OLD NRC BOILER

mattmia2

Another option would be to replace it in its current position yourself to get the heat running then have a pro come out and move it when they can fit you in to their schedule. Make sure you size the tank for the volume of your system.

BRR

Good Evening Everyone:

And thank you to all of you who took time and effort to assist me; it is greatly appreciated.
1st and foremost: No one on this site is responsible for my decisions, nor ever will be and/or will ever incur any liability claims from me, period.

To express my appreciation, the least I could do in gratitude is update you the status of things.
1)Did go buy tank, approximately same size, for reasons previously noted, again, current is old, worked fine for house, etc. for many years; so while larger may be better, the least investment on such an old system is best for my pockets, when I have YRs of such size working fine but now that l have a better understanding of my system, I do recall always a little wetness at the auto drain.

My serviceman no doubt noticed it, but never stated it was a concern, nor opted to change it out, I mean, he chose it; I trusted him. He serviced it for at least 20yrs., kept it functioning with no problem I was aware of. In all that time, I never called for it not working, I called because rads weren't getting hot upstairs and/or unevenly; he taught me to bleed. I think he changed the therm. once and taught me to check the batteries.

Back to current status, sorry for digression. New tank NOT installed, Why? Friend and I could not get the old one off to install the new one.

Interestingly, old tank seems no longer logged, did not manually drain, did ping test with metal object: sounds hollow at bottom, full at top. Vavle it is attached to appears open, but can turn continuously left or right and hit a no turn point without the stem moving up or down; honestly don't know if open or closed. A bit of an oily drip came out of top of it, at the nut the stem sticks out of today, but not yesterday; seems to have a small drip either way, but best guess is fully open is turned left., but left in front of it or behind it?

Boiler was off all day until about 8PM, cold pressure was about 10, therm. set to 70 now, pressure was rising toward 20, drained to 12. Praise God weather will turn warm again for a minute.

Keeping eye on pressure, interested in all comments, thanks again, sweet dreams everyone.

BRR

pedmec

Your pressure in the expansion should always match your system fill pressure. Your fill pressure is determined from the point of connection of the fill valve at the boiler to the highest radiator plus an additional 4 psi to ensure the emitters are flooded. 4 psi is recommended. If you don't match psi you will have less room for expansion in the tank as the air in the bladder will have to compress until it matches the fill pressure.

BRR

Hello pedmec:

Thank you for your comment.

BRR

BRR

Ed Suggested:

You can use an upstairs radiator as an air cushion, like the old expansion tank.

1. Keep the heat on so the boiler water is hot
2. Put 25 PSI water pressure on the gauge
3. let air out of the radiator until water comes out.
4. If air stops coming out but you get no water, then close air valve.
5. Put more water pressure up to 25 PSI
6. Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5 until the last radiator.
7. On the last radiator, only fill it with enough water to get bottom half of the radiator has heat.
8. The top half of the radiator is the air cushion.

you can work it this way until the spring, when you can have it professionally repaired."

BRR copied reply:

I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW TO DO THIS WITHOUT DEALING WITH VERY HOT WATER.

TUES, FILLED "ALL" RADS WITH PRESSURE OF 18, BLED BEFORE AND AFTER, ALL RADS GOT GOOD AND WARM FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, BUT AS YOU KNOW PRESSURE KEPT RISING.

CURRENT PRESSURE ABOUT 9, TO DO WHAT YOU SAY, WITHOUT HANDLING HOT WATER, I "THINK":

1. PICK 1 OF 4 UPSTAIRS RADS "NOT TO BLEED", THERM IS AT 65, ALL RADS ARE COLD.
2. LET BOILER COOL
3. ADD WATER TO PRESSURE OF 25 OR 18?
4. BLEED OTHER 3 UPSTAIRS RADS, RELEASE AIR/BIT OF WATER, CLOSE VALVES
5. LEAVE PICKED RAD ALONE, DON'T BLEED, LEAVE AIR.

IS THAT CORRECT?

APOLOGY to all offended by all caps, this is a copy to ED, doesn't mind caps; a habit for me, faster typing without shifting.

All comments welcome, thanks to all.

BRR

WMno57

BRR said:

Vavle it is attached to appears open, but can turn continuously left or right and hit a no turn point without the stem moving up or down; honestly don't know if open or closed. A bit of an oily drip came out of top of it, at the nut the stem sticks out of today, but not yesterday; seems to have a small drip either way, but best guess is fully open is turned left., but left in front of it or behind it?

As you are facing the wheel of the valve:
Clockwise to close
Counter clockwise to open

BRR

Thank you W.

BRR

WMno57

Another tip for old stuck valves. Under the wheel is a nut. This is called the packing nut. If you loosen the packing nut with a wrench the valve will turn easier. It will leak like crazy, but that's OK. Once you get the valve opened or closed, just snug the packing nut back up. Not too tight. A little drip is better than stripping the packing nut.

BRR

I know that's the rule, but stem doesn't go up or down. Was facing valve, so clockwise is right, tighty= closed; left is counter, loosey= open.

Can anyone please address "CHANGE" in old E-tank? See BRR post 20, November 30.

THANKS,

BRR

EdTheHeaterMan

BRR said:

Can anyone please address "CHANGE" in old E-tank? See BRR post 20, November 30.

THANKS, BRR

To change the expansion tank, you will need to drain the boiler again.
This may be unnecessary.
Draining the boiler then filling it up again is no fun job as you already know.
I would try to avoid this.

Would you like me to let you know how to use one of the second floor radiators as a temporary expansion tank for the rest of the Winter?
That is what I might do in your situation.

Mr. Ed

BRR

Hello all & HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
Jus wanted to drop a few lines to say best wishes to all for a wonderful safe, happy, healthy & wealthy holiday season. AND, a special thank you to all that commented to BRR, Chicago last month. Had it not been for this site & all who helped with comments & suggestions, I'd be in a world of trouble right now.

Especial thanks to: EDtheHeaterMAN & WMno57, and update, the boiler is working jus fine, max pressure thus far when responding to therm is:16, when resting, for lack of a better phrase: 10.

Hoping ED is especially feeling wonderful; thanks again guys, I'll never forget you. If I can be of help to either of you from CHI-CITY, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Sincerely,

BRR

WMno57

@BRR I was just thinking of you yesterday and wondering if your heat was on. Very happy to hear you are warm. Thank you for the update. Here in the Midwest we got some brutal weather these last few days. Those may be the coldest days we get this Winter. We have January and February ahead of us, but we will get through this and Spring is coming. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and best wishes for a Happy New Year to you BRR.
@EdTheHeaterMan thank you for all the time you have spent educating us. I have learned so much from your posts.
@Erin Holohan Haskell @DanHolohan Thank you for hosting this forum.
@Hotrod Thank you for helping me get my heat back on two years ago. Your recommendation of Quality Tanks in Wisconsin was the key.
https://www.qualitytanksinc.com/
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to all.

BRR

HI, Happy New Yr to you too! Thank you for thinking of me. Yes, yes, yes, I am warm thanks to this site and especially to you and Ed. I am so grateful to the site and you two; wish I could've given you guys the money I spent.

Yes, us in the midwest, BUT, we've been blessed this yr., knock on wood; we could've been Buffalo, my heart goest out... May we be blessed the same thru April; I remember snow storms in April as a child here in CHI-CITY.

Anywhoo, best wishes.

BRR

vhauk

there are two type of gate valves, rising stem, and non rising stem. Most smaller gate valves are non rising stem. 

EdTheHeaterMan

vhauk said:

there are two type of gate valves, rising stem, and non rising stem. Most smaller gate valves are non rising stem. 

And what does this have to do with the price of potatos in Iceland?

Happy Warm New Year to you @BRR and to all that helped everyone last year