Nice little steam job

Unknown

The old one was a Weil Mclain 4 section . It leaked at the weakest link in these boilers - the section gasket . The 2nd pic is of the return pipe choked off with crud , only about 20 years to do that kind of damage . The return was just as bad .

Unknown

We used Peerless

for this house . We straightened out the steam main to a less dramatic pitch from the boiler . We also had trouble , again , with pulling the 1 1/2 inch skim plug in the boiler . We had to use the 3/4 tapping in front , not the best size for the purpose .

The other pic is where the stairs go from good sized to not so good sized . We had to ride the rail with the boiler and handtruck , kinda tricky with a 700 lb. Peerless . We were thinking of splitting the new boiler , but Peerless sends very thin draw rods and they look like they might explode when you retighten .

The system ran great for the hour we had it steaming , but with all the crud in the returns it guarantees someone going back to flush it out again .

masterplumb

Why

do they make those plugs so damn tight? Plus they're recessed plugs. Last one I did I had to drill the plug and pick out the threads to place the l.w.c.o. Thats my only complaint about Peerless though...Nice work. Chris

Mad Dog

Hey pitch is good......right?

You don't see too many coming off like that - real cute.they probably didn't have a 90 left. Nice job Ron. Yeah those plugs are really annoying. Burnham does it too. The 2nd steam tapping is a recessed 2" plug that's killed. I can always get them out with a special toll, but we have to take alot of the jacket off. Happy New Year Mad Dog

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Moses

New Boiler

A couple of constructive critic;

1) the 2" tee should be after the 2 risers

2) where is the hardford loop?

3) the cold water feed line, should be piped into the
return line, not direcly into the boiler, could cause
"Thermal Shock"

4) I always install a 3/4 45 on the bottom of the MM67 LWCO,
not a 90 Ell.,because after using so many times the blow-
down valve,some of the rust,mud,crud,builds up on the
bottom of the ell,rendering useless after some time.

5) I like to install the pig-tail for the pressure-troll,
on a port on top of the boiler, not on the side, because
that to close to the water line,and it gets, very
quickly clogged up.

Tom_22

Why do new steam boilers blow the crude out of the returns?

>>>> with all the crud in the returns; it guarantees someone going back to flush it out again .

Nice job, ron.

General Question: Why do new boilers blow out the returns more than the old boilers did?

Unknown

I was thinking of

trying to sawzall the plug out , but like you said , its a flat plug and recessed into the boiler a little . The 1 1/2 tapping is fairly new to this boiler , I wish they would let me use it sometime . Thanks Chris .

Unknown

Sorry about that Moses

I should have took a pic of the back . That 2nd riser is actually the equalizer - I drip mine down full size . The Hartford Loop is back there - 4 inches below the normal water line .

The boiler feed line I pipe as close to the gauge glass as possible . As long as the LWCO works properly and there is water up to the LWCO at least , I believe blending makeup water to the boiler itself is not a cause for concern . I have installed well over 1000 ECTs and JOTs this way , without any ill effects .

After ripping out quite a few steamers and seeing the condition of the blowdown pipes , I really don't see the need to 45 the LWCO blowdown . As long as the pipe has some pitch down and water doesn't lay in it for days , whether you use 45s or ells , the corrosion would most likely be the same .

About the pressuretrol - Peerless says to install it in the 1/4 tapping out of the front of the boiler - about the same level as mine is . In one of their pictures they also show it sitting on top of the 67 . I understand how quickly the pigtail can get clogged , so I don't bother using the 1/4 hole at all . I come out of the boiler with a 3/4 tee , and the blowdown valve is in this tee . Regular blowdown maintenance and the pigtail should stay clog free for decades .

Thanks Moses for the heads up with your questions . After many trial and error installs in the past I finally get to hone my skills , weed out what doesn't work from what does , and do the best I can with the time I got .

Unknown

That old Weil

was the 2nd boiler in the home . I'm thinking they ran out of nipples while installing it , so the shortest distance between 2 objects .....

I was gonna drop down into the pipe as it was - the first time I truly would have needed a drop header , but I would have had to cross over the fluepipe . Besides , it looks a little neater this way . It took my partner Brian about 10 minutes to crack the 45 and repipe the header hanging down .

Thank you Matt , and have a happy New Year also . I hope you're not working tomorrow ?

Unknown

Well

This particular install might not be as bad as some , with bringing back crud . The old boiler wasn't so old .

Typically you remove the original steam boiler , which took much longer to steam than the newer boilers . These new boilers steam up so fast they actually clean out all the clingons that were coating the returns , sometimes cleaning out a false seal , and bring it back to the boiler . When I flush out a return pipe I am constantly amazed at how much chocolate milk comes out - it typically takes 3 hours or more to get nice , clean return water after an install . I guess the cleaner we pour in stirs up the spooge even more .

Thank you Jake . Hey , whats the story behind your email addy ?

kevin coppinger_3

Ron...

did you do any reading on breaks? Why is the bookcase so close? Good work..I like all te photos we get to see...kpc

Unknown

When you say breaks

you mean lunch breaks ? Sure I like to read while I eat . If we only stopped for lunch one day ....

Why the bookcase is so close is because there was no room for it anywhere else . This house was packed with stuff that noone will ever use again . We had a tiny path from the stairs to the boiler , which we did make wider as we worked . I would have explained to the homeowner that there should be a minimum distance between some things here , but they weren't around , their college agae daughter was , and she didn't look like the type to forward the message . I kept the speech short - how to add water , blow down the LWCO and hit the reset . Thank you Kevin , its always good hearing from you .

Mad Dog

I Like that...clingons...I call 'em carbuncles..................

just like those nasty boils that people and farm animals can get. Yeah First it comes out like chocolate pudding then nestle quik, then ovaltine. It is very satisfying to get it clean. Yep! Ron it's the wife's birthday today and the best present I can give her is to get this damned house done!!!! The only day I didn't come was XMAS day and I had to be plied with booze and food not to come. It is the only way I will get the famil;t in. Running the biz and renovating a house, and not being rich is brutal. In fact, I better get back to work. Mad Dog

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kevin coppinger_3

when I said...

breaks I meant in relation to all the books in the bookcase next ot hte boiler..I know what you mean about the clutter..I had to look at a job nearby for a friend a year back...the old newspapers& junk were knee/waist deep to get the this very old leaking boiler...they still have not replaced it yet becauce they could not get to the boiler w/o a bulldozer...someday there will be a real mess there...PS. I thought you guys were using Burnham exclusively now? kpc

Moses

New Boiler

Thanks for clearfying the picture. Fron that angle it looks like 2 headers. BTW,I noticed that the fittings are BLK. MALL. not steam fittings. I was always told use steam fittings for steam jobs,and BLK. MALL. for gas, air,etc.

MOses

scrook_2

malleable vs Cast Iron

only advantage to CI fittings (other than maintaining traditional "deadman" appearence) is you can break'm vs cutting a pipe to dismantle a section of plumbing should the need arise down the road, no?

Unknown

Nice work Moses

Where did you find that offset coupling reducer ? And is that an auto feeder with a water meter built in ?

Tring to find everything you need in cast iron is a total crapshoot out here on Long Island . Other than the aesthetic value of cast and being able to crack the fitting like Scrook said , malleable works just as well .

Unknown

I thought so too

about using Burnham exclusively . It might have been that the customer requested Peerless on their own . Both boilers work excellent for steam , I might add .

Unknown

I remember the first

job I worked on for Meenan , before I became an employee . We were subcontracting a big steam job in a bed and breakfast in Glen Head . One requirement was to skim and flush the system till it was clean . The whole 3rd day we were there , letting the returns clean themselves , pumping the condensate to a drain . Over 10 hours till they ran clean . At that point it was more of a relief than satisfying , but it was great seeing that clear water .

Happy birthday for you wife , Matt .

Moses

New Boiler

That coupling, is a 3x21/2 eccentric reducer coupling. I got it A.F. Plumbing Supply, in Brooklyn. They are one of the biggest supply co. in our area.

The water feeder is a Safe-Guard model #VXT-24, with a build-in meter. I like it very much, you can tell right away if it is feeding to much water, that you might have somewhere a leak, or spiting air vents etc.