This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

1

HeatMaster / Re: HeatMaster Remote Monitoring Update

« on: October 14, 2018, 03:39:44 PM »

Any updates on this? I would love to add remote monitoring to my G200. I have had a raspberry pi project on the back burner for quite some time, but if I could get it integrated with the controller that would be awesome 

2

General Discussion / Re: Garage heat

« on: January 08, 2018, 03:31:08 PM »

Instead of a unit heater find an old furnace, gut it and install a HX in that, a lot of times I rotate the fan 90 degrees and pull air thru the HX and blow the warm air across the floor. Usually a lot quieter than a unit heater as well. If the pump always runs no need for glycol.

I've got an old Miller mobile home downdraft furnace I gutted and put a 90k water to air exchanger in. I've got an uninsulated 30x40 barn and it makes a noticble difference when I've got it running. Planning on insulating the barn and running it off a thermostat full time. Circ pump runs 24/7 and it's just the boiler water that I run through it. 1 pump on the back of the boiler and it serves as a mixing loop when the fan isn't running.
I stuck 2" foamboard insulation in it to keep the heat in when I'm not using it. I've got maybe $125 into it and an evening worth of work gutting and cleaning it.

3

General Discussion / Re: Well pump repair

« on: December 31, 2017, 06:53:47 PM »

The part I am talking about was nothing to do with the cap. It is a tee in the top or the drop pipe and had a flap that water pressure pushed closed. I am trying to figure out if it needs to be there.

The well cap is in place. I put it back right after pulling the pump.

Is it a check valve? There should be a check valve in the pump or piping somewhere to prevent the well from loosing head pressure. If the submersible pump doesn't have one built in, that may be it.

4

Advanced Electronics / Re: I may be enjoying this nearly free renewable heat a little too much...

« on: December 23, 2017, 01:48:45 PM »

Is that a raspberry pi? I was thinking a raspberry pi with thermalcouples connected and setup with a static ip and running a Wi-Fi module to a website with constant display and graph to track temp.

5

HeatMaster / Re: Ok so I got a call from one of my customers last night

« on: December 05, 2017, 07:04:53 PM »

I got the"L" shaped tool with mine, works good for getting behind.

Same here. I clean mine out about once a month when I'm running. Vacuum it out in the spring when I shut down for the summer.

6

Plumbing / Re: Distribution center

« on: November 03, 2017, 06:52:53 AM »

http://www.supplyhouse.com/Viega-50143-1-2-14-Port-PolyAlloy-Crimp-MANABLOC-6-hot-8-cold

In my quest to clean my Dhw heater I have found none of my valves actually close, so is anyone using anything like this?

I'm getting ready to install the 18 port one in my house in the next couple of days. I just ordered it last week. I've installed the Manabloc in a few different houses. Very nice to have everything run back to a central location and have an individual shutoff.

7

Advanced Electronics / Re: Gas boiler tries to fire despite OWB supplying high temp water

« on: October 20, 2017, 11:07:33 AM »

Is there way to run a 120v relay to only kick power on to the unit when the incoming OWB water temp is below a set point? I don't know if the power can safely be disconnected that way with the gas boiler, but an aquastat on the incoming line run to a 120v relay like you would run a circulator from would allow you to have either an outlet switched on/off depending on incoming temp or the unit itself if it's hardwired in.

8

Advanced Plumbing / Re: New plumbing

« on: October 19, 2017, 07:47:10 PM »

Finally got most of this taken care of. The DHW isn't plumbed in yet and the oil boiler isn't setup except for the loop into the primary loop. I still need to run the oil feed line, venting, and tune the burner as well as wire that in. I've got what I need to have the OWB provide heat and I will have the DHW ready by the time I fire up for the year hopefully. I can take my time on the oil boiler, not really a need for it, just nice to have the backup option if I need to.

9

Plumbing / Re: Has this topic been covered ? Trench heat loss

« on: October 19, 2017, 07:14:32 PM »

Sometimes you don't have much of a choice. I had to put weight on my logstor to get it to sink to the bottom of my trench when I installed it because my water table is about 12" down from the level of my yard. I backfilled with the existing dirt that I dug out as gravel would simply allow the water to stay against the pipe. It would become the drainage path for all the water from the back of my house to the boiler. I buried a drain pipe below the logstor from my foundation drain to hopefully catch most if not all the flow of water from around my house, but I know the water table is extremely high in my area. I have a friend a couple miles away that has a 25' deep shallow well that has never gone dry in the most severe drought since it was put in back in the early 1900's. We're along a river and it's all old clay river bed. Absolutely no drainage through it, water just sits on it and flows under the surface down to the river. Total loss over ~60' is less than 1°F I don't think I'll get any better than that.

10

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Anyone seen Slimjim?

« on: October 02, 2017, 08:38:35 PM »

I saw his setup up at the Fryeburg Fair today.. Noticed there is no Heatmaster Boilers. Just Polar Boilers..Wondering if he sells both brands or just the Polar now??

Just Polar, he is no longer a Heatmaster dealer

11

Advanced Plumbing / Re: New plumbing

« on: September 26, 2017, 09:14:27 PM »

You still need to add an oil boiler interrupt Aqua stat and I think I would go with 1 1/4 main loop, come on up and see what I have, I'll be back Tuesday eve.

Just got back on here. Haven't finished this yet, I have the primary loop already laid out in 1". With my total flow under 7 gpm will it really make a big difference to switch to 1 1/4"? I know the flow would be higher, but I'm barely needing 2gpm on my longest zone and I only have 3 zones. I figure I could always redo it if it was a major issue. It's already gong to be tons better then my old piping from the previous owner of the house. I have some pictures and a couple questions.
I know it's not ideal to have the spiro-vent after the zones as the temperature is lower, but are there any issues that I'll run into because of that? I'm pretty tight on space, and it makes the most sense where it is, right before the primary loop pump seems like a bigger deal than water that is a few degrees higher.
Also in the last picture I have a long leg of copper coming down from the spiro-vent, am I going to have problems putting the expansion tank on the bottom of it with the cold water feed in the top of the tee? I'll have the tank properly supported, but I wasn't sure if there were any fluid dynamics that I needed to consider in the placement of it.
The oil boiler loop and the dhw are set the way they are going as well as the owb hx. I did change it to a vertical arrangement from horizontal as it seems there's less chance of air getting stuck in it this way.
https://flic.kr/p/YTUJqz
https://flic.kr/p/XPfpKQ
https://flic.kr/p/BMVP6f
https://flic.kr/p/YPL1sG
https://flic.kr/p/XPfr8E

12

Plumbing / Re: 1 inch copper tube instead of Pex al pex

« on: September 19, 2017, 06:05:59 AM »

I laid 60' of logstor in clay soil that was actually a trench of water while I was back filling it. I have 0 heat loss from the boiler to the HX in my basement. I'm sure there is some, but nothing that I can measure. I was standing on the Logstor so it wouldn't float as I was back filling the trench. I wouldn't recommend planning an install through water, but I have had zero issues with the install. Copper has a much higher heat transfer than pex-al-pex. I would not want the entire underground run to be fighting itself. Copper is used for baseboards and radiators in vehicles for a reason. It is extremely efficient at heat transfer.

13

Advanced Plumbing / Re: New plumbing

« on: September 10, 2017, 07:00:10 PM »

This is the basic plan for the layout. I did switch out the separate drain valves on each circuit for the end ball valves having integrated drains. I figured it would be easier to bleed air out of the secondary circuits with the drains at the end of the circuits.

14

Advanced Plumbing / Re: New plumbing

« on: September 10, 2017, 06:40:29 PM »

I thought I had replied here, but apparently I didn't. I'm going with zone circulators as I already have them and a controller for them. I also am thinking about going to radiant floor heating someday instead of baseboards, so I'd need the pumps then anyway. The cost of the controller and zone valves is quite a bit upfront while I'm starting a business and income is low. I'll pay the little bit extra each month for electricity and can always swap it around down the road if it really is a problem. I'll slowly upgrade each of the pumps to an ECM one as they die (all of them are used but work well, so to keep initial costs low I'll just use them). If they don't die, I'll just replace them as I can afford them. I should be ready to start plumbing it all up next weekend.

15

Advanced Plumbing / Re: New plumbing

« on: September 06, 2017, 08:50:54 AM »

Frozen. 
  Grundfos has the alpha 15-58. It is a very good pump. I have one in my system.  It has 7 settings 
 3 pressure.
 1 auto
 3 flow.
  It has a lite digital display that toggles back and forth between watts and gpm. Letting you know exactly what it is flowing and using for energy. Very easy to change settings. Just push the desired setting.

Just 1 of those has enough head and flow to pump my entire system. It would be very expensive to install one for every circuit only to have to flowing 1-2 GPM