12 year old Munchkin

Steve Minnich

limping along and leaking on the floor as we finish up the near boiler piping and the new Lochinvar WHN installation on an adjacent wall.

Paul S_3

You do great work Stephen....i saw this on mechanical-hub.com too

njtommy

Looks great! Can't wait to see it finished

Steve Minnich

Thanks. We do the switchover tomorrow. I can't get a shot of the new boiler and buffer tank yet because it's being blocked by the old boiler and piping. Took this one a little slower giving Tim more and more hands on experience rather than just having him clean fittings for me.

Steve Minnich

With a little bit of guidance, this is Tim's fitting work.

nicholas bonham-carter

That 12 years seems a short life span. Was it badly installed?--NBC

Steve Minnich

In my experience, 12 years is what would be expected from a Munchkin. Others may disagree? I would say the installation was poor though.

kcopp

You could conceivably get more life out of a Gianonni IF....
You pipe it perfect, clean it yearly and have impeccable water quality.
I am seeing that water quality is a real problem here in the states.

Steve Minnich

I agree. The water quality on this one is really bad with multiple ongoing leaks, bringing in more and more bad water. We're using Rhomar products to make it right.

njtommy

Tim what's taking so long? At least that's what I would hear. Lol

Looks really good.

EzzyT

Beautiful job Steve. Still haven't taken the plunge to switch to propress

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

Who needs Propress when you can solder like that. Sweet!

bob eck

How much time do you think you would have saved using Viega copper propress fittings?

Steve Minnich

Thanks again. I have some boiler replacements coming up for schools and churches, that's when I'll be all-in on the press fittings. Although yesterday I wish I was using press. I was soldering in an insanely tight spot above my head that I could barely get the torch and solder to. As I was pulling away after hitting the joint, a drip of solder fell, hit an iron pipe right at face level, splashed and hit my face in 3 different spots. 1/4" diameters burns. I said ouch and kept going : )

Steve Minnich

99% finished. I have to tweak the iSeries mixing valve Monday. 12 hour day today to finish the piping and everything else. Happy weekend!

njtommy

Wow looks great!
Are you controlling the boiler off of buffer tank set point?

Steve Minnich

Thank you Tommy. I'm almost never satisfied with my own work - always looking for ways to improve.

EzzyT

That is some beautiful work you do Steve. I'm the same way always critiquing myself on what I could of done differently

jonny88

Beautiful work as always Stephen.

nicholas bonham-carter

If the water is iffy there, would you consider filling it with bottled water at least initially?
Rhomar products are effective, but the chlorides, and other nasties are still in the water, even though changed somehow chemically.
Wouldn't that be like fixing the tire without pulling the nail out of it?--NBC

Matt_67

That's a great install. In the area I work in low water cut offs are required and it makes the piping a little awkward.

Steve Minnich

Thanks guys.

The bottled water/water quality issue is something I wrestled with beforehand. We cleaned and flushed the system until the water was clear. They recently had huge carbon filters installed so we'll see.

On the top of the boiler there's a brass cross with a probe for the LWCO. I'll pop that in Monday. The old system had leaks everywhere, no LWCO, and always refilling.

Matt_67

I didn't see that cross - that's better than what I've been doing.

RJMCTAFO

Beautiful work!! I learn greatly from all the jobs that get posted here. All the great technicians that frequent this forum have passed on a lot more knowledge than they may realize. You guys set the bar pretty high.

Steve Minnich

I learned the same way. Heatboy (Jeffrey Young) really opened my eyes years ago on this site. He did some incredible work. Same thing can said of Ironman, Harvey Ramer, and a host of others here.