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[Sloppy_Snood]

As suggested by some others of this forum, I am going to try to post the process of installation of my Portage & Main Ultimizer BL 34-44 owb for my 5,900 sq. ft. home (load, loss, specs., layout design will be posted in the future  ).

This thread will be an evolutionary thread where I continually post pictures, questions, information my dealer is telling me, progress reports, etc.  Feel free to post any questions or comments you like.  Here I go....

March 21, 2014:

Next door neighbor brought over his Allmand backhoe and dug my main trench some 80 feet long for a "work trade" of me grinding out some stumps for him in May 2014.  "Free."  All trenching is 36" minimum with 60" depth on both ends of the trench.  This will allow for "bending the Logstor anaconda" and access with tools near the entrance to the house.  Logstor Dual Pex-Flex is to be utilized for the underground piping but 1" versus 1 1/4" dual pex pipes is still being debated with my dealer (who is helping me with the installation design but I am performing the actual labor myself).  Enough talk.... pictures tell so much more, right? 

No pictures of the Allmand backhoe in action but the resulting trench came out nicely.

Trench 56 inches right at the outer basement wall (prior to core drilling)



Hand digging with the old shovel near the house.  No backhoe accidents occurred. 



Better living through hydraulics... bottom of the ditch is quite level.



Tulip poplar tree, stump and roots didn't phase the backhoe bucket.



A look down the trench toward the end-of-the-owb-line.



End of the trench run (looking back toward my house) where concrete pad will be poured for the BL 34-44.  Water in the bottom of the trench is from a natural spring.  A drain tile will be installed to keep it drained.

[Sloppy_Snood]

March 24, 2014:  Slopster in full manual labor mode.


Stripping away the drywall of a 6-inch stud wall in the basement.



A little demolition of 2" x 4"s and 2" x 6"s in the wall.  I notched the studs in order to install a temporary "shelf" to lay the heavy core drill on.  This helped a great deal in guiding the drill and reducing operator fatigue.  Used some copper tie wire to hold the electrical wire out of the way of the giant core drilling bit.



Husqvarna Core Drill with 6-inch Diameter 10-inch long core drilling bit (the hand/arm mangler).  Busted my hands up nicely when the drill caught the 1/2" rebar in the 10-inch thick poured concrete wall.  Chalk up $172 for the drill rental.  Don't let the drill distract you from my pretty big toe though... 



Back outdoors, the 10-inch concrete core from the wall stands in the ditch next to the 6-inch hole.  The Logstor pipe will enter my home here at 40 inches below final earth grade.



I "practice fit" the LinkSeal ($33) for the Logstor pipe within the 6-inch hole for chits and giggles.  A dry run fit....



That's it for today.... have to run to Ohio this week and purchase the mega $$$ Logstor Dual PEX-Flex insulated underground piping and put it in the trench. 

[slimjim]

  Really nice job on the project so far, the first bend outside of the foundation looks a bit tight for Logstor, What about power or is that coming from someplace else?

[Sloppy_Snood]

  Really nice job on the project so far, the first bend outside of the foundation looks a bit tight for Logstor, What about power or is that coming from someplace else?

Thanks slimjim.  I have to core drill another 2" hole through the wall in order to feed underground electrical conduit through.  Planning on running 3 or 4 pairs of wire out to the furnace through the conduit (pulling extra wire through the conduit in case of any future need for electrical expansion at the furnace itself.  The conduit and wires will be buried 6 inches over the top of the buried Logstor.

[slimjim]

Awesome, would there be any use in bringing a separate water line out there for some future use while you are there?

[Sloppy_Snood]

Awesome, would there be any use in bringing a separate water line out there for some future use while you are there?

Now you have me thinking.... but prolly not.  There are external water spigots all sides of my home only some 50 feet (max) away.  We are on well water (extremely hard water) too so I'm not sure I would want to put all those minerals in the jacket.  Thoughts?

[slimjim]

  no, a completely separate line 

[Sloppy_Snood]

  no, a completely separate line

Understood.  Just not sure what I would use it for slimjim.

[slimjim]

just an option, does not sound like it is needed

[farmboythegreat]

  no, a completely separate line

so the other half can water  the  future flower bed   

[oaky]

Sloppy_Snood, have you any word when you will be receiving your BL-3444?

oaky

[Sloppy_Snood]

Sloppy_Snood, have you any word when you will be receiving your BL-3444? oaky

Yes.  MY P&M dealer Brian Cooper will be delivering it this weekend or next.  I have intentionally delayed him until my Logstor, electrical conduit & wire, and concrete boiler pad are done.  The furnace itself is at Brian's waiting for me to tell him to bring it. 

[Sloppy_Snood]

March 28, 2014:  My buddy John (also installing a BL 34-44) and I managed to travel to Greenville, Ohio today in order to purchase 105 feet of Logstor Dual PEX-Flex piping (mine) and another 65 feet piece for his installation.

We rolled my 105 feet into the garage for safe keeping and installation tomorrow (hopefully).  It might not look like $1354.50 but I assure you it is.  Still not sure about burying that much money in dirt and pea gravel though.... 





Definitely Logstor brand (unless the Chinese have copied that too  )





Somebody at Classic Comfort in Ohio went "choppity-chop-chop!"





Logstor endcaps were free of charge and will be placed over the exposed dual PEX piping ends.

[slimjim]

Nice Pipe Sloppy, did you get it in the ground yet? pictures?

[Sloppy_Snood]

Nice Pipe Sloppy, did you get it in the ground yet? pictures?

March 30, 2014:

Saturday, March 29th was rained out for line installation so I began electrical core drill hole work and Logstor piping installation on Sunday, March 30th.

As slimjim noted earlier in this blog thread, I need to have electrical out to the new BL 34-44 OWB so core drilling another hole (3 inches this time) with a wall mounted Hilti DD250-E core drill made for easy drilling.




The big, bad boy Hilti core drill worked like a champ and cut out a nice concrete trophy to remember the fun involved in OWB installation.   





The 8-inch and 3 1/2-inch diamond core bits were not used (I rented a 3" and 6" core drill bit from SunBelt Rentals at a Lowes near me).





A 3" diameter concrete core with 10 inches overall length was removed from the drill.  The 3-inch hole will house the 1-inch electrical conduit.





The  Logstor 1-inch Dual PEX-Flex piping was rolled out in the ditch starting with inserting the end nearest the house into the LinkSeal sized for a 6-inch diameter core-drilled hole.  The Link Seal performs an excellent job keeping the Logstor pipe's outer casing away from the "sharp" edge of the core drilled hole. This is especially important for my installation since I am making a 90 degree turn in order to route the piping through the 6-inch hole.



Another picture to show the bend radius itself and the value of using a Link Seal in these types of installs.




1-inch Dual PEX- Flex Logstor Piping Entering into my home in the 6-inch hole.  The outer casing and polyurethane foam insulation will be removed from this end of the pipe.  The Pex will be exposed and allow for addition of fittings.  An additional Link Seal will be added to the inside of the 6-inch hole in order to protect the Logstor's outer casing.





1-inch Schedule 40 Underground Electrical Conduit for my 12/2 electrical wire.  The wire is rated for underground use and does not require conduit but I used it anyway for added electrical line protection.