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[slimjim]

CLR works OK but you can purchase a commercial coil cleaner for domestic hot water coils from your local supply house that is much stronger

[Scott7m]

CLR works OK but you can purchase a commercial coil cleaner for domestic hot water coils from your local supply house that is much stronger

I wish we had a supply house anything close to what I have....   The little hardware stores here wouldn't know a coil from a space ship lol


If the flow was so slow tho, it wouldn't be able to pull heat from the boiler,  when flow is to slow often the problem is I'm getting good burn times but not keeping up with temp in the home...  I think there is more issues at hand here than low flow.. 

[abide]

Sorry for the delay...My basement flooded as we received 10" of rain in the last couple days.  I started my experiment again by running the OWB circulator with the internal circulator powered off.  I also have the indoor radiator system drained at the moment while I replace a few valves that were stuck or leaking.  Last night I got the OWB temp up to 160 where it is set to operate.  Once this was achieved I ran the pump and regularly emptied the WYE filter which I just relocated to the heat exchanger supply side.  The first 3 times I emptied the filter I got a good amount of scale that was shaped like the curve of the piping.  The fourth time there was very little.  I am sure I will have to closely monitor the filter for the immediate future, however, it seems like I got most of the deposits flushed from the line.  So...about 14 hours ago once the set temp was reached I continuously ran the water through the underground pipes and heat exchanger.  As of now the load I put in the firebox is probably about 30-40% consumed and the water is holding temp well.  Based on this I don't think I have much of a problem with my underground lines.  I am thinking my problem was the result of a clogged heat exchanger.  If the lines were bad with the latest rain we had it would have been very noticeable now since the water table is very elevated at the moment. 

[johnybcold]

It might be worth getting a temp gauge in the house so you know the temp of water getting in the house,

[Scott7m]

Sorry for the delay...My basement flooded as we received 10" of rain in the last couple days.  I started my experiment again by running the OWB circulator with the internal circulator powered off.  I also have the indoor radiator system drained at the moment while I replace a few valves that were stuck or leaking.  Last night I got the OWB temp up to 160 where it is set to operate.  Once this was achieved I ran the pump and regularly emptied the WYE filter which I just relocated to the heat exchanger supply side.  The first 3 times I emptied the filter I got a good amount of scale that was shaped like the curve of the piping.  The fourth time there was very little.  I am sure I will have to closely monitor the filter for the immediate future, however, it seems like I got most of the deposits flushed from the line.  So...about 14 hours ago once the set temp was reached I continuously ran the water through the underground pipes and heat exchanger.  As of now the load I put in the firebox is probably about 30-40% consumed and the water is holding temp well.  Based on this I don't think I have much of a problem with my underground lines.  I am thinking my problem was the result of a clogged heat exchanger.  If the lines were bad with the latest rain we had it would have been very noticeable now since the water table is very elevated at the moment.

I the heat exchanger was clogged?  How did it exchange heat and where did it go?!

[abide]

I ordered an infrared thermometer yesterday and will use it to assess the temps on the supply and return brass fittings.  My test load ran for 36 hours at set temp with the underground lines being used throughout.  I believe the lines are not the problem.  Unfortunately I will not  have the new radiator valves installed until wed/thurs if all goes well. I feel much more confident that the next test run will go well.  I will report back as soon as it is ready.  Good info on the bypass for the filter.  I will be looking into that.  Also I was pricing out pipe thermometers and may include them in the final configuration.   

[abide]

Fired up the boiler yesterday and it seems to be working well.  Last night the temp got right around freezing and the house maintained 72.  Wood consumption does not seem to be excessive.  I believe my problem was the clogged heat exchanger and burning somewhat punky wood.  One concern I have is the indoor closed loop system does not seem to get hotter than 120.  Although this was able to maintain temp in the house it seems kind of low for colder temps that are on the way.  I guess time will tell.  I received my infrared thermometer and the temp drop on the underground lines does not seem to be more than a couple degrees. 

[abide]

One more question...My underground lines are 3/4" poly butyl.  Total run is ~80 feet one way.  Half underground/ Half basement.  I converted both ends to pex and used the crimp fittings which have a brass insert that goes inside of piping which further reduces diameter in small spots.  Could the smaller piping be hindering my ability to transfer BTU's?

[abide]

No mixing valve.  Just 13 cast iron radiators coming off a loop in the basement. 

[Scott7m]

One more question...My underground lines are 3/4" poly butyl.  Total run is ~80 feet one way.  Half underground/ Half basement.  I converted both ends to pex and used the crimp fittings which have a brass insert that goes inside of piping which further reduces diameter in small spots.  Could the smaller piping be hindering my ability to transfer BTU's?

Yea the overall line size is a problem

3/4 flows half the btu of 1"

But I'm not buying we've found all the issues yet, if your heat exchanger was clogged, you should have had crazy long burn times with no heat getting into the home.   When it's clean, more btu flow, which means more can be transferred, if its partially clogged, water slows and btu flow is killed, the heat had to be going somewhere...   Just not sure where n how yet lol.    Good luck

[abide]

Changing out the lines is unlikely this fall.  Could I get a higher capacity pump?  Right now I am running a taco 007.  I also upped my temp setting to 180 instead of 165. 

[abide]

I just reloaded the boiler.  If I wouldn't fiddle around with it so often it would probably equal out to a 20-24 hour burn time.  The wood I am burning is somewhat punky so it probably goes up faster than normal oak wood.  I found an online calculator that determines your plumbing head by your pipesize.  If I did my math correct it figures out to be 50 feet.  I used the numbers for pex assuming that poly butyl is probably very similar (80' of 3/4" x 2).  Assuming I need 100,000 BTU's (high end) I need close to 10 GPM.  I am not even in the ballpark with my setup.  Possible corrections I can make for little time and money are changing over the 40' of piping in the basement to 1" pex.  With the cost of a taco 0011 being over $200 I will probably just spend the $500 on newer underground piping.