how NOT to make-up

Steamhead (in transit)

it runs like a Buick now, and will run like a Cadillac when you repipe the header. Nice save!

<A HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=367&Step=30">To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"</A>

John S.

looked at three steamers recently...

and not one of them was piped right. There's got to be a lot of illiterate heating "pros" out there. Really, how hard is it to follow manufacturer specs? Here's pics of one. Included is a pic of an F&T installed on the end of steam main dripping into a wet return. To top it off, they raise the main when installing so it's got a reverse pitch. Huh?

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Steamhead (in transit)

And they wonder

why we drink............

That's a Weil-McLain EGH, right? A drop header offset to the left (as viewed from the front of the boiler) would work nicely there.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

John S.

Weil-McLain EGH

Indeed it is. Servicing an old Trane system. I agree, the boiler is just asking for a drop header, before it cracks!

Kind of a weird setup. The house has three or four levels built on the side of a hill (some on slab, some on a crawl at highest point) The main travels up the hill in stages (with no drips that I could find) then at the end of the run, immediately returns back down to the boiler room in 1 1/4". It seems like the 1 1/4" used to be a dry return, however, there's no equipment at the end of main and to install something there would be a logistical nightmare because of the limited space in the crawl. So I repitched the end of the 1 1/4" in the boiler room, removed the F&T and installed a vent manifold with two Gorton #2s. Much to the customer's delight the hammering stopped and the boiler no longer floods.

He wants to redo the hear piping in the Spring. I will post more picks when I can.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, Steamhead.



To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Steamhead (in transit)

Can't stop an old Trane

I see how they could get away with running the steam main that way.... assuming it was insulated there's not that much condensate in it, so the little there is can just run counterflow back to the boiler. There's probably a separate dry return for the air and water from the rads, right? Any evidence of an old Direct Return Trap?

If I were designing that system I would have been real tempted to make it a Mills system with overhead steam main!

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

John S.

overhead system...

that really makes sense based on the architecture.

You are correct. when I first looked at the piping, I was thrown off, because the 1 1/4" return for air/water from rads, runs in tandem with that 1 1/4" main that runs back to the boiler room. They're like a brother and sister.. side by side all the way down. The HO questioned the design. I told him they were limited due to the grade of the house and that he's actually got the Cadillac of old steam systems.

I couldn't find where an old DRT would have been, but it was obvious that some downgrades had been done to the piping over the years.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Bob W._3

Notice the plug in the header right above the capped riser. Must of been a changeout? At lease the takeoffs are not between two risers. Looks to the be the same boiler I have. Also, isn't there supposed to be a 2nd or backup pressuretrol or high limit control on boilers over 300,000 BTU, or is that just our local or state code?

Steamhead (in transit)

That was probably

an attempt to stop the banging- they just couldn't see that the F&T was causing it.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

John S.

thanks..

going to try to convince him to redo the header before spring.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

John S.

I think you're right...

here's the pipe laying on the floor.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

John S.

Here's another beauty...

no HL either. This one's got a leak. We're replacing Tuesday.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Bob Harper

chimney unlined

From the stains on the wall, this chimney has the drip. What is the BTU input on that big puppy? The DHW?

gerry gill

hi John,

i suppose the water leaving this boiler up the riser must somehow know to turn right and go down the equalizer huh?..we must have dumb water here in cleveland..you got the smart water up their..hehe..make sure you post some afterwards pictures!

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Steamhead (in transit)

Not hard to see

why that one broke. It was literally "dying" for a nice drop header!

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Steamhead (in transit)

John, that was probably

where the Direct Return Trap was. See the two check valves? The DRT would have been on the pipe coming up between them. You'll want to put a Vaporstat on that one.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

John S.

it takes...

a trained eye to see that. Good idea on the Vaporstat. I will work that into the quote for repiping the header.

When I got there, you couldn't see the waterline (flooded) and the system was running @5psi. Hmmmm... I wonder why we've got water hammer?

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

John S.

Bob,

I'm not sure what size boiler or DHW. It appeared to me that the stains were from an older boiler, however, I'm going back to investigate in more detail. there were so many things wrong aside from the boiler that I concentrated on the obvious to start with. I will post when I find out.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"