What to Do With an Afternoon and a Few Hundred Bucks?

Well, here is one option.
Adding the Keystoker KA-6 and 6 more zones into my existing oil boiler system and bringing it all back online after being dormant for a while.

I still have to add the heat trap loop and drains at the bottom of the ball valves and build the supports to add to the existing plumbing. Haven't cleaned up any copper and I am quite rusty with soldering. I had to finish soldering about half of it in the dark by headlamp.

Nothing special. I read so many helpful things here from so many others, thought it would be nice to share.

Piping looks good. Paint the plywood before it's too late.

I'd get the lighting situation taken care of before you get too much farther.

Thanks! Both suggestions are good ones.

Now for the funny part. The osb was my makeshift work table on saw horses outside. Nice day, no rain, lots of workspace

Busy tomorrow, but back at it Monday. I'll snap a few more pics as I go and post them.

Looking to get a zone into every room of the house?

How many zones total now?

looks great! looks like about 6 zones, you can never had too many! LOL

Thanks for the kind comments.

This will plumb our main loop for up to 12 zones. Not all are active now or maybe not this season, but I am hoping to not break into the main loop again.

Here is the proposed zoning from my spreadsheet.
Some of the zones won't have much of a load, mostly maintaining the environment, like the gun room, laundry room, etc.

Some of the zones will be on demand, such as the basement work area. When working down there for the day, I'll turn up the heat. Else they will simply keep a minimal temp and possibly act as a dump zone.

I know it seems like a lot of zones for a KA-6, but it's more about controlling where and when the heat goes than adding more load. My current heatload calcs show we're at the top end of the KA-6, but as this remodel comes to maturity, it will drop up to another 20-30%. Until then, some areas will stay cool with minimal heating until completed if necessary.

Besides, I have this HVAC, coal, and copper addiction to feed, just like some of you- you know who you are!

If that is soldering by headlamp, your soldering by light must be legendary!

The soldering is okay, but not as good as the pic may make it seem. Jpeg compression must've softened it, sort of like those "Glamour Shots" the girls used to get

I just finished connecting the new zones to the supply side and adding a new mount.
I added 2 new 2x4's up to the floor joists and added 2 pieces of 2x4 blocking 6" long between the front and rear supports to keep enough space to avoid too much interference between the controls and such. I did have to swap out the boiler drain valve on the far right rear zone to a longer valve to clear the support and not interfere with the front zone's flange valve handle.

I used a very complicated set of calculations to figure out the measurements and positioning. I held one end and the Mrs. held the other until it looked like it all fit, lol.

I did add a vented elbow where the back loop turns down towards the front. There is a slight slope upwards towards it in the rear and I set the front about 1/4 bubble off level, too. Probably won't do much good, but I had a couple in stock and they are heavy brass.

Sort of like adding a chrome tip to an exhaust pipe. Looks cool and adds 50 BTUs

Started the black pipe building for the supply of the boiler. Had some trouble removing the 1-1/2" fitting in the top of the boiler. Lots of MAPP gas and a BFP took a little time. The boiler is still on car dollies and wanted to roll around.

Pipe wrench in one hand, leg around old return fittings, other hand pulling against DHW mouting, with me in the middle putting my "middle" to good use against the corner and GGGrrrrUUUnnnTTTT, PPPuuuuLLLL, UUUUnnnnGGGG... A couple heat-grunt cycles and it came out.

Here's the wrench I borrowed from a buddy.
Hope you guys enjoy the pics. I'll get back at it after dinner.

I'm Enjoying Your Thread ! Stay With It !

Glad some folks are enjoying the pics. I certainly enjoy seeing pics of others' jobs.

Just some updates and misc stuff.

This is what I have for the supply line so far. Black pipe, 1-1/2" with Tee for the 1" bypass loop, elbow union (is that what it's called, maybe elbow for radiators?), swing check valve, ball valve, union, thread to sweat copper adapter. And a really bright light! Well, a standard shop light, but it beats a headlamp. I'm planning to put the 4006B in the 'boiler fill' port in the back.
Here's another pic of another proposed use of the union elbow, along with a custom "tool" I made to tighten it. Just a piece of flat steel ground a bit and rounded on edges and corners to not damage the brass. FYI, the union side is just a tiny bit narrower than the threaded side...who knew.
I put the tool inside as shown and use a pipe wrench to tighten it, taking care to keep it straight and not damage the brass tapered face. Here's a pic of the notches inside it is catching. (Of course, it would be inserted from the other side with the fitting disassembled to thread the male end into black pipe)
That's it for tonight. I can't find another 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 1" Tee for the bypass loop. I was thinking of putting it down near the bottom, then placing my pump about midway height.

Question: Keystoker manual says pump must be above the bypass loop. Looking at it, I believe it means "before" not really "above" ('above' is true in their installation drawing). Am I wrong?

Don't think I can do a "pump away" setup. Unless I can place it horizontally after the valve, before the transition to copper? That would be about 2-3 feet before it tees into the pre-existing primary supply line.

I really like what Dan Holohan wrote in his book about circulators increasing the pressure to 18psi instead of dropping it to 6psi in pump away vs return. Just not sure if the location I'm considering will work?

You get extra points for pretty. Nice! Thanks for sharing.

Pumping away from the point of no pressure change is what Sting referred me to in my install . Enter "pumping away " into the search box,that should get you to the proper link to view the info by John Siegenthaler . This should help clarify things in your mind as you go,it sure was a big help to me when I did mine.Looks like the finish line is getting pretty close for you.

Extra points, Whoo-hoo! Do we have a coffee bar to use them- I'm buyin!

windyhill4.2 wrote:Pumping away from the point of no pressure change is what Sting referred me to in my install . Enter "pumping away " into the search box,that should get you to the proper link to view the info by John Siegenthaler . This should help clarify things in your mind as you go,it sure was a big help to me when I did mine.Looks like the finish line is getting pretty close for you.

I'm no expert on pumping away, but that is the part that got me, too. In my install the new boiler will have it's own expansion tank on the dedicated tank line on top of the boiler, but it enters the main loop (shared with OB in parallel) just before the existing air scoop/expansion tank/auto air valve combo.

That's why I don't think it would actually be pumping away, even though the boiler portion would be. I've asked that question a couple of times, but no one seems to know, either. I got the typical 'go read a book and figure it out dummy' response last time

So I stopped asking and started this post for fun and pics Unless I hear something definitive volunteered about the main loop exp tank not negating the pumping away strategy, I'll go with the pump on the return side. "Perfection is the enemy of Progress" is what I tell my daughter. If you wait until it's perfect, you'll never get it done

Either way, I am stoked to get this puppy running. Still lots to do on the zones, but I can easily add them into a running system with this setup.

'Easily' is a relative term, lol

Hey, I just reread my last post. It sounds a little snarky to me. I was disappointed in the earlier thread, but didn't intend to be harsh. I don't see a way to edit it, so all readers please consider this.

Instead of piping today I prepared the outside location to hold my coal in temporary steel bins so I can have coal delivered.

I'll put up some new pics tomorrow!

Happy New Year, All!

Here are a few new pics for your enjoyment

The first is a pic of how I am connecting the new front zones and the new coal boiler into the existing return side.
The dark 1-1/2" copper runs behind the supply zones to the KA-6 Coal Boiler, but I didn't solder it all yet. I will do so after I measure and fit the boiler side.

It's a tight fit and I won't have room for my pipe wrench after I solder it in place, so it's dry fitted temporarily.

I had to use a couple 45's to reach behind the zones and supports and for the new zones. The Mrs. gets credit for helping me hold and adjust the pipes to mark them.

Here is a pic of the return side of the KA6 with temporary pump as a placeholder and the 1" bypass loop.
You can see the dark 1-1/2" copper in the back that I still need to cut and fit. I think this copper is about 50 years old. We found it above the drop ceiling of a very old building, never used.

The return steps down to 1-1/4" copper for the sweat pump flanges that I already had and then back up to 1-1/2" for the rest of the return until it meets the main supply/return sections. The coal boiler is 1-1/2" up to the parallel Tees joining the main system, except for that pump accommodation.

Now brace yourselves for this next pic. It's an overview intended to show the plumbing, including the black iron pipe, but you can see all the old and new "stuff" including some piping not yet reconnected.
I plan to change the electrical, remove at least one oil tank, the old cabinets, and the unused pieces-n-parts as soon as the system is up and running.

I still have an expansion tank, fresh water supply, stovepipe, electrical and DHW connections to make. Then to connect the Taco 504-EXP zone controllers and interconnect the controls between the boilers.

Just remember, this is the "Before" pic

If anyone wants more details or ask about the parts I used, feel free. So far all the black pipe is from my existing supplies. And it speaks C.O.A.L. to me when I look at it :p

I'll likely finish the return plumbing tonight, depending on the family's plans.