Burnham RSA and aquabooster ( Ron Jr. )

Nice job to work on for a Friday

Split level home , 5 wide steps down into the baement , and the boiler is in the unfinished part . This one was me , Kenny and Sal . The old Blueray gave up the fight . That's Kenny ripping apart the wiring .

The ball valves for the domestic

that " might " be turned every decade or so are within easy reach of Sal's hands at 5 foot 6 . I put them up high so you can turn them off , cut the pipes , and install a new boiler or aquabooster without shutting and draining the system down . How many times have you seen a valve 2 inches away from the cold-in or hot-out of a booster or indirect ? Who does that help when the tank needs to be replaced - and it's a different brand tank ?

We don't install individual drains on simple 2 or 3 zone baseboard homes . Purging the whole system took us all of 5 minutes . And again , something that " might " be used every decade or so .

The coil is not connected directly to the hot pipes of the home . The aquabooster was set to give 130 degree water to the sinks . But I agree a mixing valve is a good idea for every hot water source .

I've taken out hundreds of expansion tanks . Piped hanging down , hanging up , sideways . Our service department has taken out thousands - hanging up , down , sideways . I know the manufacturer wants the orientation facing down , but real world experience shows us they last just as long facing up ( sideways is another matter ) . Scott , you ever spin out a tank hanging down , full of water ? Had a helper do it and almost lose a few fingers . Yeah we'll take the chance by hanging it un-naturally .

Pumping away , like I'm sure you read in my reply to Dan , is not an option unless we rip apart finished ceilings . We could possibly throw a circ on the supply and zone valve the returns . Or insist we have access to the flow valves and remove them . Well , the people that live in this area are very , very saavy . And they would want a real good reason for us to add a significant cost ( and to cut open walls and ceilings ) to every boiler replacement for a potential piping problem that simply does not exist in these homes . My service department would insist we repipe these homes if we were sending a tech there all the time to bleed zones , don't you think ?

Halloween prank ? Dude , I appreciate the constructive criticism , I actually changed alot of my working habits from the critique we get from The Wall's collective knowlege . And you bring up valid points . But that comment is damn insulting and unwarranted . You've seen my work on here for years , and you know it'll never be up to the standards that Chris sets for your customers .

Kenny , Sal and myself did as fine a job as we possibly can . Bottom line is the customer will enjoy the reduced fuel bill while having a much safer heating system in the home .

Corrosive interaction

I think there's a bigger pontential of heat from the chamber deteriorating the floor . But most homes we work in that were built with a set spot for the boiler have a thicker concrete pad poured in that area . Old boilers like the one we took out had the brick cahmber sitting directly on the floor - no steel bottom . The floor looked great after 50 years or so .

The problem with a flat boiler bottom is if there's even a slight bump up in the concrete you need to shim all 4 corners to get it level .

Good idea about adjustable boiler legs . They work excellent with the Burnham MPO .

Haha

Ok , your secret will be safe with me ......... till I post a pic using your trick-o-the-trade . I can always edit out the lower part of the pic

I'll give you a call later , thanks alot Al .

We give them

the good (RSA) , better (V8) , best (MPO) choices , and let them decide what will fit their budget .

Longevity issues aside , you think a V8 would save them an aprreciable amount of oil compared to the RSA ? That's something to look into . We have alot of homes in this area with a V8 or an RSA .

Lchmb

We changed out alot of these in this town . Almost all of them are piped the same . One of the first things we look over are the service tags . We want to know of recurring problems with the old system and try to fix them on the spot . Now , unless the servicemen as a group don't mark on the cards that they had to bleed the systems , it really is a non-issue because we never see it on the cards .

Thanks alot for the advice Lchmb .

Yeah , neatness counts

Most of the guys wear the rubber gloves . I do not , unless I got an infected cut or burn .

Funny thing Friday night

Was at my local bar and 2 fire marshals walk in . Working together it took them over an hour to find some violations . But violations they did find . Nothing major . I wouldn't consider them even minor . A " Fire Exit " sign over the entrance ? If you need to see that sign before you figure the entrance you walked in is a good idea to exit out of in a fire , you need lotsa help .

Point is , if you look long and hard enough , you'll always see things that could've been done better . Whether they have a true impact on the overall job is always a debatable issue . And it is much easier and safer to remove a full expansion tank balanced on an ell than hanging down .

Scott , I always welcome criticism . No joke , it made me a better installer by far . Maybe it's just me , but I've always found good things to say about jobs posted on here before I bring up what I might do different . It's pretty tough to think you were just teasing when your whole post comes across as negative .

The issues I have with my co-workers , I'll air them out as I see fit . Being an owner of a company I know you'd want issues best handled in private kept that way . Remember , many people who work with you and with me come to The Wall regularly .

No apology necessary Scott . I should apologize . I should have known you didn't mean any harm . Sorry about that .

Ahh Clammy

you always make my day when you post about our work . A real shot in the arm . I really believe all the points brought up are valid . Circs on the return would be the main concern . But c'mon , the people that bring it up know me , and know I would never install something that didn't have a chance in working . There must be a few thousand homes in this area . Same pipe configuration . If we had to send a serviceman back on a regular basis to burp air from zones we'd be in the poor house .

Clammy , thanks so much for you upbeat post . You put the spring back in my step .