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Latest Steam Boiler Install

JStar
JStar Member Posts: 2,752
Replaced an old WM oil-fired boiler with a new Peerless 64-10 in Montclair, NJ. The old boiler was piped correctly, but only had a 3" header, trying to move 515MBTUH+. We installed a 5" drop header with two 3" boiler risers. Added a Vaporstat and 2-stage GCV. The system is a mix of one-pipe radiators throughout the house, and two-pipe indirect heaters in the basement. The wet returns were 30" high off the floor, so we kept our Gifford Loop above that level to keep them wet. The old boiler sections looked like they were never cleaned, and the soot had turned into concrete. Of course, the service tags were always filled out.

Comments

  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
    And the new boiler.
    RobGChrisJ
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    What was the old one- 76 or 78 series maybe?
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
    Nice work (as usual)!
    RobG
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
    edited July 2015
    Steamhead said:

    What was the old one- 76 or 78 series maybe?

    480. Which WM made from 2002-present. That's a lot newer than I thought. The inside looked like it had been neglected for decades.
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    Those 80-series boilers run nicely with gas burners. But like anything, if they're neglected enough, they won't last. And the 4-80 requires a minimum 4-inch header- only the 3-80 can get away with a 3-incher.

    Nice work.

    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
    We discussed the option of converting the existing boiler to gas, but the homeowner wanted to replace everything. Good thing, I suppose, from the way it looked on the inside. I don't think it would be too much longer before the sections would start to deteriorate and leak.
    ChrisJ
  • RobG
    RobG Member Posts: 1,850
    How many times did you trip over that wet return running across that entryway?
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
    Luckly, that was not our entrance. Instead the basement doors were about 50 ft away, around two corners, and through a doorway where an indirect heater had previously fallen off its hangers on the ceiling.
  • RobG
    RobG Member Posts: 1,850
    edited July 2015
    JStar said:

    Luckly, that was not our entrance. Instead the basement doors were about 50 ft away, around two corners, and through a doorway where an indirect heater had previously fallen off its hangers on the ceiling.

    Sounds like fun! :'(

    At least it wasn't a hoarders house by the looks of it.
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
    Of course, the bigger the boiler, the further the boiler room is from the basement entrance, and the more narrow the stairway is.
    kcopp
  • RobG
    RobG Member Posts: 1,850
    JStar said:

    Of course, the bigger the boiler, the further the boiler room is from the basement entrance, and the more narrow the stairway is.

    Do you have a company you use to replace rickety stairs or do you leave that to the client? I've got a carpenter that I will refer the HO to but it is between them and him. Some of those old stairs I will refuse to bring a boiler up nor down.
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
    We don't at the moment. Sometimes we'll offer a price to sure up the stairs ourselves since we do some handyman style work. I had an instance at another company where my helper convinced me that he could handle the top of the hand truck. We got to the first landing on the stairs, and the boiler dropped straight through to the floor. I don't even remember how I jumped out of the way.
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042
    Another great looking job!
    Looking at the first new boiler picture, the steam main on the left appears to be counterflow for the first 3-4' before the 90. How far could that go before turning into parallel flow without causing a problem?

    Not being critical, just that there are a couple of situations I know of that might get re-piped in the future and there is about that horizontal distance before reaching the high point of the steam mains. They are parallel flow for the rest of the main. Reusing that existing portion of main would save a lot of grief and probably pain.
    Thanks.
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
    My rule is that the pitch can go either way as long as it's before the first radiator run-out.
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042
    Understood; no radiator condensate should flow back into the header, only steam main drip and that should be very little especially if the main is insulated.

    So consider that as an extension of the vertical main riser off of the header?? Just don't leave it flat to pool water.

    See why you should stay in the field to direct/advise newbies like me? I would have pulled both arms out of the sockets and probably cut up floor joists trying to "correct" that slope.

    Thanks again.
  • Dave Stroman
    Dave Stroman Member Posts: 764
    Could you tell be about the 2 stage gas valve. My local Peerless rep is telling me it should not be done on this boiler. Does it have 2 gas trains?
    Dave Stroman
  • Paul48
    Paul48 Member Posts: 4,469
    JStar.........Why is the Hartford loop so high?
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    Paul48 said:

    JStar.........Why is the Hartford loop so high?

    JStar said:

    The wet returns were 30" high off the floor, so we kept our Gifford Loop above that level to keep them wet.

    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • Paul48
    Paul48 Member Posts: 4,469
    Sorry....I missed that.
  • Dave in QCA
    Dave in QCA Member Posts: 1,785
    Love that header!!
    Dave in Quad Cities, America
    Weil-McLain 680 with Riello 2-stage burner, December 2012. Firing rate=375MBH Low, 690MBH Hi.
    System = Early Dunham 2-pipe Vacuo-Vapor (inlet and outlet both at bottom of radiators) Traps are Dunham #2 rebuilt w. Barnes-Jones Cage Units, Dunham-Bush 1E, Mepco 1E, and Armstrong TS-2. All valves haveTunstall orifices sized at 8 oz.
    Current connected load EDR= 1,259 sq ft, Original system EDR = 2,100 sq ft Vaporstat, 13 oz cutout, 4 oz cutin - Temp. control Tekmar 279.
    http://grandviewdavenport.com
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,592
    Are those cast iron fittings as usual Joe?
    Beautiful work.

    Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
    ChrisJ said:

    Are those cast iron fittings as usual Joe?
    Beautiful work.

    $$$$$$$$
    ChrisJ
  • kcopp
    kcopp Member Posts: 4,419
    No Pro press? just kidding!!! :o
    JStar
  • Abracadabra
    Abracadabra Member Posts: 1,948
    kcopp said:

    No Pro press? just kidding!!! :o

    heh... propress is only for vertical headers ;)
    JStar
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
    I would only use ProPress fittings on my old boss's steam boiler.
    RobG