Have you seen many of these?

Weezbo

I Apologize i was just seeing the obviously innane as usual......its He%% being me :) when they dont go one needs to lose them, all it takes is to read the fine print on one of those ..If you can do that...they figure you can remember anything :)somebolly needs to explain the exercising part to the habby owner...he no looky like he fully comprehends the subtileties of Pressure relife exercising :)

Larry (from OSHA)

I would not want to be too close to this one

Aren't you supposed to excersise these at least yearly?

Larry (from OSHA)

Alan_11

Why is the arm bent? Looks like it was thrown at the wall before it was installed. Watts makes great stuff,would open at 30 psi nbefore it blew apart.

Jim Katen

So how did that happen? Surely not while in service. It looks like someone drove their truck over it.

- Jim Katen

Tony Conner_2

Was...

... there a plug screwed into the discharge? Why else would the valve body fail where & how it did?

Ken_8

That's not from

pressure, that's from some "chutzoon" grabbing the discharge pipe and using the mechanical advantage of the long lever the dump pipe has, and broke off the threads of that pipe inside the discharge port.

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Tony Conner_2

But...

... that could have happened when the valve was removed after damage occured. Always tricky to tell what's happened unless you actually get to see the scene of the crime. Lots of terrible things get done to safety & relief valves.

Larry Weingarten

Larry... what were the...

...circumstances? It looks like the valve had been leaking for some time, from that internal photo. Did the top/bonnet get and stay wet for a long time and corrode through? I do see some water marking on it. What story does it tell? It's a curious one!

Yours, Larry

Larry (from OSHA)

as I understand it

the valve was in service at the time. Our boiler inspectors are in the same building as OSHA and this was on their "shelf of shame". I don't have first hand info about this yet, but all four sides of the valve upper body are lifted and fractured at the base where they mate with the main valve body. It appears that the forces involved were vertical and not from using the discharge pipe as a lever. There is considerable deposit buildup inside the upper portion of the valve in addition to what is around the seat. When the boiler inspector who recovered this piece gets back in town I'll see if I can't get more info. It is amazing what you find out there!

Larry (from OSHA)

Mark Eatherton1

Just a guess...

I'd guess freeze damage...

ME

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J.C.A._3

J.C.A._3

Other than the bent handle...

I bet Mr. Etherton is in the ball park. A leak through the seat and some water on the top...ad something below 32° for a while and Presto/Chango, you've got junk! Chris

Larry (from OSHA)

I'm still in the

who knows camp. My limited understanding of the type of boiler room environments that we have here in Minnesota suggests that freezing is not on the top of the list, even though it does get pretty cold. I'll wait for more facts. Evidently, our chief boiler inspector, who I think has the facts about this, is in Florida for a convention. Good place, wrong time of year! I need to get pictures of the other stuff that the boiler guys have on the shelf of shame...again, it is amazing what you find out there.

Larry (from OSHA)

Robert O'Connor_7

Larry

By the looks of it, my first thought was freezing as well.

Robert O'Connor/NJ

Larry (from OSHA)

Hey Weez

I just spent 2 weeks in Chicago at an OSHA training course. I think I'd trade ya your winter for what I just went through! There was a gal from Alaska there and I got the crash course on ALL THINGS ALASKA!!! So if I say to you "are you going outside", do ya know what I mean? In that same general thought, any chance of coming here for Wetstock?

Larry (from OSHA)

Weezbo

The Larry OSHA dude i have seen the exact same thing

in more than one boiler room. the constant seepage keeps building up rock hard encrustations and after a while the handel doesnt even work....it just keeps drizzeling out like perpetualy..then the seat is all cobbed up on the discharge..it isnt something that happens over night however 6 months or so Voila there it is now couple that with a faster than usual discharge rate and the oil or burner going out and a dash of cold and Wham The thing comes unglued...should a dash of water get thru to a boiler that is hotter than blue blazes i suspect that with a totally unreliable valve it indeed could blast it apart cold would freeze crack it explosive steam would more likely blast the valve apart with the plunger driven off the seat into the upper chamber the lever opens ...
I need to go outside3 some day soon...my life is so much on the go right now that it would be inconsiderate of me to leave so many people in the lurch as it were...Summer is fast and furious around here..work work work and did i mention many of the younger guys dont know if they are comming or going to work..:) i am trying to figure out if i am on the night crew or day crew and supposedly i run this plumbing outfitt *~/:) I am Certain that wetstock is a fantstic chance to pick everyones brain on a bazillion things andis probably a deal that i wouldnt want to go home when i was told that it was over and everyone has to go home )...i am also somewhat mischief and go on explorations to the boiler rooms controlrooms and the like ...while in New Yorks Trump Tower i echoed that i could fix the obvious plumbing problem and was informed that they designed it that way....Yeah Right! Thats what the guys workin on the place would like people to think....:) water just pours down the wall...either the plumbing inspector was paid handsomely to over look the leak or some engineer sold them on the idea that water leaking down the walls was a cool "Designe Feature " )

Larry Weingarten

OK... I'll guess..

...corrosion weakened the bonnet, allowing the spring inside to push up instead of down, as it should!

What was water doing getting to that part of the valve in the first place?

Yours, Larry

Keith_8

> the valve was in service at the time. Our boiler

> inspectors are in the same building as OSHA and

> this was on their "shelf of shame". I don't have

> first hand info about this yet, but all four

> sides of the valve upper body are lifted and

> fractured at the base where they mate with the

> main valve body. It appears that the forces

> involved were vertical and not from using the

> discharge pipe as a lever. There is considerable

> deposit buildup inside the upper portion of the

> valve in addition to what is around the seat.

> When the boiler inspector who recovered this

> piece gets back in town I'll see if I can't get

> more info. It is amazing what you find out

> there!

>

> Larry (from OSHA)

Aidan (UK)

Maybe...

water hammer during start-up from cold. I think the label says it was set at 150 psi; it might be from a HP steam system. Is it T&P or a pressure relief valve?

jim lockard

Tony

Looks like someone slipped a 1/2 pipe on the handle and pulled up.

hr

Looks like it got smacked,

to me. Especially with the handle bent that way.

hot rod

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jim lockard

Tony

Looks like someone slipped a 1/2 pipe on the handle and pulled up. Dummies like this need to know if you can't lift the handle easily its time to replace. J.Lockard

Dave Yates (PAH)

Aside from freeze dmag

Nasty wrench marks, BTW. But, maybe they occured when removing?

My guess is that the relief valve was plugged and the vessel over-pressurized, causing the top to "lift & separate" (humnn, where'd I ever hear that phrase before!?!).

If that's right, it's a comfort to know the valves have a built-in failure feature to relieve if some knucklehead sees threads and decides a plug is all that's needed to stop that leak. Not that that's ever been done.

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GH

STress

Seen that before .It was the blow off connected to
a staple up radiant job.

Tony Conner_2

I Doubt That...

... one of those stamped sheet metal lifting levers would do anything more than just bend.

Tony Conner_2

The Steam Safety ...

... valves I'm familiar with have their capacity rating stamped on the name tag/plate in "lbs/hour" of relieving capacity. This one is rated in "BTU/hr", which suggests to me that it's off a water application. The 150 PSIG setting is pretty high for a hot water heating system, so I'm thinking that this relief is off a domestic hot water application.

Larry (from OSHA)

Update

I asked the chief about this T&P that was on a water heater and he said that it was in service when it broke. It may not be the expected way to provide protection, but it appears that it prevented a missle from going through the roof.