Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

Calling Peerless 63-series Owners: A Venting Mystery

mattmich
mattmich Member Posts: 145
edited February 15 in Strictly Steam

Learned Friends:

As I've written in my 63-03 DIY thread (*), I disassembled my new boiler before I moved it to the basement. As I did so, I took photographs because I was worried about putting it back together.

When the dust settled, I was missing the piece marked in orange in the picture below.

image.png

I've been trying to buy the piece, but I'm hitting one snag after the other. Peerless won't talk to me as a matter of policy because I'm not a licensed professional. That appears to be somewhat standard in the industry.

The exploded drawings for the 63 line show the flue collector box from the front, so any restrictor is invisible. The parts list does not list one — it has a 'vent reducer' but that is the concentric 6" to 5" piece for the piping. I know because I bought one and returned it.

The vendor where I got my near-boiler piping kit was helpful and spoke to Peerless about this. Their response was:

"I spoke with engineering about this. Attached are pictures of a 63-03 that we have in stock and there is no draft restrictor anywhere as you can see in these pictures. The customer should remove what he installed there."

Where does that leave me? I did not make the piece up. It's not just a stiffener for shipping -- it's got rock wool on the boiler-facing side, so it's meant to take heat.

I'd like to ask any installers or owners of 63-series boilers if they have information on this. Does my restrictor piece look familiar? Did your boiler have one installed upon delivery?

If you have a 63 model, please snap a picture of the flue collector from under the draft hood. Use the flash.

I'd really appreciate any information. Thanks in advance.

cheers -matt

(*)

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/197722/diy-boiler-installation-peerless-63-03

Comments

  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 2,256

    Can't stay with 100% certainty, but pretty sure that I have not seen such a thing before. Probably got misplaced, because it wasn't properly attached in the first place, because it didn't really belong there. Believe it or not, there are mistakes made in manufacturing. Just had a boiler that I installed recently, where the jacket cutouts were on the wrong side, and did not line up with the boiler tappings.

  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 2,256

    The draft Hood should fit over the flue collector, and "catch" all of the flue gases.

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 17,163

    maybe @ethicalpaul

    ethicalpaul
  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 145

    He already looked. No baffle.

  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 2,256

    Closest I can come up with, is the side panel, number 23 on the exploded part list. But I do not see the screw holes that should be there. Regardless, if it was really part of the flu collector, it will not have any insulating material on it. Whatever that piece is, it did not belong there.

  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 2,256
    edited February 14

    You should be happy that it disappeared. Bad things may have happened if you left it in there

  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 10,106

    i remember trying to help you with this before. I'm not sure that there is a problem with leaving that section of the flue collector out. It is hard to believe that you have a photograph of that part included in the boiler and that Peerless does not have any part number for that part. Have you tried ordering the Peerless part number 50281 or 50282? They both fit the 63- 03 but one has an L designation for a lower firing rate So I would think the 50281 is the one with the extra part

    Edward Young Retired

    After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?

  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,341

    I received a 63-4L instead of the 63-4 that was ordered.

    It was already in the basement when I realized it.

    The supplier gave me credit for the price difference, he priced out the parts needed to upgrade the 63-4L to the 63-4. The heat exchangers are the same.

    I would have had to change the gas manifold, bracket, add a burner and change the draft hood and blocked flue sensor.

    I did not change it out as they have since removed radiation.

    Perhaps the baffle is needed for the "L" model.

    You can count your burner tubes to show the actual BTUH input.

  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 7,226

    mine’s the L model, no baffle like that in there. It is a mystery!

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

  • 109A_5
    109A_5 Member Posts: 2,109
    edited February 15

    To me it almost looks like 23 stuck in the wrong place for shipping.

    image.png
    image.png

    22A not pictured but not needed for the 63-03. Does 22 and 21 fit together with no gaps ? or is there a huge gap where the flew gas could leak into the inside of the jacket ?

    image.png

    image.png

    So which way do you mount this sensor ??? Be nice if the manual was not in conflict with itself.

    image.png
    image.png
    image.png
    image.png
    National - U.S. Gas Boiler 45+ Years Old
    Steam 300 SQ. FT. - EDR 347
    One Pipe System
  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 145

    Thanks to everyone who chimed in. I'll reply individually.

    @Steam Doctor wrote:

    Closest I can come up with, is the side panel, number 23 on the exploded part list. But I do not see the screw holes that should be there. Regardless, if it was really part of the flu collector, it will not have any insulating material on it. Whatever that piece is, it did not belong there.

    The piece, including part number, is shown in 109A_5's post. I went through the same thought process and can assure you: that's not it. It's also true that the reducer had the mounting holes in just the right position; that's where the draft hood bolts up. There is no other piece that'll fit there, and I'm not missing anything.

    I really don't know what happened here. It's not just the picture I took; I remember taking the piece off, and because of the fluffy insulation material, I put it somewhere where it wouldn't get disturbed. Wherever that was, I expect it's still there. I was aware of my screwup well before the trash went out that week, and I went through everything before I threw it away. This was my first (and hopefully, last) boiler install and I was pretty stressed about getting it right. There was a lot going on that long weekend of Labor Day '24.

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 145
    edited February 15

    @JUGHNE wrote:

    [..] priced out the parts needed to upgrade the 63-4L to the 63-4. The heat exchangers are the same. I would have had to change the gas manifold, bracket, add a burner and change the draft hood and blocked flue sensor.

    That is part of the puzzle.
    If you look at the parts list, there is ONE draft hood for the 63-03 and the 63-03L; dto the -04 etc.

    But the flue collector has a separate part number for the L version. So I "assumed" that the difference would have to be the reducer, which would make sense, since the flow of exhaust cases is different for the downfired one.

    Are we supposed to believe that there are two different heights for the flue collectors? Because the width and length is given by the geometry. I don't believe it but I don't know for sure. Because of that assumption, I bought the flue collector for the 63-03 and was mighty disappointed when no reducer was included. That led to the interaction -- by one remove -- with Peerless.

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 145
    edited February 15

    @EdTheHeaterMan wrote:

    » i remember trying to help you with this before. I'm not sure that there is a problem with leaving that section of the flue collector out. It is hard to believe that you have a photograph of that part included in the boiler and that Peerless does not have any part number for that part. Have you tried ordering the Peerless part number 50281 or 50282? They both fit the 63- 03 but one has an L designation for a lower firing rate So I would think the 50281 is the one with the extra part

    Yes, I remember you embelishing my photo and relating it to the Peerless parts drawing.
    I used that when talking to the supply house, and that's when I ordered the draft-hood-with-flue-reducer, only to find that the 'reducer' was the concentric piece that necks down the pipe, not what I was looking for.

    This is what i ordered, and i got the 6" to 5" round piece:

    image.png

    » Have you tried ordering the Peerless part number 50281 or 50282?

    I ordered the 50281 [flue collector for 63-03] and it does not have a reducer.
    The 50282 [63-03L] may have a reducer but I don't know.

    Certainly @ethicalpaul's 63-03L did not come with one.

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 145

    One comment on the naming convention the supplier uses:

    63-03 is my boiler, 125 MBTU input.

    63-03L is @ethicalpaul's boiler, 88 MBTU.

    63-03(L) means "fits either version".

    And finally, I have no idea why the '@' in front of the name sometimes links to a user and sometimes does not. THAT mystery will keep for another day.

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 145
    edited February 15
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1842699#Comment_1842699

    That is not a bad idea, but the pieces are quite different, and I had both '23' pieces in their proper plac

    Whatever was stuck in there was meant to be in there. Maybe it was experimental; I don't know. Must suppliers drop-ship from Peerless; the supplier I used had one in stock in their own warehouse. It might have been there a few years, so maybe a running change was made to the model.

    Thank you for the clear picture of your venting! You definitely do not have a restrictor plate in there.

    I also notice that your vent damper is in the open position — is it stuck?
    Surely you did not put your hand in the hot exhaust??

    Regarding your suggestion with the "22A — Vent Reducer", I addressed that in the post above. That's a different piece.

  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 145
    edited February 15

    Again, thanks for the input and suggestions. So far, there is no definitive answer.

    There is, however, heat in the house, and quiet operation, so I'm not too worried.

    The reason I'm leaving my jerry-rigged restrictor plate in there is that I believe it increases efficiency without causing trouble. There's a CO monitor nearby and it hasn't alarmed.

    image.png

    The vent pipe is significantly cooler with the baffle installed. That extra heat is making steam for us .When I installed the piece, the main vent closed after 7 minutes of supplying steam instead of 8 on the cycle before. These are not precision measurements, but I do believe that minute to be meaningful.

    My near-term plan is to wait until March when things warm up a bit and then downfire to a 63-03L while leaving the baffle installed. Since it worked for a hundred days with four burner tubes, I'm confident it'll be quite safe with three.

    I definitely have enough heating capacity — worst I've seen in 4 F weather, with wind, was 40 minutes on and an hour off. If the balance doesn't suffer, I think I will use the downfired burner going forward. I'll let y'all know how it turns out; it's easy enough to switch back, since most equipment stays the same.

    cheers -matt

    ethicalpaul
  • Long Beach Ed
    Long Beach Ed Member Posts: 1,597

    Keep in mind that regular CO detectors do not measure low levels of CO. At some point this should be checked out with a precision instrument that will assure you of exactly what's going on.

    mattmich
  • 109A_5
    109A_5 Member Posts: 2,109

    " Thank you for the clear picture of your venting! You definitely do not have a restrictor plate in there.

    I also notice that your vent damper is in the open position — is it stuck?
    Surely you did not put your hand in the hot exhaust??     "

    Not my boiler the pictures were screen captures of a YouTube video.

    National - U.S. Gas Boiler 45+ Years Old
    Steam 300 SQ. FT. - EDR 347
    One Pipe System
  • mattmich
    mattmich Member Posts: 145

    I want to add that our house is two-story, with a steeply pitched roof and a high chimney. Meaning there's quite the updraft, which helps get rid of the exhaust gases quickly.

    I carefully made the piece to be a little smaller than the restrictor that came with the boiler.

    I'll see about getting a better meter; either borrowed, or find a technician to come by.

    I have not touched any gas adjustments, and the flames burn bright and blue. Is there any value in doing an exhaust gas measurement? We're at 850 ft elevation.

Categories