Your opinion on boiler service book subjects

RayWohlfarth

Howdy All,
I am in the process of writing a new book on boiler and burner service and need your input. The book will cover both residential and commercial low pressure steam and hydronic. It will be on natural gas as I am a dummy on fuel oil. It is up to almost 300 pages already. I want to make sure I cover all the important subjects. Are there any little tricks of the trade you use or common issues you think should be covered? I love that we can learn something about the industry every day. Please let me know. Thank you in advance.
Ray Wohlfarth

jumper

Downsizing? After windows were replaced and better insulation was installed.

RayWohlfarth

Thanks Jumper good point

Harvey Ramer

I really doubt you missed anything in your books.
A good thing to check is water quality. I see more components ruined by poor water quality than anything else.

Rich_49

Lack of boiler mass in low load homes with high efficiency equipment . Maybe also that everyone should stick that second , too often left indoors , air intake outside .

hot_rod

I'll second Harvey's water quality suggestion. That has become a big issue these days with the movement towards "paper thin" heat exchangers, tanks, heat emitters, etc.

unclejohn

Go over identifying mono flow systems and tee's .

SWEI

My definition of service includes some basic system evaluation. Was it properly designed and installed? Did some knucklehead "fix" it between then and now? Can I improve its operation or safety -- at a price the owner will pay? Is this thing worth fixing, or is it really time for a replacement?

A boiler bypass valve represents a boiler protection or mixing valve sales opportunity.

I continue to be amazed at the number of cast iron PRV's we see in autofeeders, and often a previously failed one nearby.

bricksea

Not sure if this counts but I installed a tempering valve on an Nti trin and stor Idwh. It had a port that said recirculation inlet that I connected the recirc line to. When I turned it on the tempering valve made an irritating noise that would go away when the water taps were opened or the circ turned off. I was convinced that I had a defective unit so I called the supply house I bought it from and explained the issue. The first thing the salesman asked me was if I read the instructions. Well... , No I'm pretty sure I looked at it, saw hot, cold, mix and threw the instructions into the recycle pile with the 15 other boxes from circulators, t-stats, autofills and all the other stuff from the install. So I dug the instructions out and sure enough they had a diagram specifically for my setup. So back to the supply house I went. After waiting what seemed like 500 years to drain the tank enough to be able to reroute the connection I added a new t and check valve as well as a plug to cap the inlet I was back in business. So maybe after this long convoluted explanation you should put in something about reading instructions.

RayWohlfarth

Wow, Thanks for the responses. There are lots of great ideas. I appreciate the courtesy.