Question about near-boiler piping

saias

I've been in my house for 15 years and have had no real issues with my steam heat. The knowledge here is amazing and such a great resource for understanding and maintaining the system. I recently watched Dan Holohan's video on near-boiler piping and found my boiler is piped incorrectly. It has 2 risers and 2 supplies off the header; one correctly between the equalizer and riser, and the other between the risers. I checked the installation instructions for the boiler and sure enough it has only one supply off the header just like in Dan's video.
The system has not exhibited any issues. So, my question is it worth having this addressed or should I leave well-enough alone?

EdTheHeaterMan

If it Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

Some systems, when piped that way have problems... Some don't. If you are not experiencing any problems, then leave it be. There are no efficiency advantages to changing it, or any other advantages for that matter.

STEAM DOCTOR

If you're not having issues, certainly don't change it. The return on investment is certainly not worth it. When and if you need to replace that boiler, certainly insist on having it. piped correctly

KC_Jones

To be very clear, the manual shows an example of a main, not that you are only allowed one main connection. Each main should be connected individually to the header, yours is in the wrong place, but it should be connected separately. The manual cannot account for all situations, so it's showing where the main(s) should be connected, in your case that's two.

All that said, if it's working leave it, but definitely fix it if it's ever replaced.

saias

Thank you all.

saias

KC_Jones said:

To be very clear, the manual shows an example of a main, not that you are only allowed one main connection. Each main should be connected individually to the header, yours is in the wrong place, but it should be connected separately. The manual cannot account for all situations, so it's showing where the main(s) should be connected, in your case that's two.

All that said, if it's working leave it, but definitely fix it if it's ever replaced.

I'm not going to touch it, but just want to make sure I understand. Are you saying the two mains would come off the header between the right riser and equalizer? Is it not recommended to have the one supply like in the manual and then tee it off to the two mains?

ethicalpaul

Yes, that's what he's saying. No, it is not recommended to have one supply with a tee. In practice, I doubt anyone could tell much difference unless it was a very large boiler with a large header into a single small riser that then tee'd.

neilc

IDK,
there's a guy around here that will pipe things in glass, and now I even hear he has begun installing flow indicators in said glass pipings , , ,
bet he could come up with a video or 2 and determine flow descrepancies, or not
# @ethicalpaul