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Yes, on systems that were designed for 1/2 psi or less (i.e. "vapor" steam systems or two-pipe)

@ would your A dimension dictate the pressure needed to run the system? Do you ever come across a home and say “ oh I know this is a xyz system,it’s meant to run at x pressure”

Yes, I generally prefer the top outlet, but we take what we can get and what fits in the space the best (control access, etc)

What is the time stamp on the video showing your concern?

@ 6:45. I thought Dan stated a 6-8” nipple up to the vent. Maybe the video is deceptive

I have no doubts that you are right. But, as the current location of those tappings do not allow for the installation of a *proper* sight-glass drain valve (a requirement under CSD-1 boiler codes), we opted for the drain valve.

Does your 30# gauge say "internal siphon" somewhere on it? Or is it a gauge with a rear connection?

Yes it says internal siphon. Guage has the 1/4” connection on the back and its nippled straight into a reducing bushing in the boiler all by itself

Check out this vid on internal siphons & let me know what you think: th-cam.com/video/9smte5dqayY/w-d-xo.html

Excellent explanation thankyou so much for your help and speedy responses I appreciate it very much. So more than likely a faulty guage. Ive ordered the fittings and a new guage to pipe it off of the pigtail

I'm glad I was able to help! If you would, could I ask for a Super Thanks in the amount you deem appropriate?

I do not know for sure. I suspect it might have something to do with packaging. You might want to ask the manufacturer. Let us know what they say.

Sure, you CAN do that. But I wouldn't. I tried it - once. One soap bubble floating about is an ethereal wonderment of the universe. Hundreds of thousands of soap bubbles roiling in a boiler is a waking nightmare.

@@gordonschweizer5154 Your very good with words.

Thank you for your kind words. As to pricing, that's best left out of public comments.

@@JorgeHernandez-ib1px A bit tricky as to what sized vent goes into a particular radiator. If the radiator is in the same room as the thermostat, a small fixed orifice vent is indicated such as a Hoffman #40 or perhaps a Gorton #4. Other radiators may need a VentRite #1 adjustable to dial in what you need. Make sure your main vents are in place and working.

@@ChrisRubeo A pleasure talking with you!

@@Romulan112 I am sorry, but I have never worked on a Triangle tube boiler

You are welcome! I hope you found the video helpful.

That valve allows a "no return" flush of the system. The boiler can be kept making steam, while the condensate, which may contain contaminates, is drained away.

@gordonschweizer5154 thanks for the quick response

That tongue on a Vent Rite#1 is not the best design, sad to say. Usually, I wind up bending that tongue to almost straight out, with just the slightest downward curve to allow the drainage of water from the vent, and threading into the 1/8 NPT radiator tapping.

@@providencevideoworks If you could, what is the time stamp of your concern?

@@ed6837 Yes, this is a public building and under CSD-1 Code, two LWCOs are required, one of which must be manual reset

@@shanestamball1886 Thank you for the kind words. I am sorry you are having issues with your relatively new boiler. Our company serves mainly Central Maryland/Baltimore. You might try posting pictures of your boiler install and your story on Heatinghelp.com.

Lower your pressure control

@Clamjammer it is set as low as it will go, i just watched WeilMcClains training video for their Authorized installers. Its disgusting, everything that should have been done Wasn't. and everything that shouldn't have been done was done. Installer was here today and removed 1"" of sludge from the skimming pipe. Someone thought it was ok to to put 4"s of riser into 2" of header. Piping is still wrong size and pressure's still isnt right. This has turned into a $10K nightmare

@@gordonschweizer5154 curious if there is any difference between a vapor system then adding a modern boiler? I know the old system was always said to have been vapor. And it was noiseless and everything heated uniformly, unlike now.

Vapor (AKA two-pipe steam) usually means the original system was designed to operate at very low pressures, usually oz/in2 or even in a vacuum. Your old boiler also likely had a large "steam chest" where the steam (or "vapor") could separate cleanly from the water and leave it behind in the boiler and be "dry" as it entered the mains and hence into the radiators. Modern boilers are much smaller, and therefore proper "near boiler piping" is a must in drying out the steam once it leaves the boiler. It sounds as if the installer did not understand this, and your near boiler piping is going to need to be redone properly.

@@RB-tz5hb This video was made during the COVID pandemic.

@@tommyc7597 No, this video is to show the sight glass fittings might be clogged with rusty sludge and therefore the water level in the glass might not show the proper level in the boiler.

@@ChrisRubeo How is the "out" pipe hooked up? Is there a way for steam to get at the baseboard from both directions (that would be bad). Generally, you want to vent even perfectly piped baseboard s l o w l y, or you may risk a spitting vent &/or water hammer. A Gorton #4 is a slow vent.

@ it was a very early remodel to a 1935 house. All the other radiators are one pipe, steam radiators, but in one room, the living room, there’s a 12 foot long cast-iron baseboard radiator. A one inch pipe comes in at the base of the radiator on one end and a 1 inch pipe goes out at the other end. For years I’ve also had a, varvent above the exit pipe and it has not had a steam trap. But it seems like this radiator takes a long time to get hot so maybe I need to install a steam trap at the return pipe. Is there something I should put in place of the little varvent.?

The problem with cast-iron baseboard is that it was really designed for hot water heating and not steam. Cast iron BB promises much, cost a fair amount, and delivers not nearly enough for the trouble. If you read the literature from at least one manufacturer, they say (in fine print) that cast iron BB is not to be used in lengths over 10 feet for steam. You are lucky, in that someone installed an outlet for the water, but you must make sure that that pipe ties into a return BELOW THE WATER LINE! That is needed to seal that end from steam backing up that return (no radiator trap is needed then.) Next, I would scrap the Varivalve. It is over-priced junk. Next, I would install a high capacity vent, maybe a Gorton #6 or more, on the INLET side of your BB. That should bring steam up to that point quickly, by getting rid of the air there. Then, you can experiment with various smaller vent sizes at the far end in place of that Varivalve. It might be difficult, but if you can get the BB to pitch, even just ever so slightly toward the return end, that will help some. This all presupposes that you have vented your steam mains in the basement with Gorton #2s or at least Gorton #1s and that those pipes are well insulated.

@@gordonschweizer5154 Thank you so much for the help! I'm going to email you, now. I'm in New York right now at my 89-year-old mother's house and we're trying to figure out the situation with the heat so she can be more comfortable. I'd like to, if possible, hire you for a video phone consult. Maybe you can just look over our system and give us a few pointers. When we first moved in 40 years ago the third floor was an oven, but I got those special dial regulator things for the vent holes, and that seems to have helped, but a solid once over from a real professional would be awesome.

@@gordonschweizer5154 I sent you an email. Thanks.

I hope you're finding steam heating fun and enjoyable.

Yes, that should be possible. I would use a Hydrolevel model of the proper voltage (24V if this is a gas boiler).

Thank you for the time you take to make this videos

Yes, you can. Not recommended as the very long "delay on make" of this LWCO can cause the feeder to flood. The wiring can be tricky & difficult to spell out from this side of my keyboard. I see you asked if the whole LWCO can be replaced. Yes it can. That will make the wiring in of a Hydrolevel VXT auto water feeder much more straight-forward.

@gordonschweizer5154 thank you very much for sharing your knowledge 🙏

Thank you for your support & kind words.

I would start with the basics. Is your boiler water clean (or clean-ish)? Maybe start by draining and re-filling your system. You might have to do that a few times. Some use various cleaners. Be careful! Check reviews. Clean water means clean steam. Clean steam is quiet efficient steam. Next is a lot harder... Is the near boiler piping installed to spec? If it is not, you could be generating "wet" steam and that (and the dirty water) would mean you've lost the water hammer battle before you've even begun to get steam into the mains. What pressure are you running at? Anything over 8 oz/in2 is likely to cause trouble. A VaporStat might be needed. Is your boiler sized properly? Too big, and it will be hard to control the pressure and the boiler will short-cycle like mad. What is venting your dry return? Is it an old vacuum vent? Please replace that pronto. The Hoffman #7 should be set to the radiator size. If they are wide open, they might allow too much steam into the radiator and hence thru the elbow and into the dry return, where it will (you guessed it) hammer. "One radiator has a vent with both pipes"? I'd check the run-out pitch of the pipes if you can... you might have water pockets. Remove and plug those vents. "One radiator was converted...?) The pipe to that radiator might be too small for the load.

@@help797 You are most welcome. I hope it was helpful!

It sounds like a relay may have latched up? Is the burner running, too? Back in the day, some folks with older boilers had a switch that would turn on the circulator to allow it to run all the time.

You are quite welcome. I hope you found it useful.

There are formulas that calculate the volume of air in your steam mains per foot, multiply my the length and look up venting capacities of a Gorton #2 at 4 oz/in2. etc etc. Others remove the venting, let the boiler & pipes go cold, fire the boiler and time how long it takes for steam to come out of the open pipe at the end. Then they put the vents back and repeat the experiment. If there is a marked difference in the timing between these two scenarios, then consider adding more vents until you reach the "open pipe" steam flow rate on your system.

You are quite welcome. Glad it was helpful!

Had I but world enough and time, that oil would be fine.

@@nosaya3 Steam rules! This is one of the very very few cases where we didn't put on main vents. It would have required fairly extensive removal of drywall & some framing to expose the end of main piping, which would need reworking to be able to add a vent... And all for two radiators. The Perfect is the enemy of The Good.

@@junjiawei6531 Not really. 120v controls are usually on power burner fuel equipment (fuel oil, sometimes gas). 24v is on atmospheric gas equipment. Except Peerless.

@@the382house Thanks for your comment & question. Swing joints are common, if you know where to look. "Drop header" installations have swing joints. Anything with a 90 that is perpendicular to the axis of the expected major expansion is a swing joint. For me, it helps make the installation a bit easier, and as a side benefit adds stress relief (I think). Does it work? Can't say definitively, as a lot of the negative effects of stress may not show up for years and that makes it difficult to ascertain cause and effect.

@@xelaju8 Thank you for your support & encouragement!

The one inch copper return goes goes up into a propress brass male adapter, which goes into a 1" stainless steel 90, which threads into a 1" stainless close nipple, which is on the 1.5 x 1 tee (the one that cracked and is shown in the thumbnail) Check time stamp 5:04.

Thanks

Indeed, but it was almost is too simple. What I mean to say is there were only a few safeties and limits, at best. The notorious LWCO #67 with its sticking float. The Hg pressure limit with its rusted shut steel pigtail (hope to show that on another video). The pilot that is directly connected to the gas line with only a manual shut off. A thermostat. A safety relief valve designed to spray steam directly into your face if it pops. A gas control valve with a manual over-ride that bypass ALL the limits. Sorry not sorry to see that boiler go.

Thank you for your comments. I have a question or two for you: about how long are your wall hung condensing boilers designed to last?

Very little electrical use with steam boilers. Less efficient yes but smaller carbon footprint that repiping the whole house and importing all the heat emitters and boiler from around the world

@gordonschweizer51 I use a smooth jaw knipex plier wrench in the past I have used a basin wrench and an adjustable wrench on the handle.

You are most kind to say so, thank you!

Thank you very much for your kind words

Thank you for your support and kind words!

Yes, indeed. And even that's a bit too large, if you can believe it. This unit actually starts cycling on pressure when run long enough (even with all that bare pipe).

We cover mostly central Maryland/Baltimore.

Thank you very much! Yes, QC on import quality malleable fittings is spotty indeed, sad to say. But I try to take the long view. I sometimes come across old old "no-name" brand USA fittings, and its "back to the future", if you get my drift. Who does one think actually taught the middle kingdom etc how to make cheap cr*p? And yet I'll still buy it, so I'm not really wagging my finger at anyone except myself. And yes, that is the remains of the copper flue connector coming out of that existing flue.

Thank you very much for the nice comments!

Thank you! We chose this boiler in part because the controls are on the right side. Insulation is almost always a good idea on steam mains. A hardy welcome to the heating steamfitter's brotherhood!