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Posted by Steve Scott on February 8, 2007, 6:35 am
Your father's right.
wrote:
>Howdy, all!
>
>My 83-year old father is worked up (and my mother not worked up but cold)
>about parts of his almost 100-year old house in a Philadelphia suburb
>remaining unexpectedly cold.
>
>History:
>The original system is almost 100 years old, now with a 15-year old large
>natural gas large furnace. Long ago (>20 years ago) the original circulator
>motor burned out at an inconvenient time. Told that many systems in
>older houses could run by convection (or gravity feed?), we tried that
>for a day and (by jiminy) it worked--the response time for a room
>to heat was not discernibly different than with a functioning circulator
>pump. So the system was left that way (with the circulator motor path
>out of the circulation loop).
>
>>>Flash forward 20 years<<
>
>We (my brother, my father and I) this summer replaced 13 (!) old burned-out
>Thrush zone valves on 1 1/4 inch copper pipe (mostly) with new Honeywell
>3/4 inch copper valves and fittings.
>
>We painstakingly tested all valves and joints for proper functioning and
>no leaks. All fine (eventually).
>
>>>Present<<
>
>Now parts of the house are unexpectedly cold (it's 15-20 F outside).
>House: 3 storeys + basement, radiators, very large (4 fireplaces--not used
>often, with flues currently closed).
>
>My father suspects the added flow impedance due to the reduced-diameter
>zone valves is causing the problem.
>
>My argument: (i) by definition, there is probably no more than 1 zone valve
>per zone--they're not in series (I would assume that's the *point* of
>having zone valves), (ii) why are some parts of the house (presumably
>under zone valve control) warm and normal, while others aren't?
>
>So I don't buy the impedance argument, but have been known to be wrong :)
>I suspect that the extra cold weather (plus maybe the impedance) has
>revealed the need to replace the circulator motor.
>
>I'm 1700 miles from my parents so I probably don't have all key information
>at hand and my father is having some problems processing too much info,
>and is somewhat spending-inhibited :)
>
>But I suggested:
>
>1. Re-check all zone valves to make sure they're open and working.
>(I assume this test will pass.)
>
>2. Get a pro over to test the impedance/pressure in the system.
>
>3. Replace or re-wire, and re-install the circulator pump (I suspect will
>be the issue).
>
>Is it possible for the pro to determine by direct measurements on the
>system (i.e., without input about how the system *was* or *should have
>been* designed) how to fix the problem, or is it an issue of trying
>several alternatives?
>
>Any other suggestions/remarks?
>(By the way: useful stuff at http://www.heatinghelp.com/ in newsletters.)
>
>Many thanks!
--
There are three stages to sex in a
person's life: Tri Weekly, Try Weekly,
and Try Weakly
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