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Gravity fed boiler OLD
pipers
Member Posts: 21
in Gas Heating
So today I saw an American Radiator & Standard Sanitary Corp, Old gravity fed boiler system without a PRV, no low water cutoff,no manual reset aquastat, no roll out no spill switch hardly any safety at all only one regular aquastat but what disturbed me was there are two pilots on the burner one is coming off a baso safety with a thermocouple, but the other one had no protection and I found that one spewing gas I checked that it wasn’t dangerous and lit it up I’m going include a few pictures off the boiler and some of the pilot ….and is this normal for old boilers like this
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Comments
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No that is rust i think it condenses a bit in the summer when not in use because of those giant pilots0
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I believe they they weren’t to concerned with that back then they figured the gas would just go through the chimney since natural gas rises but I will be suggesting the dual baso thanks0
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I think the gas would find the other pilot before you had a significant explosion but both pilots should be proven.
You need to make sure whatever is causing that scorching is fixed.0 -
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We are working on a plan for it0
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It is an old system , that was normal for the time . They figured the second pilot would light once there was a call for heat . Could it be better ,sure ... What would be nice is a new properly sized boiler . Do a heat loss calculation to figure the right size . A smaller properly size boiler on a gravity system would add comfort and fuel savings . Back when that boiler was replaced they thought bigger was better . All you need is a boiler big enough to heat the house on the coldest day of the year . With all that mass the beauty is the system temperature would reach to what is needed on that given day . Like a out door reset . Slower boiler build up works best on your system .. Remember coal was used originaly ..
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No one thought about safety in those days, staying warm was the greatest concern. Units installed like that ran forever. Prior to that boiler they used coal and what safeties do you have with coal, a relief valve and a whistle to indicate both high and low water. It was common, in schools and large buildings to see a National US with 5,000,000 btu's input with 10 pilots and only 1 or 2 being supervised with a Baso switch.1
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