power failure dump zone

[bjwme]

hey guys i have been on this site for a while mostly looking around not posting much. i do have a question though. i will start by telling you about my system. i have a wells mclain oil boiler with a new yorker wc-90 add on wood boiler. i have 4 zones all on taco circulators and i also have a taco pump that circulates between the wood boiler and oil boiler. everything works great but i do not like the way my dump zone is set up for a power failure. currently i have an automag teed off the supply side of the wood boiler connected to my bedroom zone. when the power goes out the automag opens and it is supposed to thermosiphon through that zone but it doesnt do a very good job of cooling the boiler off in the evemt of a power failure. i have come across some old baseboard that i would like to use instead of my bedroom for this dump zone. i want to install it above the boiler so it will gravity feed. my question is really about the plumbing i know i need to tee on the supply side of the wood boiler with the auto mag but what about the return side?? my circulator that works in between the oil boiler and the wood boiler has a check valve and it is right on the outlet of the wood boiler so there is no room to tee it in before the pump. i am thinking, correct me if i am wrong that if i tee it in after the circulator that it wont flow right because of the check valve. there are a couple of threaded plugs on the bottom of my boiler, couldnt i just connect the return side of my dump zone to one of these outlets so that when the power went out and the automag opened it would thermosiphon through the base board and back into the boiler. i just keep thinking that with the check valve in the pump it is not going to allow water to move out of the boiler. sorry for the long and confusing post but i am want just a little piece of mind when i load my boiler up and go to work.
thanks]

bryan

 

[twitch]

You are correct, you don't want any restriction between the supply and return of the dump zone. I put my return before the drain valve in my Tarm, which is at the bottom of the boiler, and the supply is connected directly to the boiler supply. I would put it in one of the threaded plugs as you suggested.

 

[Trzebs13]

Here is a link to a thread to chek out. https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/47187/

I added a saftey dump last year. This is different than my dump zone. That is my basement slab. But this thread is long but if you page threw it it may give you a few idea's.

The one thing that I would question is one base board heater enough to soak up all of th BTU'S that you'll be dealing with? Remember you have to plan for worst case.

 

[bjwme]

Thanks for the help, I actually have an overheat loop (radiant in cellar floor) that is only used for overheat, i dont need to heat the basement because the boiler is down there but I had radiant put in anyways. I am just looking for a dump zone to take care of the boiler when the power is out. thanks for the suggestions, I am going to use one of the extra oulets for my return side and cut a tee into the supply side wth an automag. i have three 8 foot sections of 1 inch old baseboard from a local school that was rebuilt
thanks
bryan

 

[700renegade]

Can you get your main heat dump zone to run on one circulator? In my system I use a salvaged 300 watt UPS power supply - I threw out the dead internal batteries on the UPS and wired it up to a pair of 6V tractor batteries I don't use in winter ( collector tractors ). It has plenty of reserve capacity to run the circ pump for hours and hours. Even if you needed to buy the batteries you could buy a deep cycle for less than $100 and the UPS are free when they are dead.

A lot less hassles than plumbing for sure!

 

[Trzebs13]

"A lot less hassles than plumbing for sure!"


That is very debateable. From after the time wehn I was done pluming it I never have to do a thing again. Other than test it at least once a season. And there is almost nothing to go wrong. With electronics there are to many things to fail. Gravity, I garentee will work every time. And around here between the cars,truck,2 mowers,2 atv's,boat,generator,and camper. I've got plenty of batteries to maintain and replace. Not to mention having to keep some type of maintainer pluged in.

No thanks, not for me

 

[700renegade]

If you have a boat, you already have a deep cycle battery that needs a home for the winter. The UPS automatically charges the battery like a maintainer, so no need to do much in that regard.

I find it interesting that many posts involve the debate over 1" vs 1.25" pex pipe driven by a circ pump, and yet guys think they can dump their whole heat load in a power failure via 20' of baseboard driven by gravity. I wonder how many have ever been tested with a full load of wood?