Thread: Gizmo

Anyone seen one of these. (The black gizmo thingy) First for me. System appears to be steam converted to water.
All pipes in the home are old BIG 3 inch steam pipes.

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That's the low water safety for when it was a steam boiler. That line on the side of the housing is the lowest level the water should be before the switch in the device shut down the burner. It will still work for the hot water system too if the water gets that low it will shut off the burner. Most hot water systems have a low water shut-off located higher in the system.

Thanks James, That's what I was thinking, I was just wondering why they left it.

I looked at one of these conversions thirty years ago. The woman was freezing to death with a huge natural gas bill. They had not changed the registers and the hot water just did not get them hot enough to radiate. I would advise poltential buyers to look at the fuel bills.

Originally Posted by Philip

I looked at one of these conversions thirty years ago. The woman was freezing to death with a huge natural gas bill. They had not changed the registers and the hot water just did not get them hot enough to radiate. I would advise poltential buyers to look at the fuel bills.

I don't understand why the conversion would have anything to do with the fuel bills.

Originally Posted by Rod Butler

I don't understand why the conversion would have anything to do with the fuel bills.

Inefficient

Originally Posted by Philip

Inefficient

I could understand that the radiators are less effective at conveying heat and therefore taking longer for the heat to transfer when using hot water in lieu of steam but the efficiency of the boiler shouldn't change.

I did a conversion job a few years back and we reused the steam radiators because the owner liked the charm they added to the home. I added air vents at each radiator and ran the boiler water at 180 deg. And they worked great. The building heat loss remains the same regardless of the method of heating.

Am I missing something?

What you are missing is that the boiler will likely run longer if the conversion is not done properly. Steam vents are about 2/3 up towards the top of the radiator. Hot water vents are at the very top of the radiator. If you look at many older cast radiators you will see an upper and lower tap area for a vent. What system the radiator was used on dictated which hole got drilled and tapped.
The steam pushes any air out of the auto bleeder. On hot water radiators you have to manually bleed. If you use the old steam taps for hot water vents, the top 1/3 or so of the radiator will be air locked. Thus it won't get hot, thus the boiler will likely run longer in order to satisfy the stat, thus higher energy bills.

Originally Posted by Markus Keller

What you are missing is that the boiler will likely run longer if the conversion is not done properly. Steam vents are about 2/3 up towards the top of the radiator. Hot water vents are at the very top of the radiator. If you look at many older cast radiators you will see an upper and lower tap area for a vent. What system the radiator was used on dictated which hole got drilled and tapped.
The steam pushes any air out of the auto bleeder. On hot water radiators you have to manually bleed. If you use the old steam taps for hot water vents, the top 1/3 or so of the radiator will be air locked. Thus it won't get hot, thus the boiler will likely run longer in order to satisfy the stat, thus higher energy bills.

Nope I disagree. If the heat is not being transferred to the space, the boiler stops heating because it has reached it's setpoint. The water has reached it's capacity at holding the heat and it is waiting for the radiator to do it's job. As the heat transfers the boiler starts and stops.

In other words, the radiator determines if the boiler runs or not. The only reason a boiler would run longer was if the boiler were undersized. If the radiator is undersized it won't cause the boiler to operate any more or less.

Please tell me you aren't serious. That is some of the dumbest, most idiotic reasoning I have heard in a long time.
If by 'setpoint' you mean 'high limit', then you out of your mind and dangerous. During normal operation a properly functioning boiler should not be cycling on and off on limit. Whether the stat is satisfied or not determines normal operation. If the boiler is turning off for any other reason, THERE IS A PROBLEM.
A radiator cannot do it's job fully and properly if it is partially air locked or doesn't have hot water flowing through it. The heat transfer from the radiator warms the room and satisfies the Stat.
Your last two sentences are just to moronic to even comment on.
Stay away from boilers you don't have a clue.

Originally Posted by Markus Keller

Please tell me you aren't serious. That is some of the dumbest, most idiotic reasoning I have heard in a long time.
If by 'setpoint' you mean 'high limit', then you out of your mind and dangerous. During normal operation a properly functioning boiler should not be cycling on and off on limit. Whether the stat is satisfied or not determines normal operation. If the boiler is turning off for any other reason, THERE IS A PROBLEM.
A radiator cannot do it's job fully and properly if it is partially air locked or doesn't have hot water flowing through it. The heat transfer from the radiator warms the room and satisfies the Stat.
Your last two sentences are just to moronic to even comment on.
Stay away from boilers you don't have a clue.

Sorry Markus, but you have demonstrated your inability to reason. I am done with this one.

This discussion seems to have skipped over the following question:
What evidence did you have that the heat distribution system is now water instead of steam?

Originally Posted by Roger Hankey

This discussion seems to have skipped over the following question:
What evidence did you have that the heat distribution system is now water instead of steam?

With no circulator present it sure looks like a steam system, all the controls seem to indicate steam.

Over on the other side. Sorry should have been more pictific. Converted system to water and left the auto feed. that's why i was confused at first.
But we all figured it out and moved on.