Hydraulic separator & piping w/ photos

[kabbott]

There have been a few threads on hydraulic separator's and P/S piping so I thought I would post some pics of my setup. The separator I made myself mostly because I of the custom fit, not sure it would save a
lot of money if you have to buy the pipe and count your time but I like to weld .......so here it is.


From right to left

oil boiler-pump mounted on boiler (not even hooked up yet )
wood boiler 007 on bottom - pumps toward boiler return
storage 00R on top charges tank, 00R on bottom recovers
baseboard loop 1 - 007 on top
baseboard loop 2 - 007 top
All pumps pump away from separator

All loops have valves and boiler drains for purging. In the center are 2 used honeywell aquastats. Top stat controls storage, make on rise starts storage charge pump. Bottom stat break on fall shuts down loads to prevent
dropping wood boiler to low. This is about to change to some variation of the now world famous NFCS(nofossil control system). :coolgrin: The blue wire is cat5 to my 1-wire temp sensors

3" center section bottom is feed water supply & drain with shutoff valve(feed valve is off to side) top has drain, shutoff valve and pex to non bladder expansion tank overhead.
Extra outlets for upstairs loop, DHW and a spare. my DHW is now a side arm with boiler going through sidearm before it gets to the separator and it works well so I may leave it that way.
The large box contains my relays and 24v transformer. I used octal base relays and sockets mounted on din rail, makes a nice job and if one fails I have a spare just unplug old and stick a new one in.

I hope someone finds this usefull I have learned a ton from this site.
For the pro's here any comments or suggestions are welcome. Very happy so far but always looking to improve.

 

[Nofossil]

Nice looking installation. Have you run it yet?

 

[in hot water]

Nicely played! Looks like you have a tee puller? Makes for some nice joints.

hr

 

[Sting]

Wish I could still weld like that!

major jealous -- nice work

 

[chuck172]

Is that a black steel or copper header, looks like copper to me.

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

Is that a black steel or copper header, looks like copper to me.

That's copper.

And it's a nice bit of work...

Joe

 

[chuck172]

Where's the welding, or am I missing something?

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

Where's the welding, or am I missing something?

I think he was referring to the soldering.

Joe

 

[kabbott]

Nicely played! Looks like you have a tee puller? Makes for some nice joints.

hr

No I wish I did have a tee drill, I just drilled the pipe and rounded the joining piece with a drum sander. Pulled tees make a neater job and probably flow better.

 

[kabbott]

Nice looking installation. Have you run it yet?

Yes it is in service and works well so far.
Only thing I have found is when boiler is hot say 180 and storage is charging the boiler and storage must flow about the same which causes no flow through separator. when a zone calls for heat it drops the top stat and shuts off storage pump.
Now it still works because as soon as storage pump stops the temp climbs and the stat turns storage on again. When a zone calls for heat the cold slug turns the storage on and of fairly rapidly at first and then
less so as the loop comes up to temp. Not a major prob but less then ideal.

I am thinking about moving the storage to the secondary side. It would seem to be better when charging storage but I am not sure how well it would be when heating from storage.
Any input on this idea would be appreciated.

 

[kabbott]

Where's the welding, or am I missing something?

I think he was referring to the soldering.

Joe

All joints are brazed with sil-foss but I use my TIG welder as the heat source mostly because it is much easier to control the heat(I have a foot control) and I guess I am spoiled but when fitting pipe its much easier to
tack things up without having to deal with a flame and setting the torch down every 30 seconds.
Thanks for the comments guys

Kris

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

All joints are brazed with sil-foss but I use my TIG welder as the heat source mostly because it is much easier to control the heat(I have a foot control) and I guess I am spoiled but when fitting pipe its much easier to
tack things up without having to deal with a flame and setting the torch down every 30 seconds.

I always think of brazing as soldering, anyway. I know there's a difference, but I use the same equipment (air-acetylene torch) for both.

Using a welder would definitely be an interesting way to do it. I may plan on that when I get a welder. Haven't welded in years, but I'm sick of threading iron pipe, and I need a new power threader, so I may just spring for a welder instead of a threader.

Definitely a nice-looking setup. Part of why I want to start welding pipe instead of threading it - it just looks slick!

Joe

 

[chuck172]

Technically that is brazing. A beautiful job at that. With the tig welder that is. I've done a ton of SS tig welding, but never brazed heli-arced with silfos, does it flow like steel?

 

[kabbott]

Technically that is brazing. A beautiful job at that. With the tig welder that is. I've done a ton of SS tig welding, but never brazed heli-arced with silfos, does it flow like steel?

I tried it on a whim and was pleasantly surprised, I would say it flows more like aluminum but you dont need to melt the base metal and you can really work the puddle to flow it out flat or fill gaps. Rod doesn't stick like
steel will. I used DCSP with 100% argon. I love TIG welding and don't even like to pick up my stick or mig welder any more although for some things its still hard to beat a good ole stick welder for.

 

[pybyr]

Technically that is brazing. A beautiful job at that. With the tig welder that is. I've done a ton of SS tig welding, but never brazed heli-arced with silfos, does it flow like steel?

I tried it on a whim and was pleasantly surprised, I would say it flows more like aluminum but you dont need to melt the base metal and you can really work the puddle to flow it out flat or fill gaps. Rod doesn't stick like
steel will. I used DCSP with 100% argon. I love TIG welding and don't even like to pick up my stick or mig welder any more although for some things its still hard to beat a good ole stick welder for.

!DROOL! both at the craftsmanship and the gear you used and apparently have at the ready

I've previously learned to weld with ocy-acetlyene and arc and MIG, but not yet TIG. Alas, I do not own the stuff to do any of it for my own projects. If I won the lottery big enough to wave goodbye to the day job, or otherwise came into some spare cash to dive into this stuff while the day job paid the overheads, I would love to get some really good welding equipment (oh, and while I am at the fantasies, a Bridgeport and a really big machine lathe)...

 

[chuck172]

I picked up an old south bend lathe and some tooling. Learned the ABC's from books and began a nice hobby. Together with welding, you can do allot. No old bridgeport yet. Maybe someday.