Need info on late 40's vintage coal fired boiler

Keith_3

Gentlemen,
I rescued a late 1940's vintage coal fired boiler that was converted to gas when brand new. The house it was in was scheduled for demolition for creation of a parking lot. The grates, shaker assembly and ashpit door were still sitting in the corner behind the furnace and have never been used. It is a United States Radiator Corporation boiler. On one of the doors it has the words, The Capitol. The only data plate I could find only gave a model number of 25-5 and a serial number of 312762. The gas conversion was an old Janitrol unit rated at 200,000 BTU.
Does anyone out there have any old books or maybe an old installation book or anything at all on this boiler they would be willing to share.

Keith_3

Need info on late 40's vintage coal fired boiler

Gentlemen,
I rescued a late 1940's vintage coal fired boiler that was converted to gas when brand new. The house it was in was scheduled for demolition for creation of a parking lot. The grates, shaker assembly and ashpit door were still sitting in the corner behind the furnace and have never been used. It is a United States Radiator Corporation boiler. On one of the doors it has the words, The Capitol. The only data plate I could find gave a model number of 25-5 and a serial number of 312762. The gas conversion was an old Janitrol unit rated at 200,000 BTU. I have no idea what the BTU rating would be when using coal.
Does anyone out there have any old books or maybe an old installation book or anything at all on this boiler they would be willing to share. Keith

Keith_3

Need info on late 40's vintage coal fired boiler

Gentlemen,
I rescued a late 1940's vintage coal fired boiler that was converted to gas when brand new. The house it was in was scheduled for demolition for creation of a parking lot. The price was right, FREE. The grates, shaker assembly and ashpit door were still sitting in the corner behind the furnace and have never been used. It is a United States Radiator Corporation boiler. On one of the doors it has the words, The Capitol. The only data plate I could find gave a model number of 25-5 and a serial number of 312762. The gas conversion was an old Janitrol unit rated at 200,000 BTU. I have no idea what the BTU rating would be when using coal.
Does anyone out there have any old books or maybe an old installation book or anything at all on this boiler they would be willing to share. Keith

Keith_3

Need info on late 40's vintage coal fired boiler

Gentlemen,
I rescued a late 1940's vintage coal fired boiler that was converted to gas when brand new. The house it was in was scheduled for demolition for creation of a parking lot. The price was right, FREE. The grates, shaker assembly and ashpit door were still sitting in the corner behind the furnace and have never been used. It is a United States Radiator Corporation boiler. On one of the doors it has the words, The Capitol. The only data plate I could find gave a model number of 25-5 and a serial number of 312762. The gas conversion was an old Janitrol unit rated at 200,000 BTU. I have no idea what the BTU rating would be when using coal.
Does anyone out there have any old books or maybe an old installation book or anything at all on this boiler they would be willing to share. Thanks in advance. Keith

Steamhead

According to the Hydronic Rating Handbook

that's probably a 25-series Capitol Improved Sectional boiler having 5 sections. It has net ratings of 700 square feet of steam radiation (168,000 BTU) or 1150 square feet hot-water (172,500 BTU), on coal. The size of the firebox is 25 inches wide and 25-1/2 inches deep.

It probably has rather large flue passages, which makes it less efficient on oil or gas than a modern boiler. This can be overcome to some degree by proper baffling.

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Keith_3

Need info on late 40's vintage coal fired boiler

Gentlemen, I want to thank you for replying to my request for info. Here are a couple of measurements I should have posted with my first message. The boiler has a base 13 1/2" tall. The firebox is round and the interior dimensions are 24" dia. by 24" high. There are two flue sections on top of the firebox and each is 4 1/2" high by 28" diameter. The section sitting on top of the two flue sections looks like a large donut. It is 13 1/2" high and 34" in diameter. On the exterior there was a blanket of asbestos then a sheet metal cover over that painted a deep blue with a two section top cover painted red. The gas conversion unit was listed as a Janitrol J2-36 or J2S-36. Minimum grate size - 20" dia or 18" x 13" wide. Type J, Serial number 94001431. Input 200,000 BTU/HR. The 25-5 designation was correct as it was also written on the top casting. It is listed for a max. pressure of 15 lbs. steam or 30 lbs. water. Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera or I would have sent along some pictures. Thanks again for your replies. Keith

Keith_3

Need info on late 40's vintage coal fired boiler

Gentlemen, I want to thank you for replying to my request for info. Here are a couple of measurements I should have posted with my first message. The boiler has a base 13 1/2" tall. The firebox is round and the interior dimensions are 24" dia. by 24" high. There are two flue sections on top of the firebox and each is 4 1/2" high by 28" diameter. The section sitting on top of the two flue sections looks like a large donut. It is 13 1/2" high and 34" in diameter. On the exterior there was a blanket of asbestos then a sheet metal cover over that painted a deep blue with a two section top cover painted red. The gas conversion unit was listed as a Janitrol J2-36 or J2S-36. Minimum grate size - 20" dia or 18" x 13" wide. Type J, Serial number 94001431. Input 200,000 BTU/HR. The 25-5 designation was correct as it was also written on the top section at the foundry. It is listed for a max. pressure of 15 lbs. steam or 30 lbs. water. Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera or I would have sent along some pictures. Thanks again for your replies. Keith

Steamhead

Oh, OK- it's a \"Snowman\"!

so named because when covered with asbestos, it resembled a snowman. These boilers were rather common since they were inexpensive, but they were not very efficient, especially on oil or gas. It is also possible to baffle one of these boilers as described above, but the results would not be as good.

The Capitol round boiler #25-5 had net ratings of 675 square feet steam (162,000 BTU) or 1080 square feet hot-water (162,000 BTU also)- again, these ratings are in the Hydronic Rating Handbook.

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