Residential Steam System Monitoring Service

Pumpguy

Is there anyone, or can anyone suggest a firm that can perform a steam system monitoring service for a residential 2 pipe vacuum return steam heating system along the North Shore of suburban Chicago?

HISTORY:

This is my only residential customer. Customer found my website about 12 years ago and asked me to look at their Nash Jennings duplex vacuum heating pump that is original to the house, built in the mid 1920's. The pump is way oversize for the present load. I understand the house and outbuilding was much larger than they are now. I was able to restore vacuum performance by making some adjustments and changing a few valves on the unit.

Subsequent work on the unit included changing some switches and one motor.

Soon after my first visit, the customer remarked there was water leaking onto the boiler burners. The boiler was replaced with a pair of smaller Weil McLains and a separate duplex boiler feed pump set.

Over the next few years, there were several failures of interconnecting steel piping between the boiler feed pump(s) and the boilers. In an effort to resolve this pipe failure problem, I suggested the customer discuss this problem with a boiler water chemical specialist. Customer contacted a firm that supplies chemicals to several large schools in the area. A chemical feeder with timer was added.

I might add here that several times I was inside the vacuum pump's cast iron receiver tank, and found it to be perfectly sound, no signs of corrosion of any kind.

Over the years, the customer has appealed to the boiler install contractor, and chemical supply firm to offer solutions to these failure problems, but now to no avail. The story I'm told is the chemical supply co says they now only deal with commercial customers, and the boiler install contractor is not offering solutions other than replacing the boilers and/or piping and charging for their services.

Well, this season, the same problem with leaking boilers, and they both were again replaced.

As you can tell, I'm kinda married to this job. Customer calls me with tale of woe, but being only a pump guy, there isn't much more I can offer other than taking care of the vacuum pump and offering a sympathetic ear.

IMO, what this customer needs is a service that will monitor the condition of the entire steam system on an ongoing basis. This should include checking the boiler water chemistry and adjusting as needed. Obviously condition of boilers and controls, boiler feed pumps, steam traps, maybe adding a make up water meter, valves, etc. should all be looked at, and anything that needs attention reported to the HO.

This customer has services that perform all kinds of chores around the house, like landscaping, window washing etc. This is one more that they need.

Is there anyone interested, or can suggest someone that might be interested, in performing an overall steam system monitoring service for this customer?

Fred

@Abracadabra services the Chicago area. I don't know if he is interested but we'll soon find out.

nicholas bonham-carter

12 years is a short life for any boiler, so there must be some problem in the system.--NBC

Pumpguy

Both I and the HO agree on that, that's for sure. That's why I would like to see a knowledgeable "caretaker" look after this system on an ongoing basis. And it's not one boiler they had to replace this season, but two!

Abracadabra

This is the worst time of the year for me. Have my hands full with my commercial customers, not too anxious to take on a new account and a residential to boot. I would be willing to do a once over (with the understanding that it would be to just make some recommendations, but a water meter would be first order of business. I haven't had to do chemical injection setups in Chicago unless there's significant leaks on hidden/underground wet returns. Chicago's water is pretty good.

Pumpguy

Abracadabra, I understand. I'm up to my armpits right now too.

This is the conundrum; the system is what I would expect to see in a small to medium size school or apartment building, yet it's in a private residence. IMO, it's too much for the HO, too much for those that service residential systems, and a put off to those that service commercial systems.

Depending on the HO of course, IMO, the HO needs an ongoing service, not a one-time visit. They've had plenty of those and no real solutions are arrived at. Certainly not something needed right now, especially with new boilers just installed.

In latest discussion with HO, I mentioned I would reach out to my network to see if I could find anyone interested in offering help. Especially need to address the chemistry monitoring or other system refinements to prevent future early pipe and boiler failure and improve overall efficiency and reliability.

I haven't seen the new boilers yet, although HO asked me to stop in when I'm passing by to look at some dripping pipe joint(s). Not really sure what this is about.

Maybe at the end of heating season this could be looked into further. If you know of someone knowledgeable enough to provide such a service, or would like more information, please let me know.

nicholas bonham-carter

There is also Dave Bunnel, the steam whisperer, who is in Chicago.
Is this a Dunham vacuum system?--NBC

Pumpguy

I've had Dave out there a year or 2 ago. Not sure he's interested in providing this type of service. I'll ask him.

Vacuum pump is Nash Jennings Duplex Manifold type with auxiliary accumulator tank down at floor level.

SWEI

Have you figured out why the downstream piping is corroding, but not the receiver? Chemical treatment should always be targeted at a specific problem. Some of those problems are best solved using other means.

Pumpguy

No, and that's the problem I would like to see identified and solved. If no changes are made, this is sure to happen again.

The vacuum condensate return pump is maybe 20 feet away from the boiler feed receiver. That piping has been there a long time and is sound.

Previously the vacuum pump discharged directly back to a single boiler. When that boiler failed, the 2 smaller boilers were installed along with the duplex boiler feed pump set. The piping between the boiler feed pumps and boilers have failed several times. I would like to have seen that changed from black pipe to something better, but that never happened.

Failure of the boiler feed piping is an annoyance. Failure of both boilers in 10 years or so is very expensive and something that should not happen.