I'm still waiting to walk in the door and see one properly piped. I Have seen worse.

Double D

The original call was for a leak in a pipe over the boiler. It ended up being a pinhole in a dry return.
At first glance I mentioned to the homeowner that the boiler is not properly piped. Although I wasn't thinking she was doubting what I had to say, she let me know there was another serviceman there who never mentioned anything about the piping. Rather than see her spend more time and money for other opinions, I asked if it would be ok to post pictures of the install here to see what people that know what they're looking at have to say. I told her I would send her the link if I get any response.

New England SteamWorks

Horrendous...

Jamie Hall

I'm not sure what I like best -- the copper long horizontal in front of the sight glass which I suppose is meant to be a Hartford loop sort of thingy, or the equalizer (I think) fed off the leg of a T set vertically in the undersized copper "riser", or the ingenious use of the two separate riser connections to feed two separate mains, or...

Look. If even I can see that much that's unusual...

I might add, though, that if it provides reasonably quiet, even heat, it is an astonishing testimony to the ability of steam to work under adverse conditions!

the_donut

Not much worth salvaging.

ratio

I thnk I speak for everyone when I say

1Matthias

****. That is so, so wrong.

Dan_NJ

Were they looking at an M.C. Escher painting instead of the Dunkirk installation manual? How does that even work.

Fred

OMG what a mess! Where to start????

the_donut

Fred said:

OMG what a mess! Where to start????

All over.

nicholas bonham-carter

It may work somewhat, but at what cost in excess fuel consumption?
The pinhole leak probably provided the main venting!
I wonder why she didn’t call the other serviceman for the leak repair, and was he the installer?
He has made some good money on this, and wants to keep a low profile.—NBC

EBEBRATT-Ed

Sick

KC_Jones

Send them the link, I usually try and say what's right, but I can't find anything on that one.

And a "professional" charged money for that.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Against my better judgment I had to come back for another peek. I was speechless the first time but I have calmed down now.

That's about the worst one I have ever seen, is that like 1 1/2" copper into like 3"??

Steamhead

Looks like Beavis and Butt-head piped it. Tear out all that copper and start over.

1Matthias

@Steamhead I was thinking Larry, Curly, and Moe....

L Thiesen

Well one good thing is that it would be easy to cut out the copper and start over.

Double D

1-1/4" into 2-1/2" I think it might be time to send the link. The mains are 2" but the risers out of the original boiler were 2-1/2". The system heats but not evenly and yes it hammers.

the_donut

Quality install on dwh with flex lines. I bet you can shake that line 6” in each direction.

STEAM DOCTOR

Well. At least they used both risers.

the_donut

STEAM DOCTOR said:

Well. At least they used both risers.

Had to after cutting cross sectional area by 75%.

STEAM DOCTOR

Tape on the flue pipe

AMservices

Think I found the guys responsible for that horror show.

Steamhead

1Matthias said:

@Steamhead I was thinking Larry, Curly, and Moe....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXHVVXAcNYM

1Matthias

@Steamhead Exactly.

ScottSecor

Ok, I'm going to say something positive...I like the flanges. Although the original might be flange unions I suppose.

SuperTech

Bwahahaha! I rarely see steam boilers and I'm certainly not an expert, but any idiot can see that is not a proper, professional install.

It looks like a DIY job by someone who has never seen a steam boiler before. I'm surprised it functions.

Ironman

I think that even a novice could see that what's done in no way resembles the piping diagram in the manual.

KC_Jones

SuperTech said:

It looks like a DIY job by someone who has never seen a steam boiler before. I'm surprised it functions.

You haven't been around here very long have you? Other than people on this board, this is typical of what we see from contractors on steam. Well let's go with the low end of typical.

Look at my profile picture, that's a DIY job by me.....

PhilDavid

Just aweful... almost criminal. Installs like that rip off the customer and give steam a bad rap. I see these types of installs more often than I should. Couldn’t be piped any worse.

Pumpguy

The way I read the OP's post, I think the request is for a check list of each of the many things that are wrong with this installation.

I'm not the guy to do that, but I am sure others could supply this check list. Anybody want to chime in?

Double D

Here's a video that should come with every boiler.
https://youtu.be/6BCCXW8lA1g

lchmb

THATS AWESOME!! ok..now someone tell me what the black box is to the right of the tag..I'd try and identify it based on piping but my eye's crossed trying to follow it...

JUGHNE

If you look at the very first picture it looks to be the auto water feeder valve??

Fred

lchmb said:

THATS AWESOME!! ok..now someone tell me what the black box is to the right of the tag..I'd try and identify it based on piping but my eye's crossed trying to follow it...

I assume you are talking about the original pictures? If so, that's a probe type Low Water Cut-off.

brandonf

Artistic??