?
    If you have high house pressure and the new water heater fires it could add to that house pressure. Then your boiler water fill valve could be overpowered and add more pressure to the boiler system. Some here have to add a pressure reducing valve on the cold water line ahead of the boiler fill valve because of high water pressure in the house.
    IF you have a low water cutoff and are CERTAIN that if functions as it should, then you could shut off the water supply to the boiler for testing for this condition....only if you have LWCO working. IMO
  • Abracadabra
    Abracadabra Member Posts: 1,948
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    What size expansion tank is that?
  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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    Nope nobody checking air pressure...New tank, cap covering valve fell off....not sure house pressure, like i said new water heater helping alot since old one was replaced in March...Happened prolly 20 times with old heater, once since March of 2014 with new....IDK
  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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    Abra: Says EXTROL model # 30 so 30lbs? i dont know
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,062
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    The tank was supposed to have been precharged before installation and the cap installed tightly; sometimes that white circle lying under it is installed over the cap to prevent tapering later. This could have been right out of the box and screwed on the piping. This tank could be nearly waterlogged.
    Do you have baseboard heaters or large cast iron rads?
    Is this the only expansion tank in your basement?
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
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    I would recommend installing a pressure guage on the water line prior to the boiler fill valve. This will let you know if your domestic water pressure is over powering the boiler fill valve. That boiler fill valve has a max working pressure of 125 psi.

    That still doesn't explain the steam.

    Back to the heat exchanger. Somebody needs to pull the top off that boiler and inspect the heat exchanger. The high limit should shut off the burner before the water gets hot enough to flash to steam. If you have a couple clogged sections where heat isn't able to transfer, it would allow the section still open to keep heating up till it flashes. High limit would not shut down boiler due to the mixing of the cooler water coming through the clogged sections. That's a long shot, but possible.

    What temp is the high limit set to?

    The other thing that needs to be checked is to make sure the gas valve is closing reliably every time and not allowing the flame to continue.

    You also need to have your draft checked while both the water heater and the boiler are in operation. Your chimney may be overwhelmed or partially blocked.

    As far as the breaker flipping, happened for a reason. Could be when the pressure valve blew spilling water, it shorted out a circuit. Could also be the circulator. If the pipes filled with steam the circulator would instantly over heat and loose lubrication.
  • MMcClure
    MMcClure Member Posts: 1
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    What is the model of the boiler?
  • jonathan2015
    jonathan2015 Member Posts: 29
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    baseboard heat alot of them.. A contractor installed tank..Tapping it sounds good, not waterlogged. Tank is a year old.

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