Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
Show Posts
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.
Pages: [1]
1
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Old pump for backup
« on: August 26, 2015, 09:07:28 AM »
I just received a new Grundfos 26-99 to replace the Taco 007 I have on my CB. The Taco was a little undersized but got me through last winter. I have no idea how old the Taco pump is as I inherited the stove used but, I plan on keeping the Taco as a backup. Any tips/tricks to storing the pump after I take it off to make sure if I need it 5 years from now it wont be locked up or otherwise non-functioning?
2
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Pump Sizing
« on: August 11, 2015, 12:45:37 PM »
Last winter I was getting a larger temperature drop coming back to my stove than I wanted, because of this I decided to upgrade the circulator on my stove. I used the information from this link to determine what pump I needed: http://www.taco-hvac.com/uploads/FileLibrary/SelectingCirculators.pdf
I have one circulator on my stove and it sits fairly large distance from my house and my garage. I have a total loop from stove to house to garage and back to stove of 420' of 1.25" pex. I am not currently heating my garage but hope to in the future. Lets assume I need 100,000 btu/hr with a 20 degree delta T, this means I will need a flow of 10gpm. This is just under the maximum flow of 1.25" pex, which is 11.2gpm according to the link above. I have a total loop of 420' and I have calculated the equivalent length of the piping circuit as 513.5' with all valves, tees, elbows, etc.
I have calculated the head loss as 21.4' in step 4 and I added 6' because my stove sits 6' lower than my house. So the total head is 27.4' and I need 10gpm which hits the 0013 pump curve almost exactly.
Here is the problem, I heated last winter with the 007 pump that is currently on the stove. This spring I pulled a fitting off in my garage (which is near the end of my piping loop) and filled a 5 gallon bucket in about 45 seconds. This means the 007 was pumping about 6.6 gpm, but according to the pump curve the 007 pump should not have been providing any flow at all at 27' of head? According the pump curve it was operating under 8'-9' of head if it was pumping 6.6 gpm. What am I doing wrong?
I have one circulator on my stove and it sits fairly large distance from my house and my garage. I have a total loop from stove to house to garage and back to stove of 420' of 1.25" pex. I am not currently heating my garage but hope to in the future. Lets assume I need 100,000 btu/hr with a 20 degree delta T, this means I will need a flow of 10gpm. This is just under the maximum flow of 1.25" pex, which is 11.2gpm according to the link above. I have a total loop of 420' and I have calculated the equivalent length of the piping circuit as 513.5' with all valves, tees, elbows, etc.
I have calculated the head loss as 21.4' in step 4 and I added 6' because my stove sits 6' lower than my house. So the total head is 27.4' and I need 10gpm which hits the 0013 pump curve almost exactly.
Here is the problem, I heated last winter with the 007 pump that is currently on the stove. This spring I pulled a fitting off in my garage (which is near the end of my piping loop) and filled a 5 gallon bucket in about 45 seconds. This means the 007 was pumping about 6.6 gpm, but according to the pump curve the 007 pump should not have been providing any flow at all at 27' of head? According the pump curve it was operating under 8'-9' of head if it was pumping 6.6 gpm. What am I doing wrong?
3
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / To repair or to replace?
« on: March 14, 2015, 07:50:40 PM »
I have an 18 yr old CB classic that started leaking into the fire box about a month ago. It's a small leak and I have just been nursing the water level until it warms up at which time I was going to have it patched. Today I noticed that there is now a small leak on the opposite side of the firebox. Both leaks are in the middle of the walls, they are not at a weld.
I also stumbled across the add for a 6 yr old CB (not sure if it's 4436 or 5648 model) for 2500 dollars. The stove is supposedly in excellent shape the owners are moving is the reason they are selling.
So, is the old stove worth trying to fix or should I go check out the new stove which seems like a pretty good deal? My brother in law is a very good welder and I have full faith in his welding abilities. I'm just afraid there isn't enough metal in the old boiler left to be able to fix it.
I also stumbled across the add for a 6 yr old CB (not sure if it's 4436 or 5648 model) for 2500 dollars. The stove is supposedly in excellent shape the owners are moving is the reason they are selling.
So, is the old stove worth trying to fix or should I go check out the new stove which seems like a pretty good deal? My brother in law is a very good welder and I have full faith in his welding abilities. I'm just afraid there isn't enough metal in the old boiler left to be able to fix it.
4
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Return Temps
« on: October 30, 2014, 07:29:45 PM »
I installed my first OWB about two months ago and have been heating my DHW with it since. Just last weekend I hooked up temp gauges on my supply and return lines at my furnace. I have a 370' loop of 1 1/4" pex and with no load I was seeing a consistent 4 degree temp difference between supply and return. Tonight I turned on all three zones in my house just to check my return temps, and it was 129. I understand it should not get below 150, so do I need a bigger pump? I currently have a Taco 009.
5
Central Boiler / Central Boiler Maintenance
« on: October 01, 2014, 08:21:08 AM »
I posted this in the General Discussion Forum but I will add it here to see if I get a response:
I recently inherited a 1996 Central Boiler OWB, after asking some questions on this site and several others I was able to get it up and operating about 3 weeks ago. It has been heating my DHW ever since with no issues and everything seems to be operating fine.
This leads me to the next topic I need to learn about and that is maintenance. A little background on this furnace, it is a '96 model CB 17 (I think). It holds 170 gallons of water. It was purchased used by my father and hooked up "temporarily" for two years at my grandfathers. My grandfather was in poor health and couldn't afford to continue heating with fuel oil. My father and uncle burned it year round for two years heating the house and DHW until my grandfather passed away. Other than adding water conditioner, there was little to no maintenance done in that two years, and we have no idea what maintenance was done prior. The fire box does appear to have one patch welded on the side and it did develop a leak in a different location when my uncle forgot to shut the door after stoking the fire and boiled the furnace over. He welded that leak shut and it has held for a little over a year now. It has a taco 009 pump that I believe is original but I don't know that for sure. I added a water conditioner that I found on line at fill up.
I know this furnace isn't going to last forever but I am interested in doing anything I can to make it last as long as possible. Do you guys have any suggestions, tips, tricks to keep this thing in the best possible condition?
I recently inherited a 1996 Central Boiler OWB, after asking some questions on this site and several others I was able to get it up and operating about 3 weeks ago. It has been heating my DHW ever since with no issues and everything seems to be operating fine.
This leads me to the next topic I need to learn about and that is maintenance. A little background on this furnace, it is a '96 model CB 17 (I think). It holds 170 gallons of water. It was purchased used by my father and hooked up "temporarily" for two years at my grandfathers. My grandfather was in poor health and couldn't afford to continue heating with fuel oil. My father and uncle burned it year round for two years heating the house and DHW until my grandfather passed away. Other than adding water conditioner, there was little to no maintenance done in that two years, and we have no idea what maintenance was done prior. The fire box does appear to have one patch welded on the side and it did develop a leak in a different location when my uncle forgot to shut the door after stoking the fire and boiled the furnace over. He welded that leak shut and it has held for a little over a year now. It has a taco 009 pump that I believe is original but I don't know that for sure. I added a water conditioner that I found on line at fill up.
I know this furnace isn't going to last forever but I am interested in doing anything I can to make it last as long as possible. Do you guys have any suggestions, tips, tricks to keep this thing in the best possible condition?
6
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / OWB Maintenance
« on: September 30, 2014, 07:23:18 AM »
I recently inherited a 1996 Central Boiler OWB, after asking some questions on this site and several others I was able to get it up and operating about 3 weeks ago. It has been heating my DHW ever since with no issues and everything seems to be operating fine.
This leads me to the next topic I need to learn about and that is maintenance. A little background on this furnace, it is a '96 model CB 17 (I think). It holds 170 gallons of water. It was purchased used by my father and hooked up "temporarily" for two years at my grandfathers. My grandfather was in poor health and couldn't afford to continue heating with fuel oil. My father and uncle burned it year round for two years heating the house and DHW until my grandfather passed away. Other than adding water conditioner, there was little to no maintenance done in that two years, and we have no idea what maintenance was done prior. The fire box does appear to have one patch welded on the side and it did develop a leak in a different location when my uncle forgot to shut the door after stoking the fire and boiled the furnace over. He welded that leak shut and it has held for a little over a year now. It has a taco 009 pump that I believe is original but I don't know that for sure.
I know this furnace isn't going to last forever but I am interested in doing anything I can to make it last as long as possible. Do you guys have any suggestions, tips, tricks to keep this thing in the best possible condition?
This leads me to the next topic I need to learn about and that is maintenance. A little background on this furnace, it is a '96 model CB 17 (I think). It holds 170 gallons of water. It was purchased used by my father and hooked up "temporarily" for two years at my grandfathers. My grandfather was in poor health and couldn't afford to continue heating with fuel oil. My father and uncle burned it year round for two years heating the house and DHW until my grandfather passed away. Other than adding water conditioner, there was little to no maintenance done in that two years, and we have no idea what maintenance was done prior. The fire box does appear to have one patch welded on the side and it did develop a leak in a different location when my uncle forgot to shut the door after stoking the fire and boiled the furnace over. He welded that leak shut and it has held for a little over a year now. It has a taco 009 pump that I believe is original but I don't know that for sure.
I know this furnace isn't going to last forever but I am interested in doing anything I can to make it last as long as possible. Do you guys have any suggestions, tips, tricks to keep this thing in the best possible condition?
7
Plumbing / Keeping OWB from freezing when not in use
« on: September 25, 2014, 12:44:18 PM »
Here is my current setup: I have an OWB (boiler holds about 170 gallons of water) sitting about 150' from my house with the lines buried about 2' and insulated with closed cell spray foam. My OWB is plumbed into my indoor oil boiler with a 50 plate heat exchanger, and also into my DHW with a 30 plate heat exchanger. I plan on going out of town for about 10 days this winter.
Here is my question: If I let the fire in my OWB go out but I keep the circulator pump on, and I allow the indoor oil boiler to heat my house, do you think that my indoor oil boiler will transfer enough heat to the OWB water through the heat exchanger to keep my OWB lines from freezing? Or should I find someone to keep my fire going while I am out of town? I understand there are a lot of variable here, like how cold is it outside, how often the indoor boiler runs, etc. but does anyone have any guesses?
My father has volunteered to keep the fire going but its about a 25 min drive each way, and something that I don't want to make him do unless its necessary.
Here is my question: If I let the fire in my OWB go out but I keep the circulator pump on, and I allow the indoor oil boiler to heat my house, do you think that my indoor oil boiler will transfer enough heat to the OWB water through the heat exchanger to keep my OWB lines from freezing? Or should I find someone to keep my fire going while I am out of town? I understand there are a lot of variable here, like how cold is it outside, how often the indoor boiler runs, etc. but does anyone have any guesses?
My father has volunteered to keep the fire going but its about a 25 min drive each way, and something that I don't want to make him do unless its necessary.
8
Plumbing / Mounting plate heat exchangers
« on: September 15, 2014, 11:19:14 AM »
I recently installed an OWB to heat my house and DHW. I fired it for the first time this weekend and with the exception of one minor leak in on of the copper adapters to my heat exchanger everything is working great.
However, as I was cleaning up I picked up the manual for my heat exchangers and noticed that it said that they must be mounted vertically. I somehow didn't see this when I was installing them and mounted both a 5"x12" 30 plate for DHW and a 5"x12" 50 plate that heats my house horizontally. The horizontal mounting made the piping a lot easier and 'cleaner'.
Did I make a mistake? Will the heat exchangers still function correctly mounted horizontally?
However, as I was cleaning up I picked up the manual for my heat exchangers and noticed that it said that they must be mounted vertically. I somehow didn't see this when I was installing them and mounted both a 5"x12" 30 plate for DHW and a 5"x12" 50 plate that heats my house horizontally. The horizontal mounting made the piping a lot easier and 'cleaner'.
Did I make a mistake? Will the heat exchangers still function correctly mounted horizontally?
Pages: [1]