Replacement boiler - new issues

AdmiralYoda

@Dooma00 have the manual on hand.  It's all spelled out exactly how to pipe it, with pictures.  As others have said these are the minimum requirements.  

Jamie Hall

I think it is very, very important, @Dooma00 -- particularly if money is a bit short -- to get the priorities straight.

In this particular situation, you have to consider what would be the "best" arrangement -- which several people have noted -- and then consider what works. Sometimes what works might be preferable.

In this case, if one were starting from scratch, one would pipe the whole thing quite differently -- but you're not, and the question is, does what you have work? Will it give good results (maybe not the very best, but good)?

You do have an equalizer, unless my tired eyes deceive me -- it's the pipe at one end of the big pipe which turns down and then goes down to the boiler. You can see it best in the third picture on your pictures.

That picture also shows that that header pipe is considerably bigger than either the riser or the steam mains going off from it. This is very good indeed, and unless there was something else seriously wrong I wouldn't change it.

What is wrong, technically, is the sequence of connections to the header. In an ideal arrangement, the sequence starts at one end with the riser or risers (if there are two, at least the second one should come in from the side or the top), then the steam mains, which should leave from the top, or no more than 45 degrees off the top, then the equalizer.

You have some of that. The riser does come in from the side. That's good. The steam mains do go off no more than 45 degrees from the side. In fact, the only thing which isn't according to the latest thinking is that the riser comes in in the middle of the header, with two steam mains off one way and the other and the equalizer off the other.

Is this ideal? No. I this were a typical new arrangement, with a header no more than one pipe size larger than the riser and steam mains, it could well be problematic. But -- in this situation, with the header being as large as it is, I don't think it will be a problem.

I don't think you should insist on any of the corrections you mention being done -- simply because, while they would be nice, what you have will work. You may ask, of course, but I wouldn't insist.

Now. Your original post mentioned that the heat was now unbalanced and that you had hissing vents and, possibly, a pressure problem.

It is possible -- depending on which main serves which radiators -- that the odd sequence of main takeoffs is at least contributing to the imbalance problem. However, imbalance can also be corrected -- as indeed it usually is -- by making sure that there is adequate venting on the mains (you appear to have three of them) and then changing the vents on the radiators. This is both cheaper -- and in the long run more satisfactory -- than trying to change it by changing things around the boiler.

For the hissing vents and the pressure problem -- which may be related -- the best approach is a change -- a minor change -- at the boiler: have your technician install a low pressure gauge (0 to 5 psi -- they're cheap) on the same pigtail as the pressuretrol, and then use the gauge to assess what the pressuretrol is actually doing. They aren't exactly well known for accuracy. If necessary, the pressuretrol can be recalibrated (it's a little tricky). While he or she is installing it, he or she can make sure that the pigtail and opening to the boiler really are clear.

Dooma00

Thank you.  This makes a lot of sense.  I would not have expected to redesign the system.  It did work well in the past.  

JUGHNE

I think getting the second riser connected would be a good compromise for improvement. The oversized header may compensate for sequence of connections being not by the book.

If you were to offer to do the skimming yourself, after they showed you what to do. Then they may more forgiving in charging for the second riser. Skimming is time consuming, they might skim just a few minutes when an hour would be better.(done several times over a period of several days).

If you do the skimming check back for easier methods of doing so.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@Dooma00

It needs to look like the picture in the boiler manual. # of risers, pipe size (they can be larger but never smaller). The orientation of the piping is important Boiler riser(s) enter header then steam take offs to the system then equalizer at the end.

In addition if you have multiple steam mains they should be brought down and connected to the header individually