Need HELP steam

Unknown

Hydrotherm boilers are prety good on hot water.
As for using boilers on steam in residential settings you should consider:Over 350,000 BTUH

Burnham V 9 boilers. Peerless, Wiel McClain, and Utica.

These manufacturers have an excellent support net work.

My preference is for the Burnham V 9 for use in steam.

Its physical size, height and water content make it easy to install on all steam systems including the real old coal jobs.

The water line in the V 9 boiler is about 36-38" above the base of the boiler. In most replacement jobs on old systems the wet returns stay wet.

If a boiler manufacturer tells you to South I will tell them to lead the way. I will never use that boiler again and I will spread the word on the way they serviced me, especially if there was a pin hole in the cast iron.

Jake

Bob Beaman

Need HELP steam

Went on a no heat call this weekend and found a 2 year old boiler Hydrotherm with no power. pulled out fuse and screwed back in. Damper opened and low water cutoff started putting water in boiler. Then water,water everywhere. I have water coming out of every section and rods holding boiler together are loose. this boiler has gaskets between sections but did not see tar dripping down anywhere. Do not think this boiler dryfired because feeder worked when started. 30 days prior fixed a leak on 2nd floor and the drained boiler, started, came back drained again the next day and did not see anything out of the ordinary. Hydrotherm says if all sections are leaking the boiler must have filled the bottom with sludge overheated, causing sections to crack. They will not honor warranty. I am tearing apart in the morning to see. Is this possible? Could this be our fault. Looks like a new boiler to fix. Should we change brands? Put back what was there, will be cheeper. Hydrotherm 400,000 btu. ^This is a big house 2 story and before I started working on it had big problems for years just to keep heat on. Lots of different people working there. I nursed the old boiled for 4 years before it let go. In 2000 put in new hydrotherm that is smaller in size by bulk but not in btu. Heated well for till now. Changed a section last Christmas because of a pinhole high in the section. Now Christmas again now this, Beginning to wish never seem this job. Oh hydrotherm never paid any labor on last section. Homeowner and I split the labor. This is going to be hard to explain to him what happened and why he needs to pay again. Any help or sugestions? Thanks Bob.

Steamhead

Wow (Attention Hydrotherm Reps)

you have a challenge there. If there is sludge all thru the boiler, where did it come from? You probably have a system in dire need of cleaning.

Tell us more about the system. One-pipe? Vapor?

Let us know what you find when you tear the boiler down. And we'd sure like to know about the quality of support you get from Hydrotherm. From what you've told us so far, Burnham, Slant/Fin, Smith or Weil-McLain might be a better choice based on support alone. Their people work the Wall frequently.

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Dale

May be silly question

But, how did you size the replacement boiler? You may want to get you EDR book for the rads out again and recheck the sizing. And, are the mains fully insulated? I'm wondering if you have a return water volume issue that's being masked by the feeder.

Bob Beaman

more on hydrotherm

Tore the boiler apart this morning. No sludge. Some heavy rust particules in the bottom nipple area or in this case rubber type gaskets. This unit shows no visible cracks. Where the water is leaking looks to be pinholes. Some sections both sides. All middle sections leaking, The 2 end sections seem fine. Some are at the water line and 2 are above in steam area. Hydrotherm rep will be here Wednesday morning. Now says may be oxygen eating the sections because of too much fresh water. The feeder we have have a time delay that will not let boiler overfeed. Sometimes when cold out I wonder if it is on enough to keep any pressure up at all. This gives plenty of time for water to return. The mains in the basement are mostly insulated but under house is here and there. He said we would do latter but keep spending his buget on keeping heat on. This house has 2 pipe steam and I replaced the traps when new boiler was installed. A addition has 1 pipe steam but I shut it down when new boiler was installed because they do not heat now and a leak was found under the concrete floor 3 weeks after new boiler was installed.
Floor in a small area you could cook on. I am thankfull That I installed these shut offs at the time we replaced the unit. The boiler never overfills but I did not install a water meter on the incoming line. This may be a problem when the rep shows up. At least the weather is not bad and they have a gas log which helps. I will let yo know more as I do. Thanks for the help Bob.

Roger Litman

Steam boiler

I agree on the subject of the boiler manufacturer standing behind his equipment. I am concerned about the return lines under the floor. Can you pressure test them and if necessary jump them out. We had to install a condensate pump where we could not rip up a floor and it was an expensive job.

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