NEAR STEAM DISASTER{ or how to kill yourself without really tryi

ernie_3

And that's one that you saw.....how many more are like that as we speak....tick.....tick...tick...

Geno_15

very lucky

I ran into something last week I thought I should share. My boss and I were asked by a friend if we could look at his son's boiler, the oil company couldn't find the problem so he installed a bypass switch in the pressuretrol to keep it running. WhhHHATTTT, we said. "yeah It will run but then it won't come back on, like that steam switch is stuck or something.
We told him not to run it like that and he could blow up, he didn't believe us. So we got over there before this season starts, wondering what we would find.

Are you ready??
1940 Timken boiler, the one that could be coal or oil, this one oil,
Light switch wired to bypass the pressuretrol,
Pressuretrol set at 5 psi,
No Hartford Loop,
No Low Water Cutoff,
Full, I mean FULL OF MUD,
1940 relief valve { think it still worked?},
One return replaced with copper and pitched backwards,
Return vents in the wrong place,
70's Sunray burner with an OLD Stack relay { think it still worked?},
850 sq ft home, boiler overfired at 1.35gph

I had to tell them to go upstairs on the computer and punch up {Steam Boiler Disasters} on the search engine to convince them of the peril they were in.

They are replacing it.
The company they had wanted to replace it but with baseboard and $8,000. Why? They couldn't fix it, they did not understand steam.
Dan you have to come to CT more often. Spread the gospel. I cannot believe how many service people were here and did nothing, they cleaned the pigtail and replaced the pressuretrol. This is one for the books, oh and the oil company lost the account.

DanHolohan

So glad you were there, Geno.

This was the Gumry Hotel in Denver. A steam boiler did this. It killed 22 people 99 years ago this week.

Mad Dog

Way to go Geno

You saved their lives. I spent the better part of my life going out on a limb, being called crazy, osha-man, paranoid and too much, to name a few. Its scary how many folks have little regard for the systems in their homes that can kill them when neglected. Good job of standing firm. Mad Dog

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Weezbo

Yikes!.....

this is one thing playing Mr.Fixit withawrench can do for friends family and neighbours...:( i dont exactly remember the year however it isnt That long ago..when the number one accidential death type workman (occupation) was Steam boiler operator..........I too walk in with the idea to stop by and "see" the new system..to find the flue shooting fire and smoke into the wall ..to cheap to put even one screw per joint...that wouldnt be so bad however this was at an apartment building just built for mentally handicapped and some non ambulatory folks..my suggestion to "lets go see what the boiler room looks like over there" was as though maybe God had sent us there. i am dismayed ....neglect of appliances is one thing...installing things in the form of death traps..how do these people Sleep at night?

Geno_15

I'm glad too,

Thanks Dan , nice picture. Now they're griping about the new price from the new company, $5,000 for new Weil Mclain, new piping including Hartford Loop and vents including all radiator vents and subsequent cleaning of the system, and a new oil tank, filter and line. I believe that also includes asbestos abatement. I am glad I took the time to take a look, hopefully they will follow through. I will show them this thread and maybe it will help to convince.

Thanks all.

Dave Bush

Geno,

So, they want to be safe and sound, as long as it's not too "expensive"?

Sounds familiar.

Geno_15

yeah but,

you can't take it with you when you
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBOOM.

Dave Bush

But let's have a toast in honor

Of all of those who thought that they could, and all the pieces of them we could never find...

Steamhead

Nice Job, Geno

I bet they won't gripe about the lowered fuel bills!

You might want to hold onto that Sunray burner especially if it's a flame-retention model, parts are getting hard to find for these units. Yes, you can run them with cad-cell relays- I have three set up this way.

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Geno_15

update

I forgot to add that they had an aquabooster hooked to a coil on this steam boiler. At the end of this past heating season they replaced it with electric because it was melting the impellers on the circ. I wonder if because it is full of mud the water was super heating trying to turn mud to steam?? hmmm It melted the original and they replaced it with a Taco bronze 006 I believe and that melted. All this evidence does not look good. Could they have been that close to disaster??

neilc

please to contact

Geno,
where abouts in Ct?
DO you work Westport?
neil

Geno_15

new haven area

I teach now.

Pat K

Ford, Rouge rejected advice to fix boilers
Companies decided updates unneccessary, too costly. Decade later, explosion kills 6




The explosion at Powerhouse Boiler No. 6 on Feb. 1, 1999, killed six Ford workers. When TV newscasts aired footage of the explosion, boiler operator Jerry Nyland told his wife: "I don't want to see it, I lived through it."

Pat K

Happens to the big boys to.


www.detnews.com/2000/ metro/0001/28/01280131.htm

LEAD PIPE

Geno

where do you teach?