Should I repipe my boiler?

michael_15

My steam system behaves extremely well. Once the boiler starts making steam (that is, the bottom of the header pipe gets hot), it flows fairly quickly through the system and the radiators (except one off a bull-head tee, but that's another issue) get fully hot within probably 15 minutes. No hissing or banging; pressure set between 0.5 and 1.5 psi. (Or at least, I think so, since my pressuretrol doesn't seem to actually go that low.) The boiler is just slightly oversized (about 10%), so I (perhaps stupidly) compensated by leaving uninsulated some of the vertical risers that go through living space.

However, after ordering and reading some books from this site, the piping seems to have all sorts of issues. Here's what I saw (though of course I could be wrong about whether these are issues):

(1) There is a bullhead tee to a counterflow main which pours its condensate right back into the header.

(2) The main vent is located at the end of the return pipe rather than after the last radiator takeoff, meaning I've unecessarily turned my 22' return pipe into a steam main.

(3) The header is only around 18 inches above the boiler and is only 2", to boot. (Should it be larger for a 100,000 BTU boiler?)

(4) The equalizer is 1.25" though I thought they should in general always be at least 1.5".

(5) The Hartford Loop is basically level with the waterline, and that's only if I bring the waterline to near the top of the gauge class, exacerbating the header height problem. I don't, by the way, get water hammer even if I run the boiler with the waterline below the hartford loop.


However, as noted before. . . I haven't noticed any symptoms of problems.

So is it worth my while (and money) to get a pro to repipe it? Should I follow the "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" rule? I don't really even know if it's broken but I can't tell. How big of a job is it to re-do near-boiler piping?

The last contractor I had in to look at it explained angrily that there was nothing wrong whatsoever with the piping other than maybe the header height (and even that didn't matter), and that he'd been doing this all his life and who did I think I was disagreeing with a pro like him. . .

Thanks,
-Michael

[Deleted User]

near boiler piping

Yeah, the header should be raised. And the bullheaded tee could be changed. But, if the system is working properly, why change it? I've changed lots of piping arrangements, added and moved rads, moved boilers,ect...... Each time I did something, it effected something else. A small job, becomes a nightmare. If the system is working fine, leave it alone til the boiler needs to be replaced.

t. tekushan

W-M EG series

Looks like a typical Weil-McLain EG series hook up. We have one here piped in an identical fashion and it works very well indeed. I'd leave it alone.