Thank you for the video very informative and interesting. I don’t see you installing many naturally aspirated or atmospheric boilers usually you are using a gas gun and a oil boiler like SGO.
On the smaller boilers, it is usually not worth the efficiency gain vs the complexity cost to go with a power burner. Also, the noise is an issue for many folks unless we are converting from oil to gas.
What would your recommendation be for a somewhat bigger repair on a Burnham PV73ST thats leaking from the tankless coil gasket? Spend the $400 on the replacement coil along with the gasket and the bolts to try to get some more life out of it and then start pricing out replacement boiler? Boiler is from 1998 and does a great job with the two pipe steam system I have here in CT. I'm just worried that with it being almost 30 years old it could go another 20 years or it could die within the next few years.
My advice would be to start looking at Burnham's MegaSteam as a replacement boiler asap. ruclips.net/video/-43xDzBoRBI/видео.html is a link to a video on one of our installs.
@gordonschweizer5154 thank you I will check it out. Dad and I will actually be doing the hot water coil and possibly relining the combustion chamber in April or May to buy me a little bit more time but yes I agree it is time to start looking into a new boiler
@@gordonschweizer5154 Great video and great install if you were closer to Connecticut it definitely would have you guys give me an estimate. I think also when the replacement is done I would probably also have all of my radiator valves changed to new ones as a lot of them are stuck open I have some ones that don't open as well
@@gordonschweizer5154 two pipe system yes. I have in the basement by the boiler a Warren Webster boiler return trap so I would imagine that all of my valves are Webster as well. That's at least what they say on the handles
Thank you! We always joke around here that it only takes about 2 inches of snow to shut down "The Capital of the Free World". Baltimore's snow removal plan is (tongue-in-cheek) called "Spring". So, the two of us are taking a "snow day". It is not worth it to go out and risk an accident during such conditions.
As to the reason why it is set at 9psi from the factory, you will have to ask them. Please do! I would like to know for sure. I suspect that it has to do with maintaining their UL listing for a life safety device, but suspicion is not proof. Who uses 9 psi and above? Crab steamers!
@gordonschweizer5154 Incredible, at 15 psi a pressure cooker will cook food fast, but yet it only takes .5 psi 100 degrees to heat the empire state bldg or your home and that is why the the pressure troll is always set at .5. I am understanding.
Yes, when the PA404a pressuretrol is set to the lowest setting, that is all it takes to heat a house. It's the latent heat in the steam, not the pressure that heats the house. The Empire State building has a pressure side of 1.5 psi, but, the trick there is there are vacuum pumps in the basement that drops the return side pressure to 8 in Hg, so the actual pressure differential is over 6 psi. If they tried to heat that building with just 1.5 psi, the pipes (already huge) would be even bigger.
@jazzcornertv I've been told water softeners are not good for feeding steam boilers. As for other boiler chemicals, it's pick your poison. Some folks swear by certain ones. Other folks swear at them. I tend to be in the latter category.
Gordon, I have two steam boilers for 2 units above and below each other. Similar usage but one runs 3-4CCF per day and the other 12-15CCF. I think it’s something with the cycling as it seems to stop/start a lot. Does that seem odd? Nice work as always, btw.
Thank you! I'd first check the settings on the thermostat. You may know the digital t-stats come from the factory set to run a heat pump, so you have to go into it's set-up menu to tell it it's running a steam system.
I have a question, I put a new gas valve on my steam boiler same model like the old one and the new gas valve it doesn't get more than 2.10 in wc I was trying to adjust it with a digital Fieldpiece SDMN6 Pressure Switch Tester Any clue why is that?
@gordonschweizer5154 Need your advice and suggestion. I have my 1962 National Boiler just like the one you replaced recently in a video. No leaks, everything was working fine. Sunday, I came home, and heat was off. I looked inside and there were tons of Soot on the burners and on the bottom. I was like "What the heck is all this black stuff" I cleaned it up and went to light the pilot. Turned on the gas and flames were all yellow and low and blowing all over. I shut it down and looked inside. Under the boiler sections were full of Soot about an inch thick. That was not there 3 months ago when I took the burners out and cleaned them. I cleaned it all up and boiler did the same thing. Only thing I never experienced so I called a boiler guy. He came out and took the top off the boiler and it was packed with Soot. Chimney has a good draft so that wasn't the problem. I helped him wash everything out with water and what a mess. Balck soot came out for 1/2 an hour. He had trouble lighting the pilot, got it lit, boiler fired nice. Had blue flames I have not seen in about 5 years. Mine were always yellow no matter how much air I fed it with the adjusters. Next day I came home boiler was out. I had to change the Thermocouple. Whatever happened with the blockage from the Soot cause a big blowback and messed up the Thermocouple. The air adjusters blew themselves closed somehow. Now question is ...... Boiler guy told me I need a new boiler. This one is old and will fill with Soot again withing a year. I lived here 30 years and cleaned the burners, but never ever cleaned from the top. I never looked in there. It's like in 3 months all this Soot blocked everything. I don't know if it was bad all along and all of a sudden it escalated so fast it completely built up and blocked itself or what happened. Was it possible that 30 years of not cleaning it blocked it so bad so fast all of a sudden or could this get blocked again in a short time? Air flow is good to the chimney, but like I mentioned the flames were yellow for a long time. Now he cleaned it they are a nice blue like they should be. I know I will do a top to bottom cleaning every year now, but wondering if it built up so fast, or if it was my fault for not cleaning top down for 30 years. Also, Boiler Recommendation from you. Burnham, or Weil McClain for a Steam Boiler? Should I replace it or keep an eye on it once a year. All parts are less than 10 years old from the drain valve to the pressure relief valve. Autofeeder, Pressuretroll, Miller 67, gas valve, all less than 10 years old and tank does not leak. Replace it or was it my fault for not cleaning from the top for 30 years? A lot of boiler people in Chicago by me but not 1 seems to do or know everything. I asked this Professional to check my Flue for temperature, CO2 and efficiency. He said "I don't have that equipment on my truck. UNREAL !
@@gordonschweizer5154 Thank you, calling him early next week to come out and check everything and do a Combustion Test and ask his advice about a new boiler if needed. If he say's time for a new one, He will get the job for sure. I looked him up. Supposed to be the Best. Thank you BTW, Love your pipe work. Some other guys that do "Steam" on youtube cut the 2 inch pipes and use them big "Crimp Type" connectors. I forgot the name of them but looked them up before. A Coupler is like $58 ! You do the piping the right way .
Great looking install! As usual.
In my field myself. That is one clean install. I would be very proud of that for sure. Super clean and most importantly correctly done!
Thank you very much for your support!
Another great looking installation !!
Beautiful installation!
Thank you, Gorge, for your work on our home. Feeling warm and toasty in the blizzard.
Really really nice!
Thank you for the kind words!
I polled every skilled tradesman in the country. Exactly 3 knew what "ameliorate" meant. Three.
That many?
One must eschew obfuscation.
@ hahaha
@@gordonschweizer5154😂
Thank you for the video very informative and interesting.
I don’t see you installing many naturally aspirated or atmospheric boilers usually you are using a gas gun and a oil boiler like SGO.
On the smaller boilers, it is usually not worth the efficiency gain vs the complexity cost to go with a power burner.
Also, the noise is an issue for many folks unless we are converting from oil to gas.
Nice job
Thank you for your support & kind words!
What would your recommendation be for a somewhat bigger repair on a Burnham PV73ST thats leaking from the tankless coil gasket? Spend the $400 on the replacement coil along with the gasket and the bolts to try to get some more life out of it and then start pricing out replacement boiler? Boiler is from 1998 and does a great job with the two pipe steam system I have here in CT. I'm just worried that with it being almost 30 years old it could go another 20 years or it could die within the next few years.
My advice would be to start looking at Burnham's MegaSteam as a replacement boiler asap.
ruclips.net/video/-43xDzBoRBI/видео.html is a link to a video on one of our installs.
@gordonschweizer5154 thank you I will check it out. Dad and I will actually be doing the hot water coil and possibly relining the combustion chamber in April or May to buy me a little bit more time but yes I agree it is time to start looking into a new boiler
@@gordonschweizer5154 Great video and great install if you were closer to Connecticut it definitely would have you guys give me an estimate. I think also when the replacement is done I would probably also have all of my radiator valves changed to new ones as a lot of them are stuck open I have some ones that don't open as well
@@willssmallenginerepairllc5060 You have a two pipe system, yes?
What make are your valves?
Hoffman #7 perchance?
@@gordonschweizer5154 two pipe system yes. I have in the basement by the boiler a Warren Webster boiler return trap so I would imagine that all of my valves are Webster as well. That's at least what they say on the handles
Nice as always, see you are having some real bad weather there at the moment, does your phone ring off the hook with breakdowns?
Thank you!
We always joke around here that it only takes about 2 inches of snow to shut down "The Capital of the Free World".
Baltimore's snow removal plan is (tongue-in-cheek) called "Spring".
So, the two of us are taking a "snow day".
It is not worth it to go out and risk an accident during such conditions.
Why is the pressure trol set at 9 from the factory if it takes much less lbs to heat the Empire State Bldg? Is there a place that would utilize 9 lbs?
As to the reason why it is set at 9psi from the factory, you will have to ask them.
Please do!
I would like to know for sure.
I suspect that it has to do with maintaining their UL listing for a life safety device, but suspicion is not proof.
Who uses 9 psi and above?
Crab steamers!
@gordonschweizer5154 Incredible, at 15 psi a pressure cooker will cook food fast, but yet it only takes .5 psi 100 degrees to heat the empire state bldg or your home and that is why the the pressure troll is always set at .5. I am understanding.
Yes, when the PA404a pressuretrol is set to the lowest setting, that is all it takes to heat a house.
It's the latent heat in the steam, not the pressure that heats the house.
The Empire State building has a pressure side of 1.5 psi, but, the trick there is there are vacuum pumps in the basement that drops the return side pressure to 8 in Hg, so the actual pressure differential is over 6 psi.
If they tried to heat that building with just 1.5 psi, the pipes (already huge) would be even bigger.
@gordonschweizer5154 Would you take the opportunity to introduce boiler water treatment a month from now or just invest in a water softener?
@jazzcornertv I've been told water softeners are not good for feeding steam boilers.
As for other boiler chemicals, it's pick your poison.
Some folks swear by certain ones.
Other folks swear at them.
I tend to be in the latter category.
Gordon, I have two steam boilers for 2 units above and below each other. Similar usage but one runs 3-4CCF per day and the other 12-15CCF. I think it’s something with the cycling as it seems to stop/start a lot. Does that seem odd?
Nice work as always, btw.
Thank you!
I'd first check the settings on the thermostat.
You may know the digital t-stats come from the factory set to run a heat pump, so you have to go into it's set-up menu to tell it it's running a steam system.
@ thermostat is old school Honeywell dial. I think its calling for heat too often.
@jakehits Ok, yeah.
The old school heat anticipator on that t-stst went off, most likely
Classic failure mode for that type.
@ Thank you! replace with same T-stat or do you recommend a modern version? Or if it’s fine adjust the anticipator to .05? Or whereabouts.
@@jakehits Try moving the anticipator first to see if that works in giving you longer cycles.
I have a question, I put a new gas valve on my steam boiler same model like the old one and the new gas valve it doesn't get more than 2.10 in wc
I was trying to adjust it with a digital Fieldpiece SDMN6 Pressure Switch Tester
Any clue why is that?
You might need to call your gas utility.
What is your upsteam pressure?
Good Morning, I have a question about my current valve. Is there a way to contact you via email, etc?
Try my firstnamelastnameATgmailDOTcom.
@gordonschweizer5154
Need your advice and suggestion.
I have my 1962 National Boiler just like the one you replaced recently in a video.
No leaks, everything was working fine.
Sunday, I came home, and heat was off. I looked inside and there were tons of Soot on the burners and on the bottom. I was like "What the heck is all this black stuff" I cleaned it up and went to light the pilot. Turned on the gas and flames were all yellow and low and blowing all over. I shut it down and looked inside. Under the boiler sections were full of Soot about an inch thick. That was not there 3 months ago when I took the burners out and cleaned them. I cleaned it all up and boiler did the same thing. Only thing I never experienced so I called a boiler guy.
He came out and took the top off the boiler and it was packed with Soot. Chimney has a good draft so that wasn't the problem.
I helped him wash everything out with water and what a mess. Balck soot came out for 1/2 an hour. He had trouble lighting the pilot, got it lit, boiler fired nice. Had blue flames I have not seen in about 5 years. Mine were always yellow no matter how much air I fed it with the adjusters. Next day I came home boiler was out. I had to change the Thermocouple.
Whatever happened with the blockage from the Soot cause a big blowback and messed up the Thermocouple. The air adjusters blew themselves closed somehow.
Now question is ......
Boiler guy told me I need a new boiler. This one is old and will fill with Soot again withing a year.
I lived here 30 years and cleaned the burners, but never ever cleaned from the top. I never looked in there.
It's like in 3 months all this Soot blocked everything. I don't know if it was bad all along and all of a sudden it escalated so fast it completely built up and blocked itself or what happened.
Was it possible that 30 years of not cleaning it blocked it so bad so fast all of a sudden or could this get blocked again in a short time?
Air flow is good to the chimney, but like I mentioned the flames were yellow for a long time. Now he cleaned it they are a nice blue like they should be.
I know I will do a top to bottom cleaning every year now, but wondering if it built up so fast, or if it was my fault for not cleaning top down for 30 years.
Also, Boiler Recommendation from you. Burnham, or Weil McClain for a Steam Boiler?
Should I replace it or keep an eye on it once a year. All parts are less than 10 years old from the drain valve to the pressure relief valve. Autofeeder, Pressuretroll, Miller 67, gas valve, all less than 10 years old and tank does not leak.
Replace it or was it my fault for not cleaning from the top for 30 years?
A lot of boiler people in Chicago by me but not 1 seems to do or know everything. I asked this Professional to check my Flue for temperature, CO2 and efficiency. He said "I don't have that equipment on my truck. UNREAL !
In Chicagoland, try "The Steam Whisperer" and have them look at your boiler.
Please tell Dave I said Hi!
@@gordonschweizer5154 Thank you, calling him early next week to come out and check everything and do a Combustion Test and ask his advice about a new boiler if needed. If he say's time for a new one, He will get the job for sure. I looked him up. Supposed to be the Best. Thank you
BTW, Love your pipe work. Some other guys that do "Steam" on youtube cut the 2 inch pipes and use them big "Crimp Type" connectors. I forgot the name of them but looked them up before. A Coupler is like $58 ! You do the piping the right way .