Very old GE burner- replace or keep?
Comments
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You have got to be kidding. It may run -- after a fashion -- and heat the house, but that old puppy has served its time and needs to be retired. If nothing else, it's probably burning twice as much fuel as a new one would.
I might add that the white stuff on the boiler almost certainly has asbestos in it...Br. Jamie, osb
Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
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I think you got your money’s worth, and you’re getting about a 40%-50% overall efficiency.
It’s just the original burner motor that’s a GE, not the burner itself.
Time for a new, modern, efficient, properly sized/installed boiler.
I honestly wouldn’t even put my tool bucket down to touch it.There was an error rendering this rich post.
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If it's running ok, you should get some quotes and budget for it's replacement this summer if at all possible.
Measure the radiation and calculate the connected EDR. Then find a good contractor Check "find a contractor" on this site0 -
1928. That's awesome but its gotta go.
Its gonna hurt the wallet with asbestos removal and a quality new installation so I don't envy your sister. Personally, I would have to borrow on it, which is common with any major household upgrade. So I would definitely replace the whole system.
Where is your sister located?
The best steam guys are right here.0 -
#1 It's gotta go.
#2 Find a good local steam guy and don't nickle and dime him. His knowledge is priceless. Anyone can swing a Stilson.0 -
That's gotta go. Even if for the only reason is that her fuel bill will drop by half, if not more than, half. That boiler is living on borrowed time.
I'll bet the fuel savings will pay for a new boiler install in five years.
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Jamie Hall said:
You have got to be kidding. It may run -- after a fashion -- and heat the house, but that old puppy has served its time and needs to be retired. If nothing else, it's probably burning twice as much fuel as a new one would.
I might add that the white stuff on the boiler almost certainly has asbestos in it...STEVEusaPA said:I think you got your money’s worth, and you’re getting about a 40%-50% overall efficiency.
It’s just the original burner motor that’s a GE, not the burner itself.
Time for a new, modern, efficient, properly sized/installed boiler.EBEBRATT-Ed said:If it's running ok, you should get some quotes and budget for it's replacement this summer if at all possible.
Measure the radiation and calculate the connected EDR. Then find a good contractor Check "find a contractor" on this siteHVACNUT said:1928. That's awesome but its gotta go.
Its gonna hurt the wallet with asbestos removal and a quality new installation so I don't envy your sister. Personally, I would have to borrow on it, which is common with any major household upgrade. So I would definitely replace the whole system.
Where is your sister located?
The best steam guys are right here.BDR529 said:#1 It's gotta go.
#2 Find a good local steam guy and don't nickle and dime him. His knowledge is priceless. Anyone can swing a Stilson.
These.SlamDunk said:That's gotta go. Even if for the only reason is that her fuel bill will drop by half, if not more than, half. That boiler is living on borrowed time.
I'll bet the fuel savings will pay for a new boiler install in five years.
Where is this located?All Steamed Up, Inc.
Towson, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting1 -
It think that the asbestos is in bad shape is what concerns me most about this.
Better to plan ahead and replace it in a controlled manner than have it be an emergency when it leaks (which could be next week or could be 50 years from now).
Probably getting one of Dan's books and reading so you know what questions to ask and how it should be done would be a good idea to help choose someone who can do it properly. There will be some retrofitting to make it work with a modern boiler and that will have to be done properly for the new system to work as well as the old system does.0 -
I recognize that style of boiler.... You likely have the 2nd burner assembly. The 1st one was a stoker fed coal pot (and I've replaced those burner pots when they needed it in my youth as I worked for the heating contractor that delivered coal and cleaned and serviced coal boilers and furnaces).
Someone retrofitted an oil burner into it. Likely in the 1950's or 1960's (possibly later; but most home heating coal use was gone by the end of the 70's unless you lived in coal country). This was a common retrofit in its day.
Estimated efficiency of that boiler with an oil burner is likely less than 33%, and perhaps as low as 25%.
The people discussing asbestos are also correct. You will need to get quotes from an asbestos abatement company unless you have a friend who works for one (or other connections). I did the asbestos abatement on my brothers old furnace when he purchased his current house so he could install a new furnace because I knew all the requirements and could borrow all the equipment and purchase the supplies from an asbestos abatement contractor I used in the Power Plant I managed back then (most of my adult life has been as an engineer in power plants - and I was an experienced Asbestos Worker at that time). I'm not a heating contractor; but am an educated homeowner (who benefited greatly from this site, although I rarely post).
While in theory you could just clean up the asbestos, re-insulate with modern insulation, and install a burner (assuming you can find a contractor who knows how to do that right for your boiler). I believe that things will be much better off just replacing it with a modern boiler.
Unfortunately, you may spend more money on the Asbestos abatement than the boiler itself, depending on how much other asbestos is in bad shape and on the piping.
Perry0 -
Those were originally installed with a stoker? I had assumed it was just hand fired.0
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Hand fired would have had a bigger upper firebox door (larger than where the stoker opening on the bottom), which would have allowed "chunk" coal to be shovel in. Hand fired chunk coal/wood boilers would have been much larger in diameter as well.
This was a stoker boiler. They were very reliable, and you only usually needed to fill the stoker every day to every 2 days. Hand fired boilers/furnaces had to be typically tended every 6-8 hours.
Perry
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I remember the day when I would install a Lynn Time Saver Chamber and a Carlin CRD burner with a new-fangled primary control that has an EYE.
We would patch that asbestos with struc-o-lite and put a coat of white paint on the insulation, paint the doors silver, new smoke pipe and draft control and get a whopping $600.00. for the day. "A Complete Modernization" My uncle used to call it.
...and it would get 75% steady-state efficiency
save you 20% on your oil bill and the oil customer did not switch to gasEdward Young Retired
After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?
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And to be accurate That is not a GE Burner. The burner motor was made by General Electric The fuel pump was made by Sundstrand (now Suntec) and the ignition transformer was probably an Allison or Webster Electric. (Not visible in the picture) The actual burner brand could have been one of over 100 oil burner manufacturers from the 1940s and 1950s.
The actual name brand of the burner would be on a sticker that may have peeled off long ago.Edward Young Retired
After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?
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By the look of the "Fire Door," your heater expired in 2002 LOL
Edward Young Retired
After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?
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I remember working on those burners , thinking Silent Heat , not sure it's been years . The name would be on the burner access door .. I am not surprised it is still running , But surprise to see one again .. How many gallons a year on average does it burn?
There was an error rendering this rich post.
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Quiet heaT was another brand name. The quieter you made it The more oil it would burn, And how many customers looked at the nozzle assembly with the fan blade design electrode holder would ask "Does that thing spin inside there?"
Edward Young Retired
After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?
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On Long Island by me, Robot Heating Equipment burners were popular. Many were Shell Head. The Fireball!
Fuel companies would also put there own stamp on it.1
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