ARCO Ideal 28 Hot Water Boiler Age and Info

offdutytech

Go for a no heat call turn the corner and see this beauty. ARCO Ideal 28, house was built in 1880s homowner said. Anyone have more info on this boiler? It looks nice but has a few issues and we are going to quote replacement, boss dosnt want the liability for repair.  Contemplating two smaller boilers vs one large one due to stock and the pipe configuration. 

JUGHNE

Did you get a chance to run it and clock the meter?

Steamhead

50% efficient at best on gas or oil. Bet the new boilers cut their gas usage in half.

offdutytech

It was not running when I got there. Burner was in rough shape. Customer is ready upgrade, From some info that I found the coal rating was 1500-1650 ( this was from a later model 1908). Can't remember if that's all I need to find an aprox BTU rating. We are doing a load calc, i'm more curious on the rating of the boiler. A little more investigation on the piping to determine if I'm going to put smaller boilers or one large one in with narrow access to basement. 

mattmia2

A mod con usually does well on a gravity conversion and will fit down the stairs. It wouldn't be unusual to buy a larger coal boiler so that more coal could be stacked on the grates so it didn't have to be stoked as often.

JUGHNE

The size of the orifice in the burner and a guess at the gas pressure to it out of the valve (3.5"?) might get you in a range.

EBEBRATT-Ed

I don't know what they heated that house with in 1880 but I would bet anything that is the first and only boiler installed in that house.

I always wondered how they picked up those horizontal sections and set them on the push nipples. Maybe they brought the horse down stairs. That boiler will be a nice removal job.

offdutytech

I will be heading back to the job to take more measurements and see if I can get more info off the gas train retrofit. A Viessman  Vitocrossal was my first thought or divide the right side supply / return to its own boiler and do the same with the left. Going to have to run the numbers for the customer

JUGHNE

Look for the open top expansion on the top floor or in the attic, that will have to be capped.

Also as far as dividing the zones up for left and right, I have found that they are usually stacked up. Some piping to the right might do 2-3 floors above it.
And the same for the left.

So not a matter of splitting up that easy.

offdutytech

I didn't make it up to the attic just yet to look for the tank. At first glance that looks like what they did

mattmia2

Unless the house is enormous a single modcon will likely heat it just fine. Tee the supply and returns together, put a balancing valve somewhere in each branch, size the bear boiler piping based in the heat loss, look for orifice plates on the top radiators which you may need to move to the lower radiators. You don't need a tone of flow. Put a magnetic dirt separator on the return.

Alan Welch

Looks like it was almost time to replace the rusty plug in the relief valve. There might be a date on the pressure gauge ...not that it would coincide with the boiler age. Don't throw that out, a few people collect them.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Just imagine, no low water cutoff, a strap on aquastat and it survived for over 100 years. Probably was Coal fired for much of its life. I would guess maybe 1950s on the gas burner.

Put a Carlin gas burner in it and run it for another 100 years. LOL

WMno57

JUGHNE said:

Also as far as dividing the zones up for left and right, I have found that they are usually stacked up. Some piping to the right might do 2-3 floors above it.
And the same for the left.
So not a matter of splitting up that easy.

That's the way my 1916 gravity hot water piping is. Someday, I might replace my boiler. At that time it would be nice to put the second floor on a separate zone. But that would involve more re-piping. Only 4 radiators on my second floor, so they might get their own pex runs.

offdutytech

Worked up a quote for a Viessman Vitocrossal 300 with taps for indirect direct domestic option. Talking to the customer about his gas bills 😮. They are ready to change after we compared the efficiency of the equipment vs what they had.

reggi

Measuring for rating. Heights, pipe sizes, etc and do the math

sopcopotoptop

Hi offdutytech! I’m new to this but I have a 4-28-W ARCO Ideal Series 28-1B round boiler I just picked up. The slice door was all busted up but the rest of the boiler is in amazing shape. Did you end up removing this boiler and changing out for your customer? If so, would the slice door be available? Thanks for your post and the time. Scott.