First....they took away my Black Magic.....

Mad Dog_2

Asphalt paint that we would paint our lead pans and lead bends in.  Jimmy The Gent Burke showed me how cool it was to paint up all of our black pipe and fittings on our completed steam and hot water boilers.  The Black Magic Asphalt Paint didn't appear until the boiler was wired & fired...All tools out except a Pipe Wrench or two, channel Locks, your voltage ⚡ meter and a 6 way screw driver.  The installation was not complete until we did our ritual.   It was the icing and Fondit on a Master Pastry Chef's 🎂 Cake. If we REALLY liked the people and they REALLY appreciated us, we'd break out the Gold Leaf paint and adorn the Chunky Bossings, Letters (WARD!).  The crowd went wild for that!  Sure, We heard a few times over the years from Jealous Competitors mostly, how stupid and unnecessary it was to paint our pipes, and that we wasted alot of time on it....20 minutes??   Please.   What's amazing about the Black Magic is how it never fades...25 yrs later.  Its all about The Pride.  NOW..........I am seeing first hand that they are no longer manufacturing my Belolved MEX Soap...can't get it anywhere...discontinued 😠 over...another one bites the dust...Pandemic result?   Not happy about these two great products I've used since the Mid 1980s When Can Halen & Motley Crue ruled the World.   Mad Dog

Mad Dog_2

Got two bottles left....Mad Dog 🐕 

Mad Dog_2

I remember when the gallon can of Black Magic spilled in Big Red, my main Triple Crown Van that I bought brand new in 89
Up in Boston (Thought I was a Goner on the plane flight ✈ up...another time)and drove for 25 yrs.  You can just forget above cleaning it up...it ain't comin off!   The upside is that It dried hard to the touch  not sticky  mad dog 

Mad Dog_2

Man...that looked sharp!  Someone's gotta make something close to Black Magic!  Mad 🐕 Dog

Mad Dog_2

ChrisJ

Considering all of that piping should be insulated I'm not sure I agree with painting it. Taking pride in work, absolutely.

Gas piping could be nice, but we all know how that goes over in your area.

Curious why you have that first boiler piped without a header and you increased the riser size over the boiler which if anything would tend to trap water due to the velocity drop.

I can't see what's actually going on with the piping in the second picture.

hot_rod

.I am seeing first hand that they are no longer manufacturing my Belolved MEX Soap...can't get it anywhere...discontinued 😠 over...another one bites the dust...

THEY being the groups trying to protect our waterways, great lakes and shorelines. Algae blooms are a result of oxygen starved water.

Fish and water fowl, aquatic life or phosphates is what it comes down to. Whats your choice?

Road deicers are a big part of declining water quality also.

lager

I choose Hot Rod's approach

lager

TSP stands for Trisodium Phosphate, but Phosphate Free means they replaced the TSP with other chemicals, safer for the environment, I learned something today, time to go home !

lager

who goes their,,,,,,,, friend or enema, sodium phosphate enema are sold over-the-counter in the U S, so you can clean you hands and colon at the same time: ;-)

JakeCK

hot_rod said:

.I am seeing first hand that they are no longer manufacturing my Belolved MEX Soap...can't get it anywhere...discontinued 😠 over...another one bites the dust... THEY being the groups trying to protect our waterways, great lakes and shorelines. Algae blooms are a result of oxygen starved water. Fish and water fowl, aquatic life or phosphates is what it comes down to. Whats your choice? Road deicers are a big part of declining water quality also.

I hate road deicer. It ain't good for my truck, it ain't good for the environment, and it ain't good for the pavement. There are alternatives that aren't so corrosive. 

ChrisJ

JakeCK said:

hot_rod said:

.I am seeing first hand that they are no longer manufacturing my Belolved MEX Soap...can't get it anywhere...discontinued 😠 over...another one bites the dust...

THEY being the groups trying to protect our waterways, great lakes and shorelines. Algae blooms are a result of oxygen starved water.

Fish and water fowl, aquatic life or phosphates is what it comes down to. Whats your choice?

Road deicers are a big part of declining water quality also.

I hate road deicer. It ain't good for my truck, it ain't good for the environment, and it ain't good for the pavement. There are alternatives that aren't so corrosive. 


What alternatives are there?

mattmia2

The damage from deicer comes from the increased freeze thaw cycles. Anything that works will damage the road more than the ice itself.

Doesn't most of the phosphate in waterways come from farm runoff, not household detergent, even before the phosphate detergent bans?

Mad Dog_2

First, Chris:
1) I agree with installing the maximum amount Of thermal insulation on all heating piping throughout a building. However, I rarely opt to insulate near boiler piping on Hot water or steam manifolds or headers.
Three reasons. Insulation hides leaks that can do extensive damage to said piping, boiler controls, burner  and jacket .  2) I  provide proper outside combustion air to my boiler rooms. This can mean the  possibility of freezing a pipe in the boiler room even when all overhead and piping near the opening to outside is well insulated.  When we get single digit real temps with 25 mph wind chill in NYC , all bets are off.  The header, near boiler piping serve as the radiation for the boiler room, keeping it just warm enough to prevent a freeze up.  This prevents one from having to have ANOTHER set of radiators or a modine heater on its own zone.  I don't find that energy efficient at all.  3) Nicely insulated headers and near boiler piping often confuse the next plumber who has to tie in a new zone or what have you, and has no idea what piping material is under there, or where the best spot to cut in.  So, they wind up hacking out chunks of it and before long its a bloody mess.  Plumbers & Boiler men hate working with Fiberglass insulation and will NOT be putting it back or patching it...trust me.  4) Trouble shooting ANY boiler is much faster without insulation on it.  I use my hands alot on boilers and steam or hot water piping to take temperatures and I'm quite accurate versus a thermometer after almost 4 decades installing and servicing.  5) I, like many here take extreme pride in my craft.  I like to see my beautiful header every year.  I also want the world to see it.  I will not apologize for that.  

The Steamer with Gold leaf. One of my employees piped that like that when I was on vacation and when I first saw it, I took a step back.  After 20 seconds I complimented him for his creativity. There is nothing wrong with that configuration.
The Steam riser out of the boiler is instantly increased to 3" from 2" (Slows steam velocity and not pulling boiler water out with it) rises well above the 24" minimum above the water line, goes horizontal in to a steam header,  shoots right across in to the equalizer and dry steam travels up on to mains.  Its a header turned 90 degrees & Meets all requirements.  The drawings in the Manufacturer's booklets show common industry MINIMUM practices.  For many years, they didn't show a drop header but many of us did it anyway because we know The Steam reeeeel good and are not constricted in our thinking or creativity.
I'm not a cookie-cutter, copy cat plumber.  I do intelligent , creative, value-enginered designs for very good reasons.  I know many good experienced plumbers who do EVERY boiler the same ..saving them.alot of time and $$$ but  I have found that every job is slightly different and every installation deserves to be customized.  My jobs look unconventional at times, but they ALWAYS work quietly, efficiently and well.  As an artist 🎨 of pipe, I prefer to be independent and individualistic.  It keeps me enthusiastic.   I never ran with the crowd,  never will..

Hot 🔥 Rod, Chris, and Lager.
I have been an environmentalist my entire life.  I too want clean water and air for my fambly. I have  almost come to blows with water-wasters when I worked on notorious  Rikers Island jail doing projects.  The guys would rig the outdoor water fountain ⛲ to run ALL DAY LONG in the Hot summer JUST so they could have the coldest  water when break came.  They would rig it, I would take it apart.  On and on all day till the standoff. I refused to back down 19yrs old:  The guy says
"YOU"RE..BLANK BLANK BLANKETY CRAXY BRO...IF YOU CARE SO MUCH YOU SHOULD MOVE TO THE BLANKETY BLANK Catskills!!!!! They did stop after that.    I am a hardcore Hunter, Fisherman, 
Animal breeder, keeper of reptiles, amphibians and trutles  LOVE nature! 
My two oldest kids are working and training in the field of Environmental issues.water purity, proper sewage disposal,  the Daylighting of Old city creeks and rivers. We get it...MY CHOICE is to adjust and change
Our practices  in pragmatic stages,  But the main point is, what do I do now to clean my steam boilers when MEX Has been the industry Gold Standard for as long as I've been in the business.   Those gimmicks in the Supply Houses never helped me, but MEX did.  If it were up to me I'd plow the roads, sand them and make sure everyone 
Has VG snow tires...NO DEICER.  I  have also proposed that ALL gas stations be ringed with trough drains that go to an Oil separator instead of running on to the street and in to our water ways.  You fellas are preaching to the choir....but What do I do for today?   Mad 🐕 Dog