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Author Topic: Boiler Questions  (Read 2895 times)

cobraal

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Boiler Questions
« on: January 25, 2011, 05:52:54 PM »

Hey everyone,
I am not sure if this is the right place for these questions, but it is plumbing related.

We moved into this house in 2003 and it had an indoor wood boiler hooked up to a propane boiler. The house was built in 1991, with the original boilers. There are 5 heating zones in the house and both boilers are in the basement of the 2 story house. All of the circulator motors are the same size (Taco 007-F4 1/25hp), but the farthest run is to the second story master bedroom. From the basement level, this is about 30’ high and 30-40’ run to get to the room. Is this motor adequate to run that far of a distance?

Second question:
The downside to the wood boiler is that once the water temperature gets to be 190-200 degrees, a room may call for heat and drop the temp to 150, which then the propane boiler kicks on. Once the temperature gets hot enough the damper closes, but then the fire intensity is lowered, and when heat is called for the wood fire can’t get going fast enough to heat the water and propane kicks on. Is there anyway to get more energy out of the wood boiler? Maybe to have it heat up water tank to store the hot water in? I could turn off the propane, but in the middle of night it is easier to run the propane.

Third question:
Tonight the wood boiler heated the water to 230-240 degrees and the relief valve opened. (lots of steam and water came out). I turned the heat zones on and the water started to circulate. However, the water in the propane boiler went from 230 to 150 and the propane kicked on. Yet the water in the boiler was still at 230. I felt the circulator motor that is between the two boilers and it was running. Shouldn’t the temperature be equalized? Maybe that motor is internally bad? Should I replace it?

Thanks for your help,
Alex

Here are some pictures of the setup




http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/4589/img0421ju.jpg
http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/5510/img0423lh.jpg
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/2923/img0424ju.jpg
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/365/img0425a.jpg
http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/5502/img0426ur.jpg
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/943/img0427q.jpg
http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/5876/img0428g.jpg

« Last Edit: January 25, 2011, 06:55:49 PM by cobraal »
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jackel440

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Re: Boiler Questions
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2011, 07:18:33 PM »

Sounds to me like you need a new controller on your wood boiler.Why the big temp differential before it kicks on?
I am no expert,but there are others who will chime in with some good information.
good luck
And welcome to the board :thumbup:
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RSI

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Re: Boiler Questions
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2011, 10:12:26 PM »

Does the pump on the wood boiler run continuously? If not, can you make run full time and just circulate through the two boilers?
The height of the piped in the second story won't make any difference unless you get air in the system up there. The return water is pulling equally to make the pump not have to do any lifting.
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cobraal

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Re: Boiler Questions
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2011, 05:00:42 AM »

The pump between the two boilers runs continuously once the water temperature gets above 125 degrees. 
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rosewood

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Re: Boiler Questions
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2011, 06:08:50 PM »

first 007 are a common circulator for a closed loop zone in houses, second what type of heat exchanger do you have? sound like a circulator problem..your sucking all the heat from boiler and cant replenish fast enough. that is not good for your boiler as it can crack your chamber from to much hot /cold shock.
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