Am I the last Hydrotherm Hydropulse AM-100 owner in the world?

StahlMaster

Am I?

SuperTech

No, I saw pictures of one that was still in operation last year.

hot_rod

One of a few I suspect.

mattmia2

Are those sort of like an HTP Phoenix?

jumper

I remember when they were introduced.At then prevelant high interest rates there was a question if they made made economic sense. Some years later Fulton introduced much bigger pulse water heaters. I also seem to remember that Lennox offered a pulse furnace that turned out unsatisfactory.

kcopp

I saw one in November. Its there in the home. its not running but the homeoner wants to get it operating again…

Mad Dog_2

Still see them chugging along . U got a picture of yours? What year installed? Mad Dog

StahlMaster

mattmia2

Is that a door mat under it?

StahlMaster

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1743772#Comment_1743772

No. That is 2 door mats under it. I think it helps with vibration and noise transmission. It under our stairwell.

Mad Dog_2

Oh no! That's not an approved base for the heater! Remove at once!!!! KIDDING......looks to be in VG shape. I love that Blue AGA star...harkens back 1970s & 1980s..I'm gonna say a 1980 manufacturing date? Mad Dog

DanHolohan

Thete's B1994 on the label. Probably February 1994.

Mad Dog_2

Sharp Eyes Grampa Holohan better than mines! I refuse to get bi-focals... Mad Dog

StahlMaster

I'm doing the 5 year service for this am-100 boiler. Can someone remind me the correct temperature setting for the high- limit. I like to check instead of relaying on the auqastat setting. It's "set" at 160 now. I have radiant baseboard radiators.

JohnNY

I see you have the flue muffler. My father installed one in our house in the…I don't know…late '80s I'd say. It was the loudest thing in the house. We put a Weil-McLain in the following year and had that boiler until Hurricane Sandy wiped it out.

StahlMaster

I hear a lot of complaints about the noise of these units. I can honestly say that has never been an issue for us in our 1,400 sq ft house. The unit is installed under our basement stairs and vent out next to the side door.

hot_rod

On a rubber pad, with the front cover on, they were not too bad. Probably noiser outside by the vent termination.

A testament to how long a condensing heater can last. I think that was long before the controls had data logging capacity. It would bve interesting to know how may cycles it has run, I'd bet over 100,000!

StahlMaster

You are right, the noise at the outside vent is both louder than other units and much more unique!

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

I serviced three of them, late 90's. Replaced one with a Munchkin and lost track if the others, thank goodness as I didn't like them. Same with GlowCore.

StahlMaster

Ok. This is what I observed today. I had the heat turned down to 64degrees to do this test. I have one zone valve for the house heat and one for the hot water.
The boiler temp is 100degrees pressure is 16psi (by the gauge)
Aquastat is set to 180degrees with a differential of 20degrees
The temperature in the house (1400sqft) is 64degrees. I set the temperature to 68degrees.
11:23 64 set to 68. Call for heat went on. Zone valve for heat turned boiler started.
11:27 Boiler temp 120degrees pressure 19psi Circ ON
11:30 Boiler temp 130degrees pressure 19psi Circ ON
11:34 Boiler temp 145degrees pressure 20psi Circ ON
11:37 Boiler temp 160degrees pressure 21psi Circ ON
11:40 Boiler temp 170degrees pressure 22psi Circ ON
11:43 Boiler temp 180degrees pressure 23psi Circ ON
11:46 Boiler temp 188degrees pressure 24psi Circ ON
11:50 Boiler temp 191degrees pressure 25psi House temp 65.8degrees Boiler OFF circulator ON
11:55 Boiler temp 170degrees pressure 22psi House temp 66.3degrees Boiler ON circulator ON
12:06 Boiler temp 191degrees pressure 25psi House temp 67.4degrees Boiler OFF circulator ON
12:12 Boiler temp 170degrees pressure 22psi House temp 68 degrees Boiler ON circulator ON
12:22 Boiler temp 191degrees pressure 25psi House temp 69 degrees Boiler OFF circulator OFF call for heat OFF.
When the service guy came, he changed a bad pressure tank (28 years old, weak bladder) and changed the aquastat setting from 210degrees (it had a metal stop at that setting, NOT movable) to 180degrees.
It appears to me that this system is working fine.
What do the professionals think?

mattmia2

Did you check the precharge in the expansion tank? Depending on the size of the system and size of the tank it might be fine although my guess was the precharge needed to be topped off. Settign the aquastat to 210 makes no sense, 180 or maybe a little less is where that should be depending on system design.

StahlMaster

The tank has/had a precharge of 12psi.

Thanks.

mattmia2

What are you runnign the system at? It should match the cold fill pressure of the system.

StahlMaster

The cold fill pressure is 14psi.

mattmia2

The precharge should be 14 psig then.

StahlMaster

S"ettign the aquastat to 210 makes no sense, 180 or maybe a little less is where that should be depending on system design"
What would "depending on the system design" mean exactly? I have one heating zone and one hot water. How do I determine system design.