header sizing

clammy

looked at a job they need a 8 section oil fired weil mclean steam boiler i look at mcleans header sizinf chart and feel that there recomemoned header size might be to small fot the existing steam mains are 2 1/2 and mcvlean says a 3 header is big enough my thoughts where 2 21/2 riser into reducing ells 21/2 x 3 drop header into 3 x 4 and a 4 header with my 2 take off am i being to anal or should i just do it in 3 thanks for any input even though the home owner says his old systems ran great i find it hard to believe when you have a 7 section using 1 2 tapping no equilzer no hartford loop and squezed into a closet to mazke room for a pool table i don't even know if i can pipe it and fit it into a 4 ft x 6 ft closet his boiler cracked last week and we put stop leak and recomened replacement ho said he would make it to spring hahaha now i believe he's cold extremely finished basement carpet right up to the boiler real fun job if he does it right keep ya posted

Earthfire

specs

The manufacturers specs and the codes are the bare minimum to make a product run. Are there better ways to do it? Yup!, Thats where experience and knowledge come in to play, And of course budget. But that drop header will dry the steam more then a regular header, so for economic reasons you could stay with 3" header and still be ahead of the game. Question: Did they add radiation? If old boiler was seven section, why would you go up to an 8?

clammy

7 to 8

i measured all the existing rads and did not count to rads that are off and the owner says will be removed and came up with a 9 section .So figured i,de make it a 8 to play it safe ,i don't even know if i'll be able to fit it in with proper piping it's very tight . The existing system has no equilzer or hartford loop it's piped in copper and with dwv fittings .The 2 existing steam mains are 2 1/2 and have been reduced to 2 . I planned on re piping them in steel and returning there size to 2 1/2 and tying them into a 4 drop header with a 2 equilzer and full 2 hartford loop. I like going one size over it really slows the steam down and calms the surging and also produces some quite dry steam .On the jobs that i've done this way for 2 mains i use a 3 header and people say there rads never have gotten that hot before,there are other concerns there also like many cans of boiler leak stop to try to stop the leak another of our service tech put 4 cans in i'm totally against the stuff and always refuse to put it in don,t want to be the one responsable when stuff get clogged on the new unit .The custermer is shopping around so we probaly won't get the replacement cause we don't work for free but i'll probalby see some really awfull piping when it doesn't run right because the plumber won't come back and niether would i for 5 grand and 2 coupling it happens alot around here it's impossible to find replacement steam jobs in steel around here rare like a panda in china thanks for the input