steam 251 M richardson/iron fireman burner

RodD

looking for info on the size of this boiler.any info would help.here are a few pic.I have to replace it and want to make sure i have correct size.a new one was to be installed a month ago, i went three days no heat 10 outside temp.heat contractor cancelled twice now he won,t return call.I walked into supply house asked for ref they came out sized new boi 500sq ft steam 2000sq ft house 2 fl 2 pipe system.
My oil man that i,ve had for 13yrs won,t even come tell me what i need,I,ve asked him every spring for five yr to tell me what i need and put one in he never has. I found your web site and lots of good info.he tells me he can't find electrodes to replace old ones. heat works great takes a long time to come on cold start 50min to first fl rad get hot 1/3 of rad. 25min for riser to heat,two loops north /south 35 min to where they meet.50 min second fl rad hot 1/3. one rad on sec fl is one pipe that one gets hot first.i had new kitchen put in last yr and plumer told me to replace the pipe going to this rad so i had it done he took out old pipe and replaced it with 1 1/2 copper.$7000 for the kitchen plumbing and new pipe. with no heat in the kit don't want to get screwed agin .I,ve since installed a toe kick off my water heater myself. thak you

Steamhead

Round boilers in general

are very inefficient. Yours has an old-style oil burner which doesn't burn clean like the newer flame-retention burners do. This combination, according to one of my Dead Men's Books, cannot be expected to run at more than 40% efficiency.

My Richardson & Boynton fitter's catalog shows the #251 is rated 625 square feet EDR.

Since that's a Richardson boiler, I'll bet you have a Richardson Vapor System. This is covered in chapter 15 of "The Lost Art of Steam Heating". Vapor was the Cadillac of heating in the old days and is still one of the best systems out there. With a new boiler and proper air venting, you'll love the way it works. Save the old gauge and burner for the museum.

Oh, one more thing: running a toe-kick heater off your domestic hot water is asking for Legionnaires' disease. Put a real steam radiator in there instead.

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Geno_15

How old

is that pop safety valve????

Time for new!

Does that thing have any other safety devices??

Firedragon_4

If your oil man

won't quote you a new boiler, get a new oilman!

That's what the guy is, an oilman, burn, baby, burn! But, it's your oil that's burning, FACT!

[Deleted User]

Just looked

in an electrode supplier's catalog. Lists 47 different Iron Fireman electrodes. Can't imagine your burner's electrodes aren't in there. Poor excuse on the oil guys part.

Might I suggest you look in the Find A Contractor Section of this site. Your boiler install could be tricky.

oil-2-4-6-gas

.

your oil-man and most plumbers out there have no idea how to replace your boiler and make it work correctly with your system --you need a steam specialist ----check out the find a professional --you have the finest of steam heating systems out there --

RodD

gas/oil

THANKS FOR INFO GREAT SITE.HAD 2 HVAC CONTRACTORS IN TODAY ONE SAY THE ONLY WAY TO GO IS HOT WATER ALL NEW PIPE DON'T WANT TO DO THAT.I LIKE MY STEAM AND WANT TO MAKE SURE IT WLL BE AS GOOD WITH NEW BOILER AS WITH OLD SYSTEM. NEITHER COULD TELL ME IF IT IS A VAPOR SYS.IT HAS THREE VENTS IN CELLAR PIPEING ONE ON STEAM MAIN AND TWO ON THE RETURN,ONE ABOVE BOILER.
GAS WATER HEATER AND OIL BOILER IN SAME FLUE ONE SAYS OK AND THE OTHER SAYS CHANGE NEW BOILER TO GAS AND PUT A NEW LINER IN CHIM.2ND GUY DID RADIATION&HEAT LOSS 2 HR.

ANY PREF ON BOILER MANUFACTURE FOR THIS OLD SYSTEM OR DOES IT MATTER. WHEN BOILER SHUTS DOWN PRESSURE AT 1/4 - 1/2 LB
THEN AS CONDASATE RETURNS I CAN HEAR IT SUCKING AIR AND VACUME GOES TO3/4 POUND 7-10 MN LATER IT COMES ON AGIAN.
JUST CAME HOME COLD START RAN OR 2HR STRAIGHT WITH NO SHUT DOWN, TEMP WENT FROM 60 TO 62 HOPE TO SEE A DIFF WITH NEW BOILER RAD STARTED TO GET HOT AFTER 45 MIN.

Steamhead

That's definitely Vapor

if it has vents on the returns from the radiators.

The man who insisted you convert it to hot-water doesn't know steam at all, and this is how he shows it. There are many pitfalls to this type of conversion- go here for more:

http://www.heatinghelp.com/newsletter.cfm?Id=22

On steam, you size the boiler to the existing radiation. The boiler's Net rating should match or slightly exceed this amount. A good boiler is a good boiler- the most important thing is how well the installation is done. The new boiler should have a Vaporstat instead of a Pressuretrol. And it will make steam much more quickly than your old snowman.

The vents on your steam mains and returns should be sized according to currrent practice, which means much more capacity than used in the coal era.

Whether or not the chimney needs relining depends on Code in your area. Here in Baltimore it is common to see an oil or gas boiler and water heater sharing a flue.

Have you tried the Find a Professional page of this site to locate a good steam man?

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