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No circulating pump in radiant floor system

BlueBaron
BlueBaron Member Posts: 3
in Radiant Heating
Hello! I have a radiant floor system that is very old. I have a newish Triangle Tube Prestige Boiler (6 years old). I am trying to understand the basics of my system. I do not see any zone valves or circulating pump. How does water circulate without a pump? What am I missing? Thanks for your help!


Comments

  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 23,387
    is there a pump inside the boiler?
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
    BlueBaron
  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,611
    It is inside the cabinet on the right.
    It looks like an MCBA5 model. It's probably more like 10-15 years old.
    How is it running?
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
    BlueBaron
  • BlueBaron
    BlueBaron Member Posts: 3
    Thank you so much! You are exactly right! This is just the kind of help that I was looking for. And you were right that it is older.  But it runs great. It is running so great that I am thinking of replacing my tank hot water heater with a Triangle Tube Smart tank (and piping it to my boiler).
  • psb75
    psb75 Member Posts: 906
    If you have an indirect hot water tank set up, then you will need to have a dedicated circulator for that.
    BlueBaron
  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,611
    Your direct piping plan is a bit unusual. Most installations have primary/secondary piping to assure correct flow through the boiler. Yours seems to be running great so carry on :) .
    If you add an indirect, you may need to do a bit of repiping. With the circ built into the boiler, I would suggest piping it just like the manual. Primary/secondary on the heat with a separate DHW circ with priority.
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
    BlueBaron
  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 5,291
     Zman said:
    Your direct piping plan is a bit unusual. Most installations have primary/secondary piping to assure correct flow through the boiler. Yours seems to be running great so carry on :) . If you add an indirect, you may need to do a bit of repiping. With the circ built into the boiler, I would suggest piping it just like the manual. Primary/secondary on the heat with a separate DHW circ with priority.
    Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut
  • BlueBaron
    BlueBaron Member Posts: 3
    edited August 2021
    @Zman, thanks for your help. I noticed that my setup has the expansion tank on the hot side, but all of the manufacturer diagrams appear to show them on the cold side. Do you see a problem with that? Thanks very much!
  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,611
    The expansion tank should be on the return in your case. It wants to be as close as possible the suction side of the circulator. That type of boiler has very little resistance to flow, so piping it as shown in the manual is correct.
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
    BlueBaron

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