Do these heat exchangers look heavy?

JohnNY · August 20

I have to take them down, clean them, and replace the gaskets to stop the 2-year-old leaks. There are some jobs you want and some you do to keep the customer.
Still…I thought it might be interesting to some folks here.

RPK · August 20

How old are they? Do you know why the gaskets failed?

pedmec · August 20

I have had heat exchangers recoiled and done gaskets over so i do have some experience with these. Yes, they are heavy. More importantly it looks like you don't have the room to pull the tube bundle out. i believe there will be a gasket between the bundle and shell. Then you have the spacer that needs gaskets on both sides. its a lot of work. you'll need a chain fall and wide slings but it looks like no room to get the tube bundle out. good luck if you try it.

PRR · August 20

stop the 2-year-old leaks

My daddy told me you can buy a lot of car oil with the cash for a rear main seal or gasket job. Buckets are cheap. But hey, it's not my shop.

Grainger has E-Z listings of heat-exchangers but NO weights listed. Maybe "if you have to ask, you aren't strong enough"? I'd partner with an industrial rigger, guys with truckloads of hoists and chains and 10-foot prybars.

https://www.grainger.com/category/hvac-and-refrigeration/heat-exchangers/shell-tube-heat-exchangers

mattmia2 · August 20

This reminds me of @DanHolohan 's story about the hx the size of a city bus. Is there a boiler somewhere or is this district steam?

retiredguy · August 20

You may have to shut this boiler plant down and re-pipe those heat exchangers so that the next time they need to pull the tube bundles they won't have to do a complete shut down. The piping must have been laid out by a novice engineer that was short on experience. I did many of these repairs. The rooms were always hot and the units very heavy. Just make sure you have the right tools, the right equipment and enough young guys that will listen to your instructions. I don't envy you one bit. At least the guy in the black shirt and jeans is not on the cell pone. At least he should look busy when in front of a camera.

Mad Dog_2 · August 20

Shell & Tube HX...oh yeah Johnny..break out the 2 ton Chainfall...Nice work...be careful..Local 1 Plumbers can handle it! Mad Dog 🐕

Mad Dog_2 · August 20

Make sure your slings are up to date. They have a shelf life. Mad Dog 🐕

JohnNY · August 20

There is a boiler connected to these puppies, and yes, I've got my work cut out for me. It looks like I can drop the trapeze channel iron and buy myself some wiggle room. The whole steam return with the traps has to come out, but I'm not touching the (yellow) gas pipe. That will require an LAA and likely a building wide pressure test. NYC makes all that very difficult.
I was joking about them being heavy. They are clearly heavy. Handling them is going to be difficult and I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for the challenge.

retiredguy · August 20

When we did this type of work we would always incorporate an I-beam and a trolley system that we could utilize to make the job easier and safer.

ethicalpaul · August 20

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1808400#Comment_1808400

Hey give him a break! He's asking AI how to replace the gaskets on heat exchangers!

SlamDunk · August 20

I have a couple that big….NOTE TO SELF: Contract them out.

Intplm. · August 20

Yup. They look heavy.

Time to get the chain fall out. Maybe look for the remnants of a swivel eye or other pull point to attach the chain fall. After the chain fall is ready things go smoothly ??

ChrisJ · August 21

EBEBRATT-Ed · August 21

@JohnNY

I have done several of those. Many times, the piping is in front of the tube bundle, and you can't pull it out without removing the pipe which often involves removing the isolation valve then your screwed.

I have done what you mentioned disconnect and drop the whole shell and tube.

Many times, when the tubes have failed, I would just remove the whole thing shell and all and send it out and get rebuilt. JFD Tube and Coil Rebuilders in Hamden, CT we used several times. They are an ASME repair shop.

They can save you a lot of grief they repair, and pressure test you just remove and re install.

Did one in a Hospital in Greenfield, Ma where we had to knock a hole in the outside wall of the building to get it in and out

neilc · August 21

I keep thinking of that joke,

Do these pants make my azz look big?

JohnNY · September 27

Update to confirm: Yup. They are very heavy.
But we got this.

GGross · September 27

your guy on the right in yellow looks like he just realized he has to lift a new one up there next lol.

Intplm. · September 27

Lost without that chain fall. You sure do "Got this". Nice.

Mad Dog_2 · September 28

A Clevis hangar, chain fall or Come-along is only as strong as it's anchor point. When in doubt, I drill from the floor above with a "Fish-plate" a large diameter threaded rod on a bull ring. Mad Dog

Mad Dog_2 · September 28

Safe Rigging is a highly skilled and deadly serous endeavor. Mad Dog

JohnNY · September 28

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1812124#Comment_1812124

Indeed. We put two chain falls on this one and the vertical lift. We got one complete and have to deal with the second one next week. I'm getting more work like this and I think I have to buy the lift.
And it's true, @Mad Dog_2, rigging is a craft and a skill not to be taken lightly.

JohnNY · September 28

Also, gasket making is a skill.

Long Beach Ed · September 28

… and it was a good customer so you lost money on the job…

leonz · September 28

I am glad to see a Victaulic clamp on the upper piping. Did you install a replacement heat rated Victaulic gasket or reuse the old one?

What brand gasket material did you use, Chesterton?

Mad Dog_2 · September 28

Plumber's Local 1 Pride on display..Mad Dog

John Ruhnke · September 28

Hi Johny NY,

I was working for a subcontractor doing M&V for Con Ed in the city. My title was Energy Efficiency Consultant. I was doing rebate inspections for Con Ed. I met with and learned a lot from the Building Engineers. I got to see a lot of big mechanical rooms. I was in the mechanical rooms of huge Sky Scrapers. I got to see how they make ice at Madison Square Gardens!! Anyway I really appreciated all those complex systems. I saw and was explained how all the BMS systems operated everything. I admire the work you are doing. I wish I was 30 years younger and could serve an apprenticeship for you.

9425.jpeg

retiredguy · September 28

My only recommendation would be to take the tube bundle to a rad shop or similar shop and have the bundle flushed out or cleaned whichever it may need before reassembly. Other than that it looks like a job well done. I am just glad I wasn't there.

JohnNY · September 28

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1812186#Comment_1812186

I wish we both were 30 years younger, my friend. But then again, we probably shouldn't complain. Life's been interesting for both of us I'm sure.

PC7060 · September 29

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1812267#Comment_1812267

30 years! No thanks, I’d have to raise my kids again! 😅

Mad Dog_2 · October 1

An Irish proverb said:

"Growing old is a privilege denied many."

The aches & pains are our badge of honor to living "The strenuous life."

Teddy Roosevelt

Mad Dog_2 · October 1

I relish that work..sewage treatment plants, the Rockefeller Center Mechanical Caverns....not everyone gets to cut their teeth on that big work. I came up under the best, Jimmy Obrien & John Nolan. (RIP both) These were Demi God's to me. These guys had seen and done it all...nothing fazed them...Mad Dog

Do these heat exchangers look heavy?

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