It's A Re-Pipe!

New England SteamWorks

We don't normally get excited over re-pipe jobs. As a matter of fact, we don't really like doing them at all because there's never a happy ending. No matter how good of a job you do, how happy could a customer be? They're paying twice for the same job. That doesn't make anyone happy.

But we ran into this Doctor couple the other week with a great home in a great neighborhood, a great family. They had it all except their heating system was driving them bonkers! The kids sleep with ear plugs, and half the house requires thermals to keep from freezing.

When we walked into the boiler room, we found this:



A very nice Warren Webster Vapor system connected to a side-outlet Dunkirk, with a header from hell. Even when piped correctly, those side-outlet boilers can be tricky. But you haven't got a prayer when you pipe it like this.

So the guys were double happy to demolish the old header: happy to be rid of it, and happy to collect the scrap proceeds.

But it's not an easy re-pipe. Naturally one doesn't want to go crazy cost-wise for the above mentioned reason. Which means first and foremost not to move the boiler. The elaborate flue couldn't be moved either because the 4" supply Tee was directly in-line with it. So, you do the best you can, always wishing they had found you first.

But in the end, I think we did alright:





Nothing fancy. We just upped the header size to 2-1/2" into a 4" drop, then piped the supply in 4". That oughta work, I think.

Next week we'll be installing a trap test station and going through all the traps. We'll add a vaporstat, do a bunch of skimming, and then the family should have a heating system to match everything else in their lives.

Perfect.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Looks great from here!! Nice job!!

Jamie Hall

You do get some winners to work on, don't you? And lovely re-pipe. You wonder why I recommend you when I can?

The Steam Whisperer

Yeah, you can hear the water pumping out of those Dunkirks when they're running. 4 inch header for one that big is probably a really good idea. On a side note, its funny how I always find the cheapo Dunkirks in the big expensive homes. However, I've checked the price of the Dunkirk steamers this past year and if you factor in the fact that you need 2 risers on nearly all the sizes, a Peerless is about the same price installed. From the big suppliers in Chicago, everyone gets shipped out with 2- 2 1/2 x 2 bushings.

gerry gill

Excellent save😀 bet they sleep better now👍

EBEBRATT-Ed

I think If i had to do a Dunkirk I would drip the skim tees into the returns to see if it would keep the water out of the risers. Maybe a cross, drip the bottom and still have the horizontal for skimming. But you would have to stuff a rag in the drip when skimming

mattmia2

Is that a gate valve on the gas? I was thinking it definitely isn't right but maybe it isn't so bad as long as it is clean until you said vapor.

DanHolohan

Superb, as always. Thanks!

Robert O'Brien

"We don't normally get excited over re-pipe jobs. As a matter of fact, we don't really like doing them at all because there's never a happy ending. No matter how good of a job you do, how happy could a customer be? They're paying twice for the same job. That doesn't make anyone happy."

Truer words were never spoken!

nicholas bonham-carter

I’m sure that they have suffered enough with the bad installation, and it’s noise, so as to be very happy with the solution you have provided to their problems!!—NBC

Ctoilman

What was the outcome?....I'm assuming all is quiet now?