An interesting holiday call.

Double D

18 unit apartment building with a Peerless 211A-06 boiler. One pipe steam system with 1" F&Ts at the ends of each main. The boiler feed tank appears to have been failed for years. The boiler gets its make up water from an electric solenoid controlled by a McDonnell & Miller 150S. The return water comes back from the system and enters the boiler feed tank which leads to an open boiler drain at the bottom. The water leaves a trail to the open floor drain in the boiler room.

The property managements solution is to replace the boiler and add a Hartford connection to the near boiler piping.

I filled the boiler and the header with water. So far there is a slow drip between sections in the back of the boiler.

I don't see any reason why this system would need a boiler feed tank. I would say both F&Ts could be removed, adequately vent the mains, pipe the return line into a properly piped Hartford connection and abandon any use of the boiler feed tank.

After turning the system back into a gravity return, there is still a major issue with the near boiler piping. The colliding header combined with the lack of swing joints is most likely the cause of this premature failure.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

mattmia2

dumping the condensate down the drain and replacing it with fresh water is the cause of the premature failure.(if i'm following right)

EBEBRATT-Ed

Fresh water will kill the whole system as @mattmia mentioned. If they don't want to fix it right, they can keep buying boilers.

hard to tell if it will work by gravity alone, I am sure it has been knuckleheaded over the years.

They may or may not need the feed tank. It may be needed, or it may have been installed to mask system problems like leaks as the MU water is usually brought in from the feed tank.

Double D

@mattmia2 @EBEBRATT-Ed

I mentioned the 1" F&Ts at the ends of the mains. The return line entering the feed tank is filled with water. When they piped these tanks, they built a piping configuration similar to a false water line. The F&Ts are too small to handle all of the condensate from the mains and all of the radiators. Since the piping is full of water above the point of where they group, is there a reason for them to even be there?

I still plan to turn the one that I will be replacing the boiler in back to a gravity return and remove the F&Ts, but yesterday they showed me that all 8 buildings are piped this way.

My guess is this is the way the first contractor who replaced the original coal boilers piped it and everyone who came in just followed what was there.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Difficult to say without seeing things. If you remove the traps leave unions there so they can be added if needed.

Are the traps just dripping the mains or is all the radiation condensate going through them?

Double D

@EBEBRATT-Ed

All of the radiation condensate are going through them. This is a 1 pipe steam system.

kevineggerth

Whats the rating on the f&t traps in terms of capacity? also, whats the rated pressure difference on the F&T traps. Maybe they needed to go to a zero back pressure condensate return tank inorder to operate properly. If you do pull out the F&T traps and make a wet gravity return you will have to pipe in, PROPERLY, airvents in lue of the F&T traps coming off the top of the mains 12 inches back from the ends of the mains. I would replace all traps if aged out and the young ones I would test all the F&t traps for proper flow and operation. I would fix or replace the condensate tank and when replacing the boiler include in the bid for high pressure flushing of all the piping you can get to so that crude isnt going to cause you warranty issues. Then get it in writting to have you do regular maintenance, water quality, ph, and skimming or the warranty is voided