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Weil-McLain's Famous Glass Piped Steam Boiler Fired Up at EEE 2019

Gordo
Gordo Member Posts: 856
Weil-McLain's well known glass piped steam boiler is fired up at EEE 2019 in Hershey PA.
My thanks to the W-M demonstration crew for letting me film this.
Dan Holohan makes a cameo appearance at the end of this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5mzrLlIHbY
All Steamed Up, Inc.
"Reducing our country's energy consumption, one system at a time"
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Baltimore, MD (USA) and consulting anywhere.
https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/all-steamed-up-inc
ratioErin Holohan HaskellNoel

Comments

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,453
    Like they say a picture is worth a thousand words!

    Need 2 more versions:

    A dropped header

    a boiler pipe WRONG
    IronmanErin Holohan HaskellGrallert
  • gerry gill
    gerry gill Member Posts: 3,078
    a great training tool
    gwgillplumbingandheating.com
    Serving Cleveland's eastern suburbs from Cleveland Heights down to Cuyahoga Falls.

    Gordo
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,513
    Thanks, Gordo. Great job on that famous show-stopper.
    Retired and loving it.
    Gordo
  • Robert O'Brien
    Robert O'Brien Member Posts: 3,540
    Resting until the next gig on LI
    To learn more about this professional, click here to visit their ad in Find A Contractor.
  • Danny Scully
    Danny Scully Member Posts: 1,416
    When is that @Robert O'Brien?
  • Robert O'Brien
    Robert O'Brien Member Posts: 3,540
    May 30 at Blackman
    To learn more about this professional, click here to visit their ad in Find A Contractor.
  • mikeg2015
    mikeg2015 Member Posts: 1,194
    Looking at that, I’m glad I added generous amount of slope to my drop header. My old boiler “got by” because it had a fairly large internal volume (HB Smith G300) and was performance limited by mud in the sections. I think he newer lower mass, lower volume boilers really need oversized drop headers. 3” pipe ain’t cheap, but it only needs to get installed once. Most replacement boilers after that should pipe right in with only minor piping changes and if same brand, dimensions likely won’t change much over the next 40 years.
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 5,695
    Is that firing at the rated BTU or do they overfire the heck out of it to get it to boil that high?
    NJ Steam Homeowner. See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
    Intplm.
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,513
    @ethicalpaul They fire at the rated BTU. That's normal.
    Retired and loving it.
    ethicalpaul
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 5,695
    Wow, that surprises me! Would that be considered wet steam? Or is it more of a continuum, as in "that steam would be dryer if it went through a drop header, but it will do OK"

    How wet is too wet?
    NJ Steam Homeowner. See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
    Intplm.
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,513
    When you look at photos of this (I have those in The Lost Art of Steam Heating Revisited), you can see the invisible dry steam in the top of the header. It's just the nature of modern steam boilers to do this. One of the things that made old steam boilers relatively inefficient was their massive size. This is why we must consider proper near-boiler piping a part of the boiler nowadays. The W-M boiler with in the video is clean and perfectly piped. I've been watching that beast perform for decades. W-M has done a great service for the industry in building it and sharing it so generously at the shows.
    Retired and loving it.
    BobCethicalpaulGordo
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 5,695
    I couldn't agree more, it's a great way to see what is normally only guessed at.

    I'm just struggling to understand wet vs dry steam. If this boiler with this piping is producing dry steam, then I can't imagine what wet steam would look like. I'll go look again at LAoSHR. Thanks!
    NJ Steam Homeowner. See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
    Intplm.
  • STEVEusaPA
    STEVEusaPA Member Posts: 6,506

    ... I can't imagine what wet steam would look like...

    You'd probably hear it before you saw it...

    steve
  • Gordo
    Gordo Member Posts: 856
    edited May 2019
    Over the years, I've filmed this glass boiler firing several times, but I believe this is the first time I've gotten a good shot of what is going on directly inside the boiler. Usually, the MW crew is doing this demo for an audience and I don't want to be obnoxious and interfere with their presentation while getting close-ups of that window into the boiler.

    This time, they very graciously fired up the boiler just for the film above because I assured them it would be given the maximum dissemination that I could muster. Having Dan in the video was an extra bonus!

    The contrast between the violence going on inside the boiler and the almost serene gentle bobbing of the waterline in the sightglass is worth noting.

    I think in the past they used to add a teaspoon of oil to show what happens. Splooosh!
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    "Reducing our country's energy consumption, one system at a time"
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Baltimore, MD (USA) and consulting anywhere.
    https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/all-steamed-up-inc
  • Noel
    Noel Member Posts: 177
    edited May 2019
    I have some from 25 years ago.




  • Robert O'Brien
    Robert O'Brien Member Posts: 3,540
    It will be at Blackman in Bayport on 5/30 for any Lawn Guylanders
    To learn more about this professional, click here to visit their ad in Find A Contractor.
  • Intplm.
    Intplm. Member Posts: 1,882
    I never get tired of seeing this. It is one of the best real life visual effects I have ever seen.

    Kudos to @ethicalpaul for doing a "mini" version of this on his own boiler👍🏼
    Gordoethicalpaul
  • Erin Holohan Haskell
    Erin Holohan Haskell Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 2,276
    @Gordo - Thanks for filming. Can we share this in the Systems Help Center too?
    President
    HeatingHelp.com
  • Gordo
    Gordo Member Posts: 856
    @Erin Holohan Haskell - Please, I would be honored.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    "Reducing our country's energy consumption, one system at a time"
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Baltimore, MD (USA) and consulting anywhere.
    https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/all-steamed-up-inc
  • Erin Holohan Haskell
    Erin Holohan Haskell Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 2,276
    Gordo said:

    @Erin Holohan Haskell - Please, I would be honored.

    Thanks so much!
    President
    HeatingHelp.com