The Lounge

As it gets colder outside we mark down another year the building's boiler has kept everyone warm. At this point we suspect it's over 100 years old so it does require regular maintenance.

Continuing with last winter, I unseized the main zone valves so now we can isolate zones and begin replacing radiator valves and bleeders. This might be a GREAT time to start seeing if we can secure third party funding to replace broken bleeders and valves with replacements or more advanced parts (some of the rooms could really benefit from thermostatic valves) *nudge nudge*. We can also now isolate the fab shop and the wood shop entirely when the proposed heat pump is installed.

In the meantime I was able to backwash all of the zones and reset the expansion tank.

By the way, the floor drain in the boiler room is now unplugged. We also have two new plungers. I trust that they don't disappear like the last ones.

I was also able to flush out one of the boilers and it improved IMMENSELY. In 15 minutes one boiler was up to temp and the other was still lagging behind by 50 degrees. I still need to clean the other boiler but the cleanout gate is jammed. I'm going to need a pipe wrench to dismantle the plumbing and hopefully free it up without having to remove it completely.

Finally I've upgraded the thermostat. The new Honeywell unit in the hallway does not fit the lock box but it has a cover over the buttons so the controls can be locked out. It also supports scheduling so we can vary the temperature depending on what part of the day or week it is.

Unless you are approved by the board, please do not touch the thermostat. We are currently keeping the building somewhat cooler because during COVID there's not a lot of people going through the space and gas is expensive.

We tried the programmable thermostat before. Truth is that we are too unpredictable to use it. We had days go by that extra heat was added when the building was empty. Then we had nights where there were people working all night in a chilled building. In the end one constant but cool temperature made more sense. The clayspace folks have a more temperature sensitive need. I would find out what they require.

There is still a fan in the open window of the wood shop.

I went around and closed up all the windows tonight. Just need to winterize the swamp cooler.

Honestly for right now we could go for a scheduling unit until at least Covid dies down and we again have usually more than one person in the building at night. Between when I came into the space and getting home 12 hours later (I really need to go to bed...) I only saw one other person and they were gone by 3. We can turn scheduling off from the new thermostat as well so its not a full-time ordeal.

I was in late doing other work but have managed to close the radiator valve in the office so its no longer a bajillion degrees in there and purged the air out of all the radiators except for the ones on the top floor. All the radiators on the 3rd floor were air bound. My guess is the top floor is going to be just as bad.

Keep in mind that if the new wing is getting uncomfortably cold it's because I have the inlet valves closed. If it gets too cold before I can finish my experiment you can reopen them by turning the manifold valves I've hung tags from.

Oh yeah, I also did some homework and found a spec brochure for our boilers.

https://heatinghelp.com/assets/documents/Gurney-BoilersRadiators-1927.pdf

So it turns out the boilers are newer than the building by at least 20 years. They were new in 1927 and originally were fueled with coal. Each boiler is rated for roughly 1100 square feet. They were originally uninsulated however my guess is when the building was renovated into a hostel that is when they were both converted to natural gas and clad in asbestos.

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.

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?

Lots.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

Lasergods

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

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)