New Boiler install

 
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coalkirk
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Post by coalkirk » Mon. Aug. 29, 2022 9:01 am

It’s cavernous in that room now with the coal bin gone! Don’t know how much radiant heat this boiler will throw off. It certainly won’t be 85 in there like with the EFM. I picked up a couple radiators for the basement to soften the blow. I don’t like a cold basement in winter. I’ve still got my green Jotul507 I can put in service if needed. Saving that for emergencies. It can quickly be connected to the oil burner flue.
I’m reusing the black iron from the EFM. We must have really cranked on those fittings because they don’t come apart easy. I’ve learned a lot more about threaded pipe since then. I’m using pipe dope only, no tape and they don’t need to be cranked so tight. Starting the hydronic piping today.


 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Mon. Aug. 29, 2022 9:14 am

coalkirk wrote:
Mon. Aug. 29, 2022 9:01 am
I’m using pipe dope only, no tape and they don’t need to be cranked so tight. Starting the hydronic piping today.
Dope only is fine if you have good quality fittings and cut your own threads. If you are using store-bought nipples and/or imported fittings, use tape and dope.

 
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coalkirk
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Post by coalkirk » Mon. Aug. 29, 2022 9:39 am

Rob when we installed the EFM I bought all American made Ward fittings and nipples. All the local supply houses and of course the big box stores only had China fittings. Had to order them online.

 
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coalkirk
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Post by coalkirk » Mon. Sep. 05, 2022 9:07 am

Had a couple hiccups on the boiler install. Got the pilot lit but burner would not fire. Honeywell control not outputting 24 volts. It sat in a shop/garage for 37 years so I guess that's not too surprising. New control ordered. Then when twisting the last connection on the piping one of the existing Pro-Press joints started to piss a leak. So I had to cut it out and order some fittings. Hopefully will be complete and fired by next weekend. So since I've been in this home this will be the 8th boiler installed. I'm on the third oil boiler, had 2 different indoor wood boilers, 2 coal boilers and now gas.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Mon. Sep. 05, 2022 9:11 am

coalkirk wrote:
Mon. Sep. 05, 2022 9:07 am
So since I've been in this home this will be the 8th boiler installed. I'm on the third oil boiler, had 2 different indoor wood boilers, 2 coal boilers and now gas.
That is a record that will be tough to break. :lol: My house is 100 years old and only on its 4th boiler. First was a General Electric downfired oil boiler, next two were an indoor wood boiler and Weil Mclain oil boiler, and the 4th and current is my EFM.

 
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coalkirk
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Post by coalkirk » Mon. Sep. 05, 2022 3:58 pm

I’ve never counted but I suspect StokerDon has beat that record. My house is 70 years old. There was always an oil boiler installed. All the others were supplemental. House was built with a General Automatic oil boiler. That was here until the late 80’s. Then I bought a used Weil-McClain from a business that shut down. Replaced that with a Burnham in 2012ish. This is going to be it. The next one will be someone else’s problem.

 
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Post by franpipeman » Mon. Sep. 05, 2022 4:41 pm

AS to threaded pipe , i worked as a industrial per diem pipe fitter my whole career some 40 plus years i have yet to completely understand threaded pipe. Throw in threaded pvc and it adds to more mystery to the the mix. I remember i was hand threading some threads and the threads kept tearing . rough and hardly any points of the thread left. Looked at the dies but they looked fine. It happened again and again . I ordered new dies . Installed them and it happened again. Finally i determined that the hardness of the pipe material changed and was not up to making good threads. ON a big job i was on we had to dry cut bevels with dies for welding , heavy wall pipe and when doing that and you had a partial bevel you could hear and see the hard piece of metal in the bevel base material . As the machine would go over it it would labor , and as it developed you could see the sheen of the metal was different. Thats how i came to the conclusion. And then measuring to the eighth and quarter of a inch and having your piping oriented the correct way no way to figure that out and remain productive, yet ultimately it gets the job done but not without the gnashing of teeth my teeth.


 
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coalkirk
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Post by coalkirk » Wed. Sep. 07, 2022 12:58 pm

Houston we have ignition! New control just arrived, wired it up and she fired right up! What a relief! I was concerned that the gas valve might also be bad. Only fired it for less than a minute as there is no water in the system yet. Waiting on a Pro-Press 90 fitting which should be here tomorrow or Friday. 🔥👍

 
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Post by freetown fred » Wed. Sep. 07, 2022 3:52 pm

Now that thar looks REAL nice Terry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

 
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coalkirk
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Post by coalkirk » Sat. Sep. 17, 2022 11:39 am

Made the last connection and fired it up. Heated up the system in a little bit of nothing! If you are a plumbing and heating contractor and you are not using a press fitting tool, you are missing the boat. That thing is really sweet.

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coalkirk
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Post by coalkirk » Wed. Oct. 26, 2022 7:18 am

So after running for a bit I noticed that the circulator pump was very hot. Much hotter than the 180 degree water. Couldn’t keep my hand on it. Yesterday it stopped running. Tapped on it with a wrench but no luck. New circulator coming today. Also have not had the gas pressure checked and adjusted yet. Startup and especially shut down are noisey.
I monitored the boiler the other day and observed it would fire and run for 1 minute and 40 seconds then shut off for 10 1/2 minutes. This pattern repeated regularly and this was with no load on it, just recirculating to the oil burner. I’m assuming most of that is heat loss up the stack. It’s a standing pilot so I can’t use an automatic vent damper.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. Oct. 26, 2022 8:15 am

Why is the boiler maintaining temperature if there is no load on it?

 
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coalkirk
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Post by coalkirk » Wed. Oct. 26, 2022 11:28 am

I was trying it with a jumper on TT to see how it would operate and how much fuel it would use. Basically maintaining a constant temperature like the EFM did. From what I calculate the seasonal fuel use to be the way it behaved that’s going to be cost prohibitive. I will be running the thermostat wire to the controller on the oil burner so it only fires on a heat call. This will obviously cause some delay in the delivery of hot water to the oil boiler and a slower response in satisfying the heat call. The oil boiler has 4 zones. The hydronic coil in my air handler (this is what I mainly use), two baseboard zones and an indirect water heater. I’m not sure how to wire it so a call on any zone will initiate the gas boiler to fire. That’s why I wanted to try just maintaining temperature. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. Oct. 26, 2022 11:31 am

What are you using to control the 4 zones?

 
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Post by McGiever » Wed. Oct. 26, 2022 12:35 pm

Let’s figure out why circulator burned up.

Dead headed pump perhaps??
Short cycling of burner could be a symptom of no water circulation?? 🤔


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