The Lounge

Since the boiler issues (for now) are dealt with, I'm going to move the discussion about plumbing issues over to the Infrastructure subforum. (I think we can all see that)

I may be able to help with the plumbing. I have pex crimpers etc. Keep the reciepts the landlord will be reimbursing the costs.

And since we're on the topic of antifreeze again I would like to suggest RV antifreeze, algicide, dawn dish soap.

Lasergods

I will volunteer my amateur plumbing skills. I've been in the crawlspace to run the air line. We'll need a roll of red pex and a roll of blue pex. All 1/2". I can pick up the supplies if needed. We'll need misc parts as well. I'll need a helper or two.

Is anyone available on the Monday (26) or Tuesday (27) to do the work?

I just got home. The building was double-digits in all the rooms by the time I left and I switched a few of the electric heaters off as they were no longer absolutely necessary. All the tools I found I've heaped on the hackroom table and the shop vacs are in the lounge. I also mopped the hallways.

The building thawed out around midnight. Judging from the water coming out of the ceiling in the unused basement bathroom we have multiple breaks in the crawlspace but the kitchen has hot and cold water again.

It's ALIVE! Huge shout out to John and James for getting the second boiler running again. I will leave details of the repair to them.

Upon pressurizing the system we discovered a major leak. The radiator in the office had frozen and cracked. We have capped and removed the radiator. We added water to the boiler and it would not come up to pressure. It turns out the baseboard radiators on the west wall had frozen and cracked in three places. The copper line has been repaired. The system has been pressurized with no further problem and air bled out of the system. The second boiler has been lit and both boilers are coming up to temperature.

A huge thank you to Brad who has been coming in and out as he can to help. Another big thank you to the landlord who stayed long with us yesterday and helped in any way he could to get this sorted out. He has also supplied shop vacs and dehumidifiers that have been vital in the cleanup efforts. A shout out to Warner Rentals for loaning us a large heater, propane tanks, and fans to try and get some temporary heat into the building.

As things stand now the space is still not ready to be reopened. Water has not been restored to the bathrooms and there are some leaks (lines are off) in the walls that will need to be tracked down. The space is currently a huge mess. Please continued to avoid the space. The laser cutter has been damaged by the cold. The replacement tube will be installed after the temperature in the building is stable and glycol will be added as insurance if there are any issues going forward. My laser loaned to the space has also been damaged. I will reimburse the person who has helped with the controller and be removing the laser from the space.

A huge thank you to all the volunteers, donors, and the landlord for working together to fix this issue. We hope to have everything back up and running soon. Thank you all for your understanding at this time.

Yes the broken pipe nipple can be removed from the elbow but we need a torch, time and a big enough Easy Out. Or we replace it and I'll reimburse for the cost of the reducing elbow.

Do any of the volunteers need washroom acess? I can provide down the street.

Landlord is on his way in with his electrician looking at options to warm the place up and look at damages.

Can’t we get the fitting out of the elbow? Or a new elbow or or or

Okay.

So.

The situation is we found out why the original valve failed. The solenoid that closes the pilot light supply when it goes out had an open winding. I was able to fish the broken wire out and repair it.

Bad news: The existence of the solenoid only happened after the valve was dismantled. You cannot reuse a valve after it has been taken apart, though ironically the solenoid unscrews without having to do so. Lesson learned.

Gooder news: We found two replacement valves. They are not PowerPile valves like the original valve but when I rewired the boilers I made it so they could easily be converted to 24V if it was ever needed, so we have an option to use a different valve if its cheaper.. We also found the proper natural gas rated pipe tape I was looking for.

Badderest news: While installing the new valves one of the pipe wrenches slipped and I broke the pipe that enters the burner. You can just put new threads on it but the rest of the pipe is stuck in the elbow, so it was GAME OVER.

My suggestion to everyone is unless you specifically need to be at the space, avoid it until the end of the weekend. We are out of time to repair the boiler and the building's plumbing has extensively frozen.

Edited: DO NOT apply 24v to this replacement valve. Don't mess with it at all. It's capped off and it's safe where it is. Because the wrong solenoid is currently installed on it you'll blow it up.

Whoops, yes. I'm not ticketed for gasfitting so I can't do anything at all.

They came into look at the gas valve and it was not cheap. They are coming today to have a look at a different boiler option for us since it is a little old to say the lease. The owner is going to try to meet me there when I go down today.

Sorry John. I have not posted on here we are waiting for Hadwin (sp?) to get back with parts for us.

Alright the burner is reassembled and loosely fit back into the boiler. It will need to be cemented back in place before use because the brickwork is loose around the sleeve.

I have not reassembled the gas lines. That is up to the professional when he gets back to complete and certify it's been reassembled correctly. I did however close and tag the exit valve on the boiler so we were not losing heat through it (the other boiler pulls a draft up the chimney and the dead boiler pulls cold air in around the unlit burner, acting like a giant heat exchanger and wasting a ton of energy), so whoever restarts the boiler must reopen the valve or you will trip the safety.

Got told the new thermopile (says that on the packaging, so I guess it's not a thermocouple...) was installed but it still wouldn't stay lit. We had someone else look at it and we are waiting on parts?

Well since the hard part to get was now installed I tagged out and removed the entire burner. Turns out it dismantles into pieces and is kinda hacky, but it works.

Cleaned the throat and venturi, replaced the pilot mount screws, repaired the broken damper and I'll have to get a new olive for the pilot gas tube as it was split.

We need furnace cement.The burner was cemented in and it was like dust in the wind when it came out.

We are down a boiler. The pilot won't stay lit so the thermocouple is probably bad. Not something I can work on so we have no choice but to call someone in to replace it.

We can still keep the building from freezing by using only one boiler but it's gonna sting on the gas bill.

Lots.

At this point I've just given up with it appearing in the corners.

Thank you for all your hard work on this. The Makerspace could truely not run without your hard work. Is there still crap piled up in the boiler room?

Windows are all closed up again and I've drained and capped the swamp cooler for the winter. I found the tarp in the cooler but the blanket has gone missing. The AC has been taken out of the lounge window.

One boiler had the pilot go out but I was able to relight. The other one refused to start until the pilot was put out and relit. Expansion tank was drained and refilled and the manifolds flushed. The pumps need the packing oiled still.