New (to me) Axeman 260

I've always thought of the teflon as that which makes it possible to take it apart and the pipe dope as the sealant.

Townsend wrote:Hello all, finally got some meaningful time away from work so I took a trip to the plumbing supply house. I went to FW Webb in Hartford Connecticut. Very nice people. Its like a candy store for steam heads in there! Rows and bins with all sorts of pipe fittings, pipe and various accouterments for the trade.

Here are some pics of the items I bought. Listen, AA Fireman was not kidding. Those four inch fittings ain't cheap! But, its all relative. Always has been,...probably always will be!

Getting started on the header tomorrow. I'll post pics of the piping in progress.

Anyone with or without steam piping experience, feel free to chime in with tips and/or know how.

I told you!!! the pay-off will come when you look at your tiny gas bill....and laugh!!!

Piped to the header then test fitted some of the header. Here's where it stands. I have one more 4" Tee still to put on but it was getting late and I have to go in early tomorrow. It's gonna be one mean drop down header and will hopefully rival that work of art you put in Firewoodman! The initial take off from the boiler totals 32 inches! Then I drop down with a 12 inch nipple which allows me to go horizontal into the header with a 3 inch a 2 inch and a 1.5 inch riser for my take offs. I have three feed lines.

Also put the hot water coil in and did some small piping.

Will finish the header when I get home from work and and hopefully get some of the equalizer and other near boiler piping done.

Pretty soon it'll be match day!

Excellent work. Your house is really going to come to life when that thing gets fired up.

Excellent work Steve. That table of fittings look$ like about $7-$800 ??? You are going to be either very sore or in very good shape when you get that header finished !! Good thing that you are young !! I'd have to hire that job out,, or I'd have to buy a REALLY BIG bottle of Motrin !

Looking forward to seeing that whole setup from a 'step back' photo, or a wide angle photo.. That is going to be an impressive showcase of pipefitting !!

Take care, and go clean the pipe dope off your fingers !!

Greg L

Greg, you called it!!! Pipe dope all over the place. Just finished the header and working on equalizer. Man, I should have worn old clothes, that pipe dope doesn't seem to be water soluable! Oh well, whats a few garments as opposed to a 4 inch header.

I'll have some pics soon that have some Christmas flair to them!

Townsend wrote:Man, I should have worn old clothes, that pipe dope doesn't seem to be water soluable!

Just soak your clothes in kerosene prior to using the pipe dope and it will wash right out.

coaledsweat wrote:Just soak your clothes in kerosene prior to using the pipe dope and it will wash right out.

I tried it and it seems my long beard just soaks it all up!

I have a question on adding a hot water zone utilizing my return piping on my steam boiler. I'm adding one or possibly two zones off it. Do I need another aquastat or can I use the one from the Axeman? What is a "triple aquastat"? Is that for a high/low setting plus a seperate zone, like what I'm shooting for? I'm trying to design now for it so that it's integrated with the return piping and wiring.

I recall some post where some books were recommended, by Sting I believe, that dealt with hot water piping. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,

Steve

http://www.heatinghelp.com/files/articles/1360/346.pdf

http://www.heatinghelp.com/article/330/ ... eating-FAQ

http://www.heatinghelp.com/files/posts/ ... un04-B.pdf

For optimal performance and reliability, you should use a bronze or stainless circulator. Many steam guys seems to prefer traditional oil-lubricated circulators when pumping condensate...I guess the cartridge ones don't do well with the "junk" in the condensate.

How much of a load are you planning to had with the hot-water zones?

Thanks for the links Rob. Not much of a load, I haven't measured it basically its a small mud room on a far side of the house that I have a cast iron hot water radiator for and then a Modine for a one car garage.

How much steam radiation are you connecting to this beast?

Rob, 845 sq ft radiation (212,000) for the radiators and 1.3 pick up. I'll also have the domestic hot water and the mud room zone I spoke of.

I heard the Axemans like to run so that's what I'm going to let it do.

Townsend wrote:Rob, 845 sq ft radiation (212,000) for the radiators and 1.3 pick up. I'll also have the domestic hot water and the mud room zone I spoke of.

I heard the Axemans like to run so that's what I'm going to let it do.

You won't have to worry about it short cycling with that load! The steam load alone is nearly the full capacity of the boiler. Make sure you insulate the steam piping once it passes with no leaks.