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Calling Peerless 63-series Owners: A Venting Mystery

mattmich
mattmich Member Posts: 168
edited February 15 in Strictly Steam

Learned Friends:

As I've written in my 63-03 DIY thread (*), I disassembled my new boiler before I moved it to the basement. As I did so, I took photographs because I was worried about putting it back together.

When the dust settled, I was missing the piece marked in orange in the picture below.

I've been trying to buy the piece, but I'm hitting one snag after the other. Peerless won't talk to me as a matter of policy because I'm not a licensed professional. That appears to be somewhat standard in the industry.

The exploded drawings for the 63 line show the flue collector box from the front, so any restrictor is invisible. The parts list does not list one — it has a 'vent reducer' but that is the concentric 6" to 5" piece for the piping. I know because I bought one and returned it.

The vendor where I got my near-boiler piping kit was helpful and spoke to Peerless about this. Their response was:

"I spoke with engineering about this. Attached are pictures of a 63-03 that we have in stock and there is no draft restrictor anywhere as you can see in these pictures. The customer should remove what he installed there."

Where does that leave me? I did not make the piece up. It's not just a stiffener for shipping -- it's got rock wool on the boiler-facing side, so it's meant to take heat.

I'd like to ask any installers or owners of 63-series boilers if they have information on this. Does my restrictor piece look familiar? Did your boiler have one installed upon delivery?

If you have a 63 model, please snap a picture of the flue collector from under the draft hood. Use the flash.

I'd really appreciate any information. Thanks in advance.

cheers -matt

(*)

«1

Comments

  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 2,317

    Can't stay with 100% certainty, but pretty sure that I have not seen such a thing before. Probably got misplaced, because it wasn't properly attached in the first place, because it didn't really belong there. Believe it or not, there are mistakes made in manufacturing. Just had a boiler that I installed recently, where the jacket cutouts were on the wrong side, and did not line up with the boiler tappings.

  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 2,317

    The draft Hood should fit over the flue collector, and "catch" all of the flue gases.

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 17,452

    maybe @ethicalpaul

    ethicalpaul
  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168

    He already looked. No baffle.

  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 2,317

    Closest I can come up with, is the side panel, number 23 on the exploded part list. But I do not see the screw holes that should be there. Regardless, if it was really part of the flu collector, it will not have any insulating material on it. Whatever that piece is, it did not belong there.

  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 2,317
    edited February 14

    You should be happy that it disappeared. Bad things may have happened if you left it in there

  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 10,319

    i remember trying to help you with this before. I'm not sure that there is a problem with leaving that section of the flue collector out. It is hard to believe that you have a photograph of that part included in the boiler and that Peerless does not have any part number for that part. Have you tried ordering the Peerless part number 50281 or 50282? They both fit the 63- 03 but one has an L designation for a lower firing rate So I would think the 50281 is the one with the extra part

    Edward Young Retired

    After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?

  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,370

    I received a 63-4L instead of the 63-4 that was ordered.

    It was already in the basement when I realized it.

    The supplier gave me credit for the price difference, he priced out the parts needed to upgrade the 63-4L to the 63-4. The heat exchangers are the same.

    I would have had to change the gas manifold, bracket, add a burner and change the draft hood and blocked flue sensor.

    I did not change it out as they have since removed radiation.

    Perhaps the baffle is needed for the "L" model.

    You can count your burner tubes to show the actual BTUH input.

  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 7,445

    mine’s the L model, no baffle like that in there. It is a mystery!

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

  • 109A_5
    109A_5 Member Posts: 2,273
    edited February 15

    To me it almost looks like 23 stuck in the wrong place for shipping.

    22A not pictured but not needed for the 63-03. Does 22 and 21 fit together with no gaps ? or is there a huge gap where the flew gas could leak into the inside of the jacket ?

    So which way do you mount this sensor ??? Be nice if the manual was not in conflict with itself.

    National - U.S. Gas Boiler 45+ Years Old
    Steam 300 SQ. FT. - EDR 347
    One Pipe System
  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168

    Thanks to everyone who chimed in. I'll reply individually.

    @Steam Doctor wrote:

    Closest I can come up with, is the side panel, number 23 on the exploded part list. But I do not see the screw holes that should be there. Regardless, if it was really part of the flu collector, it will not have any insulating material on it. Whatever that piece is, it did not belong there.

    The piece, including part number, is shown in 109A_5's post. I went through the same thought process and can assure you: that's not it. It's also true that the reducer had the mounting holes in just the right position; that's where the draft hood bolts up. There is no other piece that'll fit there, and I'm not missing anything.

    I really don't know what happened here. It's not just the picture I took; I remember taking the piece off, and because of the fluffy insulation material, I put it somewhere where it wouldn't get disturbed. Wherever that was, I expect it's still there. I was aware of my screwup well before the trash went out that week, and I went through everything before I threw it away. This was my first (and hopefully, last) boiler install and I was pretty stressed about getting it right. There was a lot going on that long weekend of Labor Day '24.

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168
    edited February 15

    @JUGHNE wrote:

    [..] priced out the parts needed to upgrade the 63-4L to the 63-4. The heat exchangers are the same. I would have had to change the gas manifold, bracket, add a burner and change the draft hood and blocked flue sensor.

    That is part of the puzzle.
    If you look at the parts list, there is ONE draft hood for the 63-03 and the 63-03L; dto the -04 etc.

    But the flue collector has a separate part number for the L version. So I "assumed" that the difference would have to be the reducer, which would make sense, since the flow of exhaust cases is different for the downfired one.

    Are we supposed to believe that there are two different heights for the flue collectors? Because the width and length is given by the geometry. I don't believe it but I don't know for sure. Because of that assumption, I bought the flue collector for the 63-03 and was mighty disappointed when no reducer was included. That led to the interaction -- by one remove -- with Peerless.

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168
    edited February 15

    @EdTheHeaterMan wrote:

    » i remember trying to help you with this before. I'm not sure that there is a problem with leaving that section of the flue collector out. It is hard to believe that you have a photograph of that part included in the boiler and that Peerless does not have any part number for that part. Have you tried ordering the Peerless part number 50281 or 50282? They both fit the 63- 03 but one has an L designation for a lower firing rate So I would think the 50281 is the one with the extra part

    Yes, I remember you embelishing my photo and relating it to the Peerless parts drawing.
    I used that when talking to the supply house, and that's when I ordered the draft-hood-with-flue-reducer, only to find that the 'reducer' was the concentric piece that necks down the pipe, not what I was looking for.

    This is what i ordered, and i got the 6" to 5" round piece:

    » Have you tried ordering the Peerless part number 50281 or 50282?

    I ordered the 50281 [flue collector for 63-03] and it does not have a reducer.
    The 50282 [63-03L] may have a reducer but I don't know.

    Certainly @ethicalpaul's 63-03L did not come with one.

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168

    One comment on the naming convention the supplier uses:

    63-03 is my boiler, 125 MBTU input.

    63-03L is @ethicalpaul's boiler, 88 MBTU.

    63-03(L) means "fits either version".

    And finally, I have no idea why the '@' in front of the name sometimes links to a user and sometimes does not. THAT mystery will keep for another day.

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168
    edited February 15

    That is not a bad idea, but the pieces are quite different, and I had both '23' pieces in their proper plac

    Whatever was stuck in there was meant to be in there. Maybe it was experimental; I don't know. Must suppliers drop-ship from Peerless; the supplier I used had one in stock in their own warehouse. It might have been there a few years, so maybe a running change was made to the model.

    Thank you for the clear picture of your venting! You definitely do not have a restrictor plate in there.

    I also notice that your vent damper is in the open position — is it stuck?
    Surely you did not put your hand in the hot exhaust??

    Regarding your suggestion with the "22A — Vent Reducer", I addressed that in the post above. That's a different piece.

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168
    edited February 15

    Again, thanks for the input and suggestions. So far, there is no definitive answer.

    There is, however, heat in the house, and quiet operation, so I'm not too worried.

    The reason I'm leaving my jerry-rigged restrictor plate in there is that I believe it increases efficiency without causing trouble. There's a CO monitor nearby and it hasn't alarmed.

    The vent pipe is significantly cooler with the baffle installed. That extra heat is making steam for us .When I installed the piece, the main vent closed after 7 minutes of supplying steam instead of 8 on the cycle before. These are not precision measurements, but I do believe that minute to be meaningful.

    My near-term plan is to wait until March when things warm up a bit and then downfire to a 63-03L while leaving the baffle installed. Since it worked for a hundred days with four burner tubes, I'm confident it'll be quite safe with three.

    I definitely have enough heating capacity — worst I've seen in 4 F weather, with wind, was 40 minutes on and an hour off. If the balance doesn't suffer, I think I will use the downfired burner going forward. I'll let y'all know how it turns out; it's easy enough to switch back, since most equipment stays the same.

    cheers -matt

    ethicalpaul
  • Long Beach Ed
    Long Beach Ed Member Posts: 1,713

    Keep in mind that regular CO detectors do not measure low levels of CO. At some point this should be checked out with a precision instrument that will assure you of exactly what's going on.

    mattmichmattmia2
  • 109A_5
    109A_5 Member Posts: 2,273

    " Thank you for the clear picture of your venting! You definitely do not have a restrictor plate in there.

    I also notice that your vent damper is in the open position — is it stuck?
    Surely you did not put your hand in the hot exhaust??
    "

    Not my boiler the pictures were screen captures of a YouTube video.

    National - U.S. Gas Boiler 45+ Years Old
    Steam 300 SQ. FT. - EDR 347
    One Pipe System
  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168

    I want to add that our house is two-story, with a steeply pitched roof and a high chimney. Meaning there's quite the updraft, which helps get rid of the exhaust gases quickly.

    I carefully made the piece to be a little smaller than the restrictor that came with the boiler.

    I'll see about getting a better meter; either borrowed, or find a technician to come by.

    I have not touched any gas adjustments, and the flames burn bright and blue. Is there any value in doing an exhaust gas measurement? We're at 850 ft elevation.

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168

    Learned Friends:

    Let's review.

    The mystery was not solved. I had a unique, securely mounted, closely fitting piece that came with my boiler, but three other Peerless owners have found no such flow restrictor. For those keeping track, that's @ethicalpaul, @JUGHNE, and (via someone else's video) @109A_5.

    Similarly, the manufacturer disavows any knowledge of such a part. The serial number dates my boiler to a year ago, February 2024. So it wasn't a long-forgotten experimental part, either.

    At this point I give up trying to buy a replacement. I'm grateful to those who have commented, and especially those who provided specific input.

    I want to give kudos to Oswald Supply — the company I referenced anonymously in earlier post. I bought my Peerless-branded near-boiler piping kit through them last August, and it arrived promptly and complete, which went a long way to make the installation go smoothly.

    On top of that, Robert Oswald reached out to Peerless for me, which I thought was above and beyond. Returns were handled promptly and courteously as well. I highly recommend them.

    As for my boiler, now that the worst of winter is over, I will downfire to a 63-03L, meaning three burner tubes instead of 4, or 88 instead of 125 MBTU input. I know that this will provide enough heat for my house; the question is whether the slower steam production will play well with my long main. I'm optimistic, but if it doesn't work out, I can switch back in an hour. I will leave my fabricated restrictor installed; it's OK now, so it'll certainly be able to handle the lower-rated burner while bringing some small efficiency gain.

    cheers -matt

    CLamb
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 7,445

    Yes it will play well, or my name isn't Paul Bruneau-it-all

    What difficulty were you fearing it might have?

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

    EdTheHeaterMan
  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168

    The difficulty would be that of any blocked vent, partial or otherwise — if there isn't enough flow through the approved channel, the exhaust gas, CO and all, will go somewhere. Hence the blocked-vent safety switch that is — alas! — downstream of the baffle.

    All I have up to now is a household CO monitor, but at least I moved to to right above the boiler. No indication of trouble.

    The other issue is balance. From a cold system, it takes ten minutes and more between the time the steam gets to the radiators at the front of the house and the time it reaches the back side.Take away 1/4 of the the input power and things will slow proportionately. The nice thing is that the thermostat is nearest a radiator that is the very last in the loop, so the call for heat will not end until all radiators are taking steam.

    The way I have it set up at the moment is that this last radiator has a #5 maid-o-mist vent, and the others have #4s. Once it starts, it heats up right quick and the call ends soon after. This has worked quite well during the recent cold spell.

  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 7,445
    edited February 26

    Sorry I thought you were asking about steam moving through your main, not about CO stuff:

     the question is whether the slower steam production will play well with my long main

    From a cold system

    During the (real) heating season, measurements from a cold system are less useful

    it takes ten minutes and more between the time the steam gets to the radiators at the front of the house and the time it reaches the back side.

    This confuses me a bit…is your main filling up before your radiators start to get steam? If so, steam should reach the radiators at roughly the same time (that's the dream anyway)

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168

    » …is your main filling up before your radiators start to get steam?

    No.
    Steam slowly creeps along the 80 foot long main, first south towards the front of the house, then to the (east) side of the house, and then to the back (north). This takes many minutes.

    Where the main is hot, the steam also works its way up the risers to the radiators.

    Therefore, "it takes ten minutes and more between the time the steam gets to the radiators at the front of the house" — because that's where the main heats up first — "and the time it reaches the back side."

  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 7,445
    edited February 27

    There should be enough venting on the main that hardly any steam starts heading to radiators before the main is completely steam-hot. This can vary depending on the temperature of the main and other variables, but that's the general thinking.

    I can't remember, are your radiator vents large?

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168

    "Enough venting on the main" is when the limiting factor is the boiler's ability to generate steam, rather than the vent's capacity to evacuate air.

    And I disagree with the statement "hardly any steam starts heading to radiators before the main is completely steam-hot" — that's not my observation. Steam goes where it can, and once it "sees" a riser, it'll go there. It's a gas, it'll go anywhere unless it encounters pressure.

    If I plug a radiator vent, the riser will heat along the first one or three feet during a cycle, that's all. If there's a tiny little #4 vent on the radiator, steam will creep along the riser not much slower than it goes along the main. Less diameter means less steam transport, but it also means less iron to heat.

    I've got two main vents (one Gorton #2, one MoM) and I experimented with just an open pipe. It didn't seem to matter, and I think either of my vents would suffice. Once the heating process starts and the steam condenses, there's not much air being pushed out the vents. Pressure is always less than half a PSI, and I've tried to create more by blocking vents. Doesn't matter — there's always steam condensing and collapsing somewhere in the system.

    I've come to believe that the rules-of-thumb and best practices of the field are informed by professionals servicing large systems. An apartment building is a different animal than a single-family home.

    »I can't remember, are your radiator vents large?

    All my vents are Maid-o-Mist #4s, the smallest, with two exceptions: The last radiator along the main, which happens to be in the living room and closest to the thermostat. That one is a #5 and fills quickly once it receives steam. The call for heat ends soon after, and this is working well.

    The other #5 is on the radiator in our bedroom, also fed from the end of the main, plus it has a long riser. It takes a long time for the steam to arrive there, but once it starts it heats quickly, and all the way across.

    The #4-vented radiators only heat all the way if it's under 10 F outside.

    But no matter the circumstances, by the time the final radiators see steam, the first ones are hot about halfway across.

  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 7,445
    edited February 27

    We agree on much, but I don't think I've seen radiator runouts vented by a #4 get much if any steam before a well-vented main.

    Yes the steam will "see" that runout, but at the end of that runout is a tiny tiny tiny hole and the steam goes where it's easiest, which seems to me is a 2" pipe with basically a 1/2" hole at the end (a #2 is basically a 1/2" open pipe).

    Clearly ideas such as "pressure drop" don't have much to do with residential systems, again I agree with you, the common knowledge of this industry seems driven by large buildings, but most things I say come from my experiences (not large buildings) or thought experiment (where I am more likely to look like a fool haha)

    I agree completely that the steam has to take time to heat a pipe (yes, even an insulated pipe) and this is the real decider about how long a main takes to fill—not venting.

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

  • 109A_5
    109A_5 Member Posts: 2,273

    Are the mains well insulated ? long mains with no insulation will slow the steam progression down to the far end. Since with no insulation you have to reheat them more with each cycle.

    National - U.S. Gas Boiler 45+ Years Old
    Steam 300 SQ. FT. - EDR 347
    One Pipe System
  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168
    edited March 2

    @ethicalpaul wrote "We agree on much, but I don't think I've seen radiator runouts vented by a #4 get much if any steam before a well-vented main."

    Paul and I had been going back and forth about this since he wrote "a #4 is not too fast , ever" at the bottom of page 4 of my DIY-boiler-install thread.

    I disagreed with this sentiment because I observed MoM-#4-vented radiators start to get hot before the main was completely filled. I have a single main that is a square loop, 20 ft to a side, with fourteen risers branching off, twelve of them active.
    The first riser goes to a large radiator on the south side of the living room — where the thermostat lives — and the last riser goes to the living room's north side, with eighty feet of main between them. The earlier observation was that several sections of the south radiator were hot before the north radiator saw steam. Since that one is vented with a #5, it fills quickly and warms the room, eventually ending the call for heat.

    Some months back, I had done a simple experiment by maximizing the venting of my main, removing one of my two vents, leaving behind a 1" hole — and I found that the main filled a little quicker, like in 8 minutes instead of 9. No big deal, right? What I didn't do in that test is go around the house checking radiators.

    So last night I repeated the exercise, but more carefully.
    Once again I removed the MoM main vent, leaving behind a threaded one-inch opening.
    I started the call for heat and set a stop watch when the flame came on.
    04:54 Steam develops
    05:34 The elbow at the start of the main is hot to the touch.
    Now I knew I had a few minutes before the main would fill completely. I put my hand over the one inch hole and felt the air pulsating out. A LOT of air.
    I opened the valve to my low-pressure gauge and read a fairly stable 5 inches of water column.
    [07:55 Cyclegard does its thing]
    [09:05 Cyclegrad is finished, burners resumes]
    12:32 Seven minutes after the FIRST elbow of the main is heated, the LAST elbow is hot to the touch. At this point, all risers see steam.
    12:55 The main vent antler gets hot. At this point, I shut the boiler off, which I had not done in earlier tests.

    I went around the house and checked the radiators.
    All of them were cold, and so were their riser pipes coming up out of the floor.

    I reinstalled the main vent and resumed the call for heat. The living-room south and north radiators heated pretty much in unison. Was Paul right after all? How awkward…

    This morning, I repeated the exercise with the main vents in place.
    The observed pressure was unchanged, at 5 inches water column.
    Once again, as soon as the antler got hot, I cut the power to the boiler and checked my radiators.
    They were all cold.
    BUT: the steam risers were hot, and steam was just starting to enter the radiators. As soon as the main vents were closed, there was lots of steam available and radiators started heating quickly. The upstairs radiators, which have 20 to 30-ft risers, were well behind, of course.

    What did I learn from this exercise?

    (i) My main is vented well. I can speed it up a little by playing tricks, but there's no need to add more vents.
    (ii) The #4-vented radiators are so slow that they 'steal' only enough steam to heat the risers. Once the main is hot, the radiators farther downstream do a good job catching up. The system is pretty well balanced.
    (iii) Once the main is full, there is a LOT of steam available, and the first-in-line radiators heat up quickly. That is what caused me to believe the #4 vents were still too big.
    (iv) The main obstacle to even heating throughout the house are the long 1-1/4 inch risers to the upstairs… which is why our bedroom radiator, which is the second-to-last riser off the main, also has a #5 vent on it. It is fairly small, and quickly heats all the way across.

    So that's what I did on my summer vacation, submitted here for your edification and reading pleasure.

    cheers -matt

    bburd
  • 109A_5
    109A_5 Member Posts: 2,273

    " and I found that the main filled a little quicker, like in 8 minutes instead of 9. No big deal, right? "

    " (i) My main is vented well. I can speed it up a little by playing tricks, but there's no need to add more vents. "

    Not tricks, better main venting. Reducing the boiler run time by a minute every cycle, I would think it would save a bunch of fuel (Money). If your boiler runs once an hour that's 24 minutes a day that you are not paying to burn fuel to push air out through a restrictive venting system.

    I like my B&J Big Mouth.

    National - U.S. Gas Boiler 45+ Years Old
    Steam 300 SQ. FT. - EDR 347
    One Pipe System
    delcrossv
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 7,445

    Just a couple nits…I think when you took off your MoM #1 that left a 3/4" hole not a 1" hole.

    And although I am conservative with main venting, more than many people, even I think a #1 is too small for 80 feet of main.

    Thanks for the timings!

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168
    edited March 2

    @109A_5 " If your boiler runs once an hour that's 24 minutes a day that you are not paying to burn fuel to push air out through a restrictive venting system."

    My boiler runs once every two hours on a cold day… and the heat is not wasted. As I found out, the steam goes significantly farther up the risers when I'm using the installed vents.

    @ethicalpaul "..a #1 is too small for 80 feet of main"

    Agreed, but it's a #1 Maid-o-Mist (or whatever they call the only main vent they sell) + a Gorton #2. It was going to be TWO Gortons but one arrived broken and I ran with just the one for a while.

    The size of the main is irrelevant. What matters is how quickly steam can be made to heat it up, and whether the air can be evacuated quickly enough so the process is not impeded.

    My next step will be to downfire the boiler from 125 to 88 MBTU and see how that works. I will report in my DIY thread.

    ethicalpaul
  • BobC
    BobC Member Posts: 5,520

    That's a big drop make sure the stack temp doesn't drop to much.

    Bob

    Smith G8-3 with EZ Gas @ 90,000 BTU, Single pipe steam
    Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
    3PSI gauge
    delcrossv
  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168
    edited March 3

    While I was experimenting, i thought I'd try something else today — and made a sincere effort to provoke high pressure.

    To that end, I started a call for heat as usual. When the main vents closed, I stopped the call and went around the house, checking all radiators for heat, and closing every vent with a piece of masking tape.

    As reported earlier, by the time the main is filled and its vents have closed, steam has started to reach those radiators that are close to the main, and fed off the first risers. The radiators themselves were not hot yet.

    I turned the boiler back on and opened the valve to the low-pressure gauge. As soon as the steam came up again, the gauge showed 5 inches of water column. It slowly and steadily rose to 10, then 15… once it got close to the full-scale 30 inches, which took about 5 minutes, I went upstairs and took the tape off three of the radiator vents.

    With somewhere for the steam to go, the pressure dipped down to 10 inches, then slowly rose to a little over 30 for the next 15 minutes. Not wanting to damage the gauge, I again turned the boiler off and went to check on all radiators.

    The three that were vented were piping hot. The others were either cold (upstairs mostly) or had between one and three sections heated. I explain this by the pressure rising a bit, compressing the air in the radiators, and allowing some steam to enter and condense in the first sections, making room for more steam.

    In my upstairs office, where the (massive) radiator was removed during renovation, the shutoff valve made gurgling noises as a tiny bit of steam seeped through. This is something I got on cold days with my old boiler, and I'm surprised that it happened at below 40 inches of water, or less than one tenth of atmospheric pressure.

    I think it is remarkable that a boiler rated for 308 square feet PLUS pickup factor, running a main that was already hot, plus approximately 120 square feet of vented radiation, produced such a low pressure.

    I explain it by the fact that radiators exist to provide heat to the living space, and as they do, they cool and condense steam. Even an unvented radiator can use up some steam in this way, so long as the steam can get there in the first place.

    As far as my Pressuretroll is concerned, after the no-heat adventure I had recently (see separate discussion), I have decided to only use it as a safety device, and have set the cut-in at 1.5 PSI, with a 1 PSI differential.

    If my boiler ever cuts off on pressure, I'll be gobsmacked.

    cheers -matt

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168

    So now I'm not only having trouble procuring a mystery part, I'm also not having any luck finding the three-burner bracket I need to support the burner tubes on the far end of the gas manifold. There are none in stock, even at the factory.

    When I gently pointed out that they need to be made for the 63-03L model, I was told that Peerless was moving to the '63x' model — which I think™ is the Burnham clone I've read about on the forum recently.

    I just hope I'm right in thinking I've got a lifetime supply of Peerless boiler in my basement right now…

    As far as the bracket, I might be able to work something up using vent pipe and tin snips. If that looks iffy, I'll just leave everything as is.

    ethicalpaul
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 7,445
    edited March 13

    When I gently pointed out that they need to be made for the 63-03L model, I was told that Peerless was moving to the '63x' model — which I think™ is the Burnham clone I've read about on the forum recently.

    That's not wonderful. So someone is basically saying that you can't reliably get parts for the 63-0 series. I hope they are misinformed. Was this an employee of a supply house or ?

    I am planning an extension on my home and was considering running steam pipe over to it which might make me want to convert my 63-03L to a 63-03…guess if I want to do that I'll have to keep my eye on Facebook marketplace for a ripped out 03 to harvest parts from.

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168

    I called PartsToYourDoor, which is their in-house vendor.
    The parts we're talking about, of course, are not the kind that tend to wear out and need replacement. But I agree, not wonderful.

    I'll just wait until you build your extension and then we swap parts in the summer ;)

    ethicalpaul
  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 2,317

    For what it's worth, when I asked my rep, they had never heard of of the X series. Got to wonder what's going on with Peerless ownership/management? And why can't they have normal customer service like everyone else? Calling some rep, who is almost never available.…sheesh. The 63 is my favorite gas steam residential boiler. Would be nice if they were actually some more of them available. Availability, since covid, has been abysmal.

    ethicalpaul
  • Hap_Hazzard
    Hap_Hazzard Member Posts: 2,906
    edited March 13
    Just another DIYer | King of Prussia, PA
    1983(?) Peerless G-561-W-S | 3" drop header, CG400-1090, VXT-24
  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 168

    Yep that's them.

    Oswald doesn't stock this stuff and won't drop ship from PTYD if the order is < $25 and PTYD said "5-7 days" upon request, and then got back to me and said, we out & we ain't makin' any.

    And they wanted to know what happened to the original, and what was I thought I was doing:

    "Production would like to know what the serial number is of this unit. Also, what is the reason for replacing this and what caused it?"

    Now PTYD sort of "is" Peerless, and that Peerless isn't talking to me, officially, so it's not like i can call the engineers and ask what they think they're doing.

    ethicalpaul