Day 3 - steam job is complete

Unknown

We had the system running a good 3 hours to flush the returns and skim the boiler . It does take time , but even the gunkiest returns will steam wash themselves clean . We hooked in the old Kriebel vent - and no dice , it didnt work no matter which way we turned the knob . So we added 2 main vents . Glenn Stanton , thanks for the info - we did back off on the draw rods and made them finger tight . We didnt want that nasty sounding PING on this new boiler . The boiler iteself started making steam in less than 5 minutes .

Unknown

Return piping

Did it all in black , baby . We put in separate purge valves for each return . The dry returns came back clean all along . The one wet return needed to be flushed for a few hours , but it did come clean .

jerryb

Where are the PIGTIALS????

Unknown

Take a closer look

I made my own pigtail arrangement .

jim f

nice work

> We had the system running a good 3 hours to flush

> the returns and skim the boiler . It does take

> time , but even the gunkiest returns will steam

> wash themselves clean . We hooked in the old

> Kriebel vent - and no dice , it didnt work no

> matter which way we turned the knob . So we added

> 2 main vents . Glenn Stanton , thanks for the

> info - we did back off on the draw rods and made

> them finger tight . We didnt want that nasty

> sounding PING on this new boiler . The boiler

> iteself started making steam in less than 5

> minutes .

jim f

nice work

nice work ron. its nice to see a solid piping job(black).
got a close up pic of that funky fitting going in the chiminey??. was that custom made??
whats the model on those v-904 or v905??
nice work
jim f.
milford, ct.

J.C.A.

Ron Jr.

Nice looking black pipe ! (Scott will be glad to see that you really DO know how to do it) . Now for my question . Why the swing check on the return ? I used to see that alot and found after a whole lot of installs that it was there because "it was like that when we started" . Not necessarily needed , but there just the same .Found most to be a problem and not a solution where I was working . Again , mostly single pipe stuff . Haven't had the time to look up the system you named (yet!) Looking good . See Ya Sat. I'll be there by breakfast time .
Anyone else..... I'm still offering a ride on Sat. A.M. for 1 person . I'm leaving from about 12 miles north of Boston at 6:30 and if anyone needs transport within a reasonable distance to TG , drop me a line . Chris.

Unknown

Yep , that was custom made

A 15 by 8 smoke reducer , with the 8 inch down low - good idea by Brucie . Forgot to take a closer pic of that one . Whats coming through the wall isnt the chimney - its actually a 15 inch smoke ell . The chimney itself was in another room about 10 feet away . The cracked boiler bunrned that smokepipe clean all the way down .

This one was a 6 section . Our first commercial Burnham and it ran real fine . Thanks Jim .

Dave Palmer

boy..

the old boiler must of run awfully hot by the looks of the back wall,nice Dave

[Deleted User]

could you explain how you did the flushing

of those returns..ive never had to do it but would like to know in case i ever get the opportunity.thanks..nice looking job.

jim f

our first commercials

these our our first commercials v-904's. did you use the black high temp silicone to hold the gasketing materials together. how did you get the sections tight with the push nipples did you use a tool or a good old fashioned sledge and a 2x6. just curious??
jim f.

Unknown

Well ......

The swing checks were on the old one ...... To be honest , it was recommended by my supervisor to reinstall them , and with Dans book going into detail why its critical and Jalcoplumb's specs for the Kriebel system showing the checks , it seemed like a good idea . Yep , I agree that on most other steam systems theyre not really needed . And I fooled ya - its actually copper returns painted black - I said I would try that sometime . See you Sat - Im gonna try to get there by breakfast also . Lets see - one lunatic driving 105 MPH from Long Island ..... Im still gonna get lost and miss half the show .

Steamhead

Looking Good, Ron

too bad about the old Kriebel vent- that's the way it goes sometimes. I can't see the main vents- which ones did you use?

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

Unknown

We usually install

just one ball valve to isolate all the returns from the boiler - but this was a big system so we used one for each return . Its similar to purging a water zone . While the boiler is pushing steam we close the ball valve on the return and open the drain on that pipe . We put a washer hose on the drain and watch the water coming out into a bucket . Nothng will come out for a while , then cool condensate comes back , then hot , dirty condensate comes back , and finally - clean , very hot condensate with some steam will come back . Gotta keep the boiler running with steam and the water level where its supposed to be while youre doing it . The wet return on this job took over 2 hours and 20 to 30 gallons of water to come clean . Thanks Gerry .

Unknown

Yes

It ran extremely hot - so hot that the homeowner couldnt get into the basement because of all the steam pouring out of the boiler . It was bad , but it could have been very , very bad .

Unknown

We have a couple of Hoffman 76s

coming in , hopefully - but in the meantime we put in some 4As - not the ideal choice . Thanks Steamhead .

Unknown

Beautiful work on those 2 , Jim

Yes , we used the black silicone - I dont like the idea of sealing the smoke side of sections with this kind of material . Give me some good old fashioned rope . We used a 2 by 4 and a lump hammer to set the push nipples in the section , then used the draw rods to bring them together . It took us a few sections to figure out the easier way to pull them together . On a similar type of job it took 3 of us one day to take apart a Weil 88 6 section , put it to the side , bring down a Peerless 8 section LC and put it together - the Peerless and Weil are put together with gaskets . It took 3 of us all day just to put the Burnham together ( no ripout ) - but I believe the push nipples make it a stronger boiler , and are well worth the extra time . Did you have to cut out the cerafelt on the burner door for the blast tube also ?

jim f

yes we did -- using rubber gloves and a hacksaw. not sure why they came that way. definilfy draw in the rods and loosen them up. we used an impact gun set to the perfect pressure to draw the rods in, alternating of course. and going step by step with the manufactures instructions the right amount of tourqe using a torque gauge. no leaks!!
the problem with our system is that these are commercial boilers in a residential house. when the both fire and both combustion air fans are running. you can here it from the master bedroom and the person living in the master bedroom very unhappy with the noise. guy had a decible meter to gauge the noise. the builder has bent over backwards to sound proof the room to deaden the sound. what do you expect.......2 boilers firing about 4 gpm??!!??
jim f.

Unknown

I dont know what soundproofing they used in this house

but when we were walking around , checking to see the rads were heating , we couldnt hear the boiler firing at all . Looked like there was a cement ceiling in the boiler room .

We dont get those fancy tools that make life easier - like the impact gun . We were lucky though to have a guy who carries around the right size socket to fit the draw rods - it was still a **** sharing one wrench for 4 draw rods per section . Otherwise it woulda been channellocks all the way ( just kidding ) .

John@Reliable

Hey ,Ron you should check with supply house

to see if they have the porta-power tool kit to put the boiler together.My supply house will let me use one , it comes from Burnham and I think it's quicker. Only problem with it is "it's heavier than the boiler" check it out some time, great looking work as always! John@Reliable

ScottMP

Might as well paint the rest of it black too

Nice looking work Ron as allways. It must be very rewarding to be able to do a job as thorough as this was done.

I'll have to look up that stuff about a check valve.

Heres my question, I am supprised that a boiler that large has only one tapping ? It would seem to me that a large steam chest like that would want to have two tappings for less surging ? More of a question for Glenn.

I like Rectorseal and teflon also. Nice work Ron, a real feather in the cap ( jees you must have a headdress now ! )

Scott

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

Unknown

Nice job Ron!

To address some of the questions in the posts above and below:

Each installation of these boilers does get a little easier once you get the feel of the nipples setting properly.

Use of the hydraulic ram is no longer neccessary on this model. The V9A has reinforced thread rod lugs to use when drawing the sections together. It's predecessor, the V9 did not and required the use of the drawup tool.

Yes, the hydraulic ram tool kit does weigh almost as much as the boiler and has worked very well. We have found, however, that due to lack of maintainance of these tools, sometimes you only end up with 2 working rams instead of three. The other reality of these tools being loaned out is that they tend to come back minus the thread rods and couplings neccessary to make them functional.

The burner mounting plate insulation is not cut because of the seperate burner mounting plate and adapter plate. This allows the need for only one burner mounting plate to handle an entire array of burners (oil, gas, gas/oil) of different fuels and different manufacturers. The adapter plate finalizes the boltup relative to the fuel and brand of burner.

Hope this helps and thanks for using Burnham!

Glenn Stanton

Burnham Corp.

Unknown

Piping on V9A

Hi Scott,

We provide a pretty sizable supply tapping on these boilers (4") and our testing has proven that one supply riser is all that is needed for proper performance on the 3 through 6 section boilers. We call for both or more risers on the 7 section and larger. Of course that's not to say that both risers might add better performance to the 6 section and smaller boilers. It just isn't needed in most caes. Hope this helps.

Glenn

Unknown

John

Next job a representative from Burnham graciuosly offered to come down and show us some pointers on putting it together - if his schedule will permit . What I am definitely going to have on hand the next time is a few 1/2 drive - 1 1/4 inch ? deep sockets . It beats the pants off of using adjustable wrenches . Thank you John .

Unknown

Being the first install

We shoulda thought ahead and got some deep sockets for the draw rods - next time . Glenn , has the Riello been tested in this boiler ?

Unknown

> Nice looking work Ron as allways. It must be very

> rewarding to be able to do a job as thorough as

> this was done.

>

> I'll have to look up that stuff

> about a check valve.

>

> Heres my question, I am

> supprised that a boiler that large has only one

> tapping ? It would seem to me that a large steam

> chest like that would want to have two tappings

> for less surging ? More of a question for

> Glenn.

>

> I like Rectorseal and teflon also. Nice

> work Ron, a real feather in the cap ( jees you

> must have a headdress now ! )

>

> Scott

>

> _A

> HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=

> 237&Step=30"_To Learn More About This Contractor,

> Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A

> Contractor"_/A_

John@Reliable

Ron , you may also want to check into a cheap 3/4" set. I picked up one for under 50.00 from northern.Good set if only using a couple of times a month.I even use for putting in bushings, plugs,and the dreaded inverted plug,it really is quick. Be safe this weekend! John@Reliable

Unknown

Teflon and Mustard

My favorite combo since 1986 . Scott , do you ever run across troubles with Teflon getting into the system and causing problems ? I always thought that it couldnt survive long if it somehow gets into the system - and a good flush of the boiler and returns gets rid of anything left . I was told differently by someone else in the trade though . Thank you very much Scott for the compliment . First round of coffee is on me - if I dont get lost .

Unknown

> Hi Scott,

>

> We provide a pretty sizable

> supply tapping on these boilers (4") and our

> testing has proven that one supply riser is all

> that is needed for proper performance on the 3

> through 6 section boilers. We call for both or

> more risers on the 7 section and larger. Of

> course that's not to say that both risers might

> add better performance to the 6 section and

> smaller boilers. It just isn't needed in most

> caes. Hope this helps.

>

> Glenn

Unknown

The water line

was very steady , and we were pushing steam in less than 5 minutes after startup . Not a bang - not even a whimper . And at the radiators alls you hear is the sound of heat - silent . Out of around 40 rads - maybe 5 werent heating because the valves were closed on them . So we kept them as they were .

Unknown

Riello

Ron,

Not that I am aware of. As far as I know, just Beckett, Carlin, Powerflame and Webster. But I will ask about that one tomorrow.

Glenn