What is this ?

tom k_5

I went on a heat call for a radiator not getting hot, someone turned valve off.
my question though is I saw this device which I have never seen before.
the sysytem  if steam at one time would indicate it was one pipe steam. 

Someone added returns
or could this be an old gravity system?
The main is 2”

here is picture 

Steamhead

It's a Honeywell Heat Generator. Go here for more:

https://heatinghelp.com/heating-museum/mark-c-honeywells-patent-for-the-heat-generator/

Be careful- that thing is full of mercury!

JUGHNE

Somewhere here on the wall is the story of how much it costs to clean up one that was spilled.
$XX,XXX. You do not want to touch it unless you are aware of the dangers.

DanHolohan

Please listen: https://heatinghelp.com/dead-men-tales/a-50000-dollar-mistake/

Solid_Fuel_Man

Put your hands in your pockets and back away! Lol

mattmia2

JUGHNE said:

Somewhere here on the wall is the story of how much it costs to clean up one that was spilled.
$XX,XXX. You do not want to touch it unless you are aware of the dangers.

I seem to recall reading one story that said it cost a lot to clean up and another that said we did what you would have done.

mattmia2

Someone added returns? It always had returns and there are valves available that will feed a radiator from one side like the honewell did.

Erin Holohan Haskell

Here's a video about the Honeywell Heat Generator and how it worked: https://heatinghelp.com/systems-help-center/honeywells-heat-generator/

SlamDunk

I feel bad for that homeowner. You can't take mercury lightly anymore.

I was driving home some ten years ago and came to a road block near a middle school. The road was closed and the school was surrounded by fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, unmarked cars and, get this, SUV's from the coast guard. We were more than 300 miles away from the coast!

Turns out some fifth graders broke a mercury thermometer and were trying to scoop up the mercury before the teacher caught them. No one knew how the Hg thermometer got into the school. It was in a laboratory classroom.

The school was evacuated and the kids in direct contact with the mercury were isolated, stripped of their clothing and de-contaminated in a local hospital. They were released to their parents only after the federal EPA agents said it was safe to do so. The kids were were terrified.

The coast guard was there because there is a stream you could step over a few hundred yards away. The EPA sent agents up from Atlanta!

Quicksilver. It used to be an educational tool, even something to play with, but is now hazardous material. If only it didn't cause brain damage.

JUGHNE

So that is what is wrong with us Baby Boomers!
Everyone my age group has talked about, in high school science classes, chasing HG around with pieces of paper to scoop it up to put back into the jar.

Over Chrismas vacation, I found some HG tstats to show my grandkids what HG looked like.
The should know how to reconize it, as it is nearly non-existent in their daily lives.
Also have some lead flashing and abestoes paper in the shop, but did not want to upset the inlaw/parents.
Although my kids have seen this most of their life their spouses have not.

DanHolohan

That's a good thing you're doing, @JUGHNE. Thanks!

JUGHNE

Thank you Dan.
One of the saving graces of HG is that you could not pick it up with your fingers, always had to scoop it up with the paper. So actual contact was very limited.

Just think, we used to stick a glass tube full of HG into our mouths....other places also.

Jamie Hall

You know, when I look back on what we did when I was young... what my parents did... what their parents did...it's a wonder any of us are here to tell about it, never mind lived long enough to tell our children.

But... 3,000 years ago the Psalmist wrote "three score and ten is the measure of a man" (and added that some folks live another 20 years beyond). Our normal life span -- barring death from childhood infections, childbirth, and accidents hasn't changed. In 3,000 years. It's just that now we are terrified of living normal lives, and terrified of dying. We have to stop being afraid of living -- and accept that dying, like it or not, is something we'll all do someday. Think about it.

SlamDunk

when Lou Costello was asked how he wanted to die in an episode of Abbott & Costello, he answered " of old age". I'm with Lou!

ratio

Amen, Brother Jamie! "Don't be afraid" is a good motto to live by. Too bad I've got to qualify that with a(n un)common-sense "but don't do stupid stuff", but that's the world we live in.

ethicalpaul

SlamDunk said:

when Lou Costello was asked how he wanted to die in an episode of Abbott & Costello, he answered " of old age". I'm with Lou!

Tyrian Lannister had a rather more colorful version in Game of Thrones that I won't share here

I played with mercury in my hand as a kid a few times. I think the response described above to those kids who did so was rather over the top. It's the vapor or eating it that will get you in trouble is my understanding.

SlamDunk

I asked an EHS guy why he thought the coast guard was brought in and he said If a duck could paddle in the stream, it was navigable waters.