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MegaSteam Interruptus

Steamhead
Steamhead Member Posts: 16,832
Started this one last week, then a bad storm knocked the power out in this tiny village for several days.

Old boiler was a Weil-McLain SGO-6, connected to an existing 3" header with one 2" riser. The header fed 2 3" mains which are counterflow for almost all their length, and have 1-1/4" dry returns. Each dry return had a Hoffman #4A at the boiler end. Here's what the boiler looked like inside- see the sulfur? The owner was not happy. Yes, those are two dead birds we found under the flue collector:





All Steamed Up, Inc.
Towson, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting

Comments

  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,832
    The new boiler is a MegaSteam 513, which we got into the basement just before the storm hit:







    We removed a flange union after finding this- it was about 25% blocked by the improper gasket:





    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,832
    New Gorton #2 main vents. The first shot shows how we reworked the piping at the end of the front main- the original 3x1-1/4" reducing elbow was pointed sideways. Not sure how much banging this caused, but we weren't going to put a vent there without fixing it.

    For the rear main , we drilled and tapped the 2-inch pipe in the crawl space:





    Watch this space for more.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,060
    So this was storm related and not rolling black outs?

    Was watching Gordo's Utube on this up to the black out.

    Look forward to the rest of the story.

    Also was seeing Utubes for commercial HVAC-R rooftop repairs (CA-west coast) of freezer compressor change out. They lost power in the middle of the process, daytime....no storms....just off.

    He had to drag a portable generator up on the roof for vacuum pump operation.

    Could be the wave of their future there or SOP?
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,517
    Will it be a problem tying the two counterflow drips together above the water line?

    I guess they are so close to the main header that there won't be any pressure differential inside the drip tees to cause an issue
  • JohnNY
    JohnNY Member Posts: 3,229
    Steamhead, did you take these pictures with your flip phone?
    Contact John "JohnNY" Cataneo, NYC Master Plumber, Lic 1784
    Consulting & Troubleshooting
    Heating in NYC or NJ.
    Classes
    mattmia2GGrossethicalpaulPC7060
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,667
    JohnNY said:

    Steamhead, did you take these pictures with your flip phone?

    Work of this quality deserves a much better camera.
    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
    JUGHNE
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,060
    Looks like my flip phone pictures.
    Samsung Convoy from 2012.....same battery since new.

    Mandatory upgrade to 4G on 12-31-22 on Verizon.

    Very handy phone as it clips on bib suspenders out of harm's way.

    Hate to go to some "brick".....I know it will be damaged.

    PC7060
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,832
    JohnNY said:

    Steamhead, did you take these pictures with your flip phone?

    How'd you guess? But much of the problem is the photographer, who has never been that good.
    JUGHNE said:

    Looks like my flip phone pictures.
    Samsung Convoy from 2012.....same battery since new.

    Mandatory upgrade to 4G on 12-31-22 on Verizon.

    Very handy phone as it clips on bib suspenders out of harm's way.

    Hate to go to some "brick".....I know it will be damaged.

    This!
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,832

    Will it be a problem tying the two counterflow drips together above the water line?

    I guess they are so close to the main header that there won't be any pressure differential inside the drip tees to cause an issue

    We will tie all the drips below the waterline- wait till you see what we have in mind!
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    mattmia2
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,667
    Steamhead said:

    JohnNY said:

    Steamhead, did you take these pictures with your flip phone?

    How'd you guess? But much of the problem is the photographer, who has never been that good.
    JUGHNE said:

    Looks like my flip phone pictures.
    Samsung Convoy from 2012.....same battery since new.

    Mandatory upgrade to 4G on 12-31-22 on Verizon.

    Very handy phone as it clips on bib suspenders out of harm's way.

    Hate to go to some "brick".....I know it will be damaged.

    This!
    Get your new phone with a half way decent camera and get a Otterbox Defender case that comes with a belt clip. You can lock the phone into the belt clip with the screen side facing in. You'll be fine and we'll be able to enjoy your pictures.

    https://www.otterbox.com/en-us/defender-series
    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
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,832
    ChrisJ said:

    Steamhead said:

    JohnNY said:

    Steamhead, did you take these pictures with your flip phone?

    How'd you guess? But much of the problem is the photographer, who has never been that good.
    JUGHNE said:

    Looks like my flip phone pictures.
    Samsung Convoy from 2012.....same battery since new.

    Mandatory upgrade to 4G on 12-31-22 on Verizon.

    Very handy phone as it clips on bib suspenders out of harm's way.

    Hate to go to some "brick".....I know it will be damaged.

    This!
    Get your new phone with a half way decent camera and get a Otterbox Defender case that comes with a belt clip. You can lock the phone into the belt clip with the screen side facing in. You'll be fine and we'll be able to enjoy your pictures.

    https://www.otterbox.com/en-us/defender-series
    I'd find a way to kill a smartphone no matter what case it was in.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    JUGHNE
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,667
    edited July 2022
    Steamhead said:
    Steamhead, did you take these pictures with your flip phone?
    How'd you guess? But much of the problem is the photographer, who has never been that good.
    Looks like my flip phone pictures. Samsung Convoy from 2012.....same battery since new. Mandatory upgrade to 4G on 12-31-22 on Verizon. Very handy phone as it clips on bib suspenders out of harm's way. Hate to go to some "brick".....I know it will be damaged.
    This!
    Get your new phone with a half way decent camera and get a Otterbox Defender case that comes with a belt clip. You can lock the phone into the belt clip with the screen side facing in. You'll be fine and we'll be able to enjoy your pictures. https://www.otterbox.com/en-us/defender-series
    I'd find a way to kill a smartphone no matter what case it was in.
    My boss hasn't so I'm sure you'll be fine.
    They're HD and you can stream every Springsteen video and music.   In stereo.


    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
    ethicalpaul
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 9,630
    edited July 2022

    PC7060Steamhead
  • MikeAmann
    MikeAmann Member Posts: 997
    I don't understand steam, but I can definitely recognize great work when I see it. 2 thumbs way up!
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,832
    Thanks for the kind words, all.

    As an aside- the oil company this customer uses is based in the town where I grew up. One of their people wrote his name and the date on a replacement burner coupling. It's an unusual name, and along with the town the company is based in, I'm pretty sure I know who it is. No, I won't mention the company, the town or the person.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,832
    All done! Fired it up today, tuned the burner and the system heated quickly and evenly. Look at how @Gordo ran the counterflow drips:





    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    mattmia2MikeAmann
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,832
    edited July 2022
    And, for the record, here is the "other" job that we started while the power was out on the first one, all done. Columbia CEG-150 in a 3-story rowhouse, replacing an old W-M EG-45. We had done the main vents earlier, the owner noticed the difference immediately, and that may have been why we got the job:


    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    mattmia2MikeAmannPC7060
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 5,701
    We saw it already on youtube :sweat_smile:

    Great work as always!
    NJ Steam Homeowner. See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,832

    We saw it already on youtube :sweat_smile:

    Great work as always!

    Yeah, but these are the finished products.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting