So it begins, Installation of WB with pics

[sgschwend]

Here are the first pictures, I didn't take any under the house where the tubbing is.

I am keeping track of the installation time, in three categories: site work, house, and boiler. So far I have nearly completed the house part, I gotta tell you I can only stand about two hours a day messing around in the crawl space (should take about 12 hours). The site work is going fine, my guess it will take about 3 days and the boiler looks like it will take 2 days (the fun part).

 

[pybyr]

Good for you.

Please keep us all posted, with photos.

The time expected for the project will almost surely explode.

Hopefully the $$$$ expected will not, though, if so, then you will be doing better than most who undertake major projects- but, then, what is life without striving?

 

[stee6043]

We love pictorials. Keep 'em coming! And good luck with your install...

 

[sgschwend]

I will add some picture tomorrow. I ran out of the 1" pex, 10' short of getting the job done, those two lines will wait till Monday.

Current status, working on the shed, need to insulate trench, add the chimney, convert two older hydronic loops and add the two dhw runs.

 

[sgschwend]

Waiting for some parts, the damper shaft coupler was broken on ordered, and 1" pex for two short connections.

Here are some pics of the reservoir, three connections:
left** connection is return which has return temperature and pressure, a line to the mixing valve and a small line to the expansion tank,

middle connection is the boiler output,

right connection is the line to the load, this is the case where the boiler output travels a few inches through the storage tank before it is sent to the load

second picture you can see the post in the background, the shed corner

Last picture shows the tube cleaner, 2" wire wheel, hammered till fits in tube and 40" of 1/4 rod welded

** return tank line has a drop tub so that the return cooler water is sent to the bottom of the tank, the tube is a 1" piece of black iron pipe with the end welded closed and 8 1/2 diameter holes drilled in two rows around the sides.

 

[stee6043]

So what kind of heat loads do you have and how far will your 1" pex have to run? I only ask because 1" pex can be borderline big enough to flow most boiler outputs around here. You don't want to find yourself hurting for flow...

 

[sgschwend]

I live in a SIP construction home (structurally insulated panel home). The heat load is low, in the neighborhood of 10-20K btu per hour. I currently heat the home with 300 square feet of pex running from the electric hot water heater and a propane fireplace.

The one inch pex run is 45'.

I figured the reservoir will be necessary to provide a decent load to the boiler.

 

[sgschwend]

Made the last connections today, and then service the boiler. I only need to hook-up the dhw circulator. I did power the unit up and verified the systems are working.

I know it looks kinda loopy with the overhead runs but I hate crawling over pipes.

The system pump interferes with the boiler gage, so it looks like I will be redoing that connection.

 

[stee6043]

I would have recommended putting some vents (ball valves) at the high points of your pex "loops". Getting the air out of my fairly simple system proved to be a three month project even with vents....

 

[sgschwend]

I was going to put the vent in with the expansion tank which will be hung from the rafters, so it is not installed yet.

I am guessing that I may need to do better there. I thought I would run the pumps manually and try and get the air back to the reservoir (run it cold with the reservoir open to atmosphere.

 

[sgschwend]

Well the shed has a roof, all be it after 2" of rain. Now I can set the chimney and test it out.

 

[heaterman]

I would not recommend using pex to come directly off the unit. Black pipe will not melt in case of a system malfunction or overheat situation. Just my $.02

 

[sgschwend]

Well it certainly is going to the max working temperature. I often wondered how folks use pex with 180 degree F. boilers. Good info thanks.

 

[sdrobertson]

Well it certainly is going to the max working temperature. I often wondered how folks use pex with 180 degree F. boilers. Good info thanks.

The thought is that the farther you go from the boiler the slightly lower the temps. The steel pipe will take allot higher temps in the case of a overheat situation and the relief value is so that you don't build up to much pressure - most likely from boiling the water and making steam. With steel you can control where you'll have a problem if you have a failure. Pex will easily hold up to 200 degrees but steel or copper will go allot higher.

 

[heaterman]

Well it certainly is going to the max working temperature. I often wondered how folks use pex with 180 degree F. boilers. Good info thanks.

Pex is fine with 180 or 200*. Both temps are within it's normal rating. The issue comes when things go south and stuff fails to function as it should. An over temperature/pressure situation can develop very quickly that will cause pex to fail. It's good to have a little cushion of steel.

 

[shoeboxlen]

I would not recommend using pex to come directly off the unit. Black pipe will not melt in case of a system malfunction or overheat situation. Just my $.02

I was actually going to say that same thing black pipe will be a little more work but alot more durable in the long run I would think. I used black pipe and copper in my install I just fear a plastic tube with that hot a water in it.

 

[sgschwend]

Well lit the boiler, first time for this owner, here is the proof, a nice smoke plume.

Need to insulate the storage tank, install the chimney cap and add the siding.

 

[wsorg]

Looks like a great project. Good luck

 

[sgschwend]

I moved the mixing valve and circulator pump below the reservoir today and added a fresh water injection connection at the input to the loads to make getting some of the air out. The air separator sat there and release air. I insulated the reservoir and I am bringing it up to temp and will run the loads even though it still isn't that cold here yet. Now it is 8pm and the reservoir is up to temp, about 6 to 7 hours run time.


The stove started easier today since it was still warm. It was burning clean in just a few minutes. That was kinda nice seeing that down draft flame.

Gotta cut that siding, and get it put on.

Time invested:
3 days for shed
3 days for hydronic lines
1 day to set the equipment
1 day plumbing

 

[sgschwend]

Well, the wall are up, the reservoir is hot and the air has been bled from the loops (that was tricky). Here is a picture of the shed, not much to see but, fast and easy to build; singles for the gable end.

Bleeding the loops. I tried several setups that I hoped would work and keep me from going under the house, but none worked. What did work was having a drain valve on the suction side manifold. Closed all but one of the loop valves (input manifold) and then open the drain so that the loop could dump the contents, run till clear of air, then switch to the next loop and repeat.

 

[sgschwend]

A quick update:
I have run the boiler for about a week now. I find that I can get a couple of days heating between fires. However, if I skip a day I end up burning twice as much wood to bring the reservoir back up, so I find it easier just to run a fire every day.

The daily usage is about 2 cubic feet of softwood; it takes the stove about 3 hours to consume that amount; there is no need for standby time. For now that is enough to keep me in hot water.