I have a light fixture with four sockets and each has a white and black wire I looked up briefly and see that most people say connect white wire to the larger (neutral) prong. I have a leftover two prong plug I can use Is this okay for me to do? Will I just be shocked if I plug in wrong and be okay if I do the right way? The case is metal for the bulbs and theres this copper thing that leans against the casing but not connected to anything This is what I have: Progress Lighting P3298-30 4-Light Broadway Lighting Strips Sockets On 6-Inch Centers and UL Listed For Ceiling Mounting with 25 Watt Maximum Lamps, White - Amazon.com That is a fixture that is designed to be hardwired. I don't see a way to safely wire it with a cord set. Why are you not hard wiring it as the manufacturer intended? I saw something on the description that made me think it had a power plug I saw eHow has instructions but they only say to use a grounded plug Can a Wall Light Fixture Be Wired to Plug Into an Outlet? | eHow.com This guy also has easy steps DIY: Turn a Hardwired Light Fixture (i.e. a Chandelier) Into a Lamp with Plug I couldn't find any four socket lights or similar light strips with regular power plugs, I got the closest thing I need to use bulbs for an indoor nursury You can do it. The question is safety and code compliance. I just tested on a lower power source and it worked white to larger prong I got the closest thing I need to use bulbs for an indoor nursury There are strip fluorescent fixtures that are made with a cord set, and many of those that don't come with one can safely have one added. Fluorescent tubes that are specially made to be eddestive grow lights' are commonly available. As Ray said, Originally Posted by ray2047 That is a fixture that is designed to be hardwired. I don't see a way to safely wire it with a cord set. Why don't you just buy and use the products that are already made to do what you want? I already have an asston of 5500K bulbs I already have an asston of 5500K bulbs With medium screw bases, right? Then you should either hardwire that fixture or buy or make one that can be safely connected with a cord set. what's the major risk here? what's the major risk here? Electrocution; is that something you are concerned with? in what case? I have no exposed wires and i wont be touching the wiring. A bigger risk would be the bulbs breaking and mercury coming out nottinmatterz what's the major risk here? nottinmatterz in what case? I have no exposed wires and i wont be touching the wiring. A bigger risk would be the bulbs breaking and mercury coming out You have a metal body wall or ceiling fixture that is designed to be hardwired and grounded. You are planning on wiring a cord to it with a non-grounding plug. What you are planning on doing might work, but it's a jeryrig. Incandescent bulbs contain no mercury. right. if I connected it right and have wires seperate and closed off I think I will be good Mod Note: What the OP is planning to do is a violation of code and creates a hazard. It should not be done.
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I am pretty new to these forums here. so any help is appreciated. We just bought a new home. But the builder gave us a crappy steel stairs (painted white). I am planning on replacing these with wrought iron baulsters and wooden rail. Any idea where i can find these baulsters online or in Texas ? Also, i would appreciate a suggestion on a good book on wrought iron stair building. Thanks ! Look at the ads below this post. They may be able to handle your needs. Around here most of the houses that use wrought iron have them custom built. Check the yellow pages under iron works or ornamental iron. We live in a 'california contemporary' that sits in Charlotte, NC -- and I'm replacing oversized oak railings and spindles with wrought iron balusters as just one of the many projects I've done to convert the house to a more upscale transisitonal style. I ordered the baluster shoes on-line about 1 year ago from the same place I just ordered the balusters two days ago. I had no problems with the shoes so I decided to go ahead with the balusters too. The website is stairsupplies, but there are several that are worth checking out (just google balusters or iron balusters and look at the google ads). One website even has a neat script that lets you design your own rails on-line, so you can get a feel for what it looks like. Also, I was lucky enough to have one Lowes in the area (out of about 6 that I checked out) that actually had a display set up for wrought iron balusters and newel posts (they carried the pieces in stock too). The price was actuallly lower than what I ended up getting on-line (the shipping costs pushed the on-line price higher, despite the tax offset -- but I think I am getting a higher quality, more upscale product), and the quality looked pretty good (these are actually the Milan series from crownheritage so you can check them out on-line if your local Lowes doesn't stock them.) I even put together an Excel spreadsheet that helped me make selections among the various vendors (basically you input what type - up to 3 different, and how many ballusters you need, and the spreadsheet calculates costs). I'd be happy to email it to you (for private use) -- PM if you want it. What part of Texas? Most of the companys that do ornimental wrought iron wont do wood railing. Mostly because they are just two diferent craftsmen. The wood guys usually cant do any more than just iron spindals. Look at the companys and carpenters that are doing new homes in you area.
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My 96 Dodge Caravan is having transmission problems. In the past 6 months I've replaced the transmission govenor and had a trans axle replaced. It doesn't happen all the time but it becoming more frequent when I'm at a stop and begin to drive the car is very sluggish and then it will shift hard. I also notice a hard downshift when I come to a stop. I took it back to the dealer to have them take a look at the transmission govenor to make sure it was operating properly and they said it's fine and my transmission needs to be rebuilt which costs around $2000. Is there anything else that could be looked at first before rebuilding the transmission? Also my husband is very handy could he replace the transmission himself or would he need very specialized tools? He has rebuilt, repaired, replaced many motorcycle engines and also does all the minor maintenance on the car like changing brake pads, rotors, oil, etc. You don't say how many miles are on it, but for an 8 year old vehicle I would assume something in at least the 100-125k mile range. Shop around for a good independent tranny shop; I suspect you'll find a much better deal. Use a shop whose only business is transmissions. Ask friends who may have had to have tranny work done or call a couple of independent towing companies; Tow Guys know who's good and who's not. If I remember correctly, one of the guys we tow for told me once that he NEVER puts used units in Caravans/Voyagers, so you'll probably want to avoid that choice. Tranny work is usually not DIY type stuff beyond replacing a bad sensor or solenoid, things like that. A couple of things: First make sure that only ATF 3 is in the tranny, if any other fluid is in there, get it all out. Do not let anyone tell you that Dextron with an additive is OK, it isnt, do not pay attention to the dipstick, it is wrong...Mopar has a TSB on it. This might be all you need. If that dosent help, go to xxx.allpar.com, a whole bunch of tranny info there, that is the first place I go when working on my 99 Voyager. Hope this will be of some help. It may be that you need to clean the trannie to get the varnish out of the valves. I have fixed several AT's with Hydrotex Essentialube using 2 ounces per quart of oil in the trannie. Look in your owners manual or add about 18 ounces (probably 9 quart capacity) and drive. Normally it will fix it in a few minutes. it doesn't matter if you run it a few days. My daughter has a 92 Lumina that we have to use it in all the time. About once a year it needs another 1 ounce per quart and it will be fine for another year. After getting it working okay, then put Hydrotex Hytorque in it. This is a much better fluid than the dealer provided or auto parts store fluids. Chrysler trannies are known to be troublesome. It isn't the trannie, it is the fluid they use in them. It doesn't hold up. Most people forget to change the trannie fluid as often as they should. Those trannies run hot because they are behind the engine together with city driving you have a recipe for trouble. email me at jojapowell1@iowatelecom.net and I'll help you out. John Powell STLE Certified Lubrication Specialist It sounds like the dealer is pretty much right on the money! I think what is happening is that there are seals that run right down the centerline of the trans and they become hard and do not seal well (especially when cold) my friends 95 has the same problem, If it were mine I would definatly do it at the dealer, they will have a guy that has replaced or rebuilt that same type of trans probably a hundred times over, and have been to Chrysler training classes on that trans. There are a few special tools for that trans yes! Good luck! Thanks for all the good tips. Actually the mileage on the van is only 71K miles. Rather than rebuilding the trans, go to an independant shop as suggested. They can get you a good, used trans with 12month/unlimited miles warranty for half that price. If your husband really thinks he can do it, you could find a used trans for between $300 and $700.. A shop may charge charge less than $400 to RR a trans, including replacing various gaskets and seals in the process. [QUOTE=jpowell]It may be that you need to clean the trannie to get the varnish out of the valves. I have fixed several AT's with Hydrotex Essentialube using 2 ounces per quart of oil in the trannie.My daughter has a 92 Lumina that we have to use it in all the time. About once a year it needs another 1 ounce per quart and it will be fine for another year. If it fixed the tranny why does it have to be repeated once a year when that brand of fluid is in the trans?Does this spectacular fluid cause more varnish buildup in the valves?Sounds like snake oil to me and is swelling rubber seals in the trans for a possible temp cure not an actual lasting repair.Going against manufacturers suggested fluids could(most likely)cause catastrophic transmission failure leading to more expense to repair properly.
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The horror of (Triangle Tube Prestige Installation)
trying to find an installer that will install a Triangle Tube Prestige. I have a 1914 house that has been gutted, re-insulated and put back together by me. I had a fhw steam conversion system. Demo'd the old boiler in the basement and all the old 2 1/2 steel pipes. I'm starting from scratch with everything but the radiation- we have 12 (way oversized)ci rads and like the look and heat they generate. I'd very much like to install a progressive and efficient boiler but I've spent a TON of money fixing up this house and don't want to go crazy w/ the install cost as I can't see being here for more than 5 years. My fuel bills w/ the old beast were not crazy(c. $2500 for the year). I was interested in the TT because of the price point and good reviews(here). I've met w/, oh, 12 - 13 installers and 10 of them recommend ci boilers that are sized b/w 130 and 170 btu(I have a heat loss of 70,000). I found one installer willing to install the TT for 20k- which is about 3 times what I want to pay for the job. My question is: I've found a guy that will do the job for a reasonable price and doesn't seem to have the 'tude of the other guys. Should I just say install the TT and pipe it per specs or is there more to this than a straight ci install? Are there advanced tests and calibration that should be done? Are they unique to condensers? Thanks! Is the radiation piped to anything at all? Radiation is piped to second floor only. Need to run new loops in basement for all zones. That piping is gonna cost... if they do it twisting black iron, the labor is really high and if they do it in copper the materials are really high and PEX is something I'd be weary of, since the cheaper stuff is not for hydronic usage... I'd be worried about anyone bidding too low actually. Have you contacted the TT rep in your area and see who they will recommend? That's how I found my installer... He just contacted me cause he saw this post and gave me some names. Good idea. Do you have the 110? What is your heat loss? I have a 110... My heat loss is 56K, but in reality it's about 38K which is also about the minimum modulation for the Prestige. Despite essentially no modulation it is still my top pick boiler. I have it piped so that it can run direct or primary secondary. It runs great either way. Direct uses less electrical. Anyone know what the going cost for installing a Triangle Tube Prestige boiler is these days? I'm interested in probably the Solo 110 with an Indirect Fired Water heater and the prices I'm being quoted seem all over the place.... Initially I'd planned on installing a new boiler and replacing my hot water heater with an on-demand system. Then I read about the Triangle Tube Prestige with indirect water heater and thought it could be a better route... but I'm a little stunned at the prices... $10K depending on market and depending on how much extra stuff is being done. Barebones simple swap out maybe $8K. Just guesses here. What part of trhe country are you in? I just installed my Prestige 110, and it is working beautifully. I originally wanted to use a viessmann, but as a DIY, I was unable to purchase one. I did purchase a TT 110 online for about $3200, and had no issue issues with the installation ( other than a few bad sweat joints that I had to redo. First I bought and read cover to cover: Modern Hydronic Heating (Siegenthaler), which saved me from making many common errors. I am using a Coilex 40 stainless sidearm DHW, and burnham cast iron baseboards. Works great. Also using a Taco zone controller, grundfos pumps ( CH secondary and DHW boiler loop ). I built my own condensate neutralization unit ( basically a horizontal section of 3 PVC filled with crushed limestone ) which brings the condensate to a ph of about 7.5 ( boiler puts out about 3.0 ). The Prestige installation manual is quite good, and whatever wasn't in there I found in the book mentioned above. svenyonson... good stuff. Were you able to get the MCBA all dialed in? who: - not sure what you mean by dialed in, ( Honeywell MCBA ), but the wiring went smooth, and I've been monitoring the boiler status ( temps/pressure ) on all outputs and returns. I haven't yet used a combustion analyzer for emissions, but I have an HVAC friend who will check it out sometime soon. I did have one E18 lockout ( over temp ) - after fixing a leak, I forgot to bleed the air out of the boiler piping, and so even though the pressure switch let the boiler fire, it was air, not water in the system. I'm surprised the LWCO is a pressure switch and not a water sensing switch. After I purged the air out, it's been working perfectly. I left all of the parameters set to factory defaults ( set points, etc ), and so far so good. When only one zone is calling for heat, I can hear the built in check valve in the secondary circ rattle around ( I assume the flow rate is to low with only one zone open ), so I'm going to take that out and put in a Taco SwetChek just after the pump. If the circulators are mounted in the vertical position when they have internal checks this can happen. If these circulators are mounted in the horizontal position this will normally go away. Did you install the outdoor sensor? If you want to tune the MCBA let me know offline. Thanks guys - I appreciate the replies. who: I'll ping you offline about the tuning - I did install the outdoor temp sensor, and it seems to be doing what it is supposed to - if it is cold - 10 F, the set point is around 150+, but if it is 50+ outside, the set point goes down to around 90. This does concern me, as at this temp the circulators are running almost all of the time - and I'm guessing there will be a trade off with the electrical cost of running the circulators longer vs burner efficiency at a higher set point. My heat emitters are cast iron baseboards, so once up to temp, they stay that way for a while - so I think tuning the MCBA might be a good idea. rbeck: The circulator is mounted vertical, so I guess that explains why I hear the noise. Since I have a spare Taco SwetChek, I'll just add that in and remove the internal Grundfos check instead of reorienting the pump. I do have another question though: The Prestige 110 has separate outputs for DHW ( no internal circ ) and CH ( internal circ for the primary loop ). I have the CH circuit piped with primary/secondary, and both the CH secondary and the DHW loop are using Grundfos circulators ( as is the Prestige CH internal primary ), and the DHW loop has a Taco 241 check valve. All piping is 1. The problem is this: When a CH zone is activated, the DHW loop piping slowly becomes hot to the touch. The DHW loop is definitely NOT being activated, as I pulled the aquastat wire and unplugged the pump. So the CH primary is inducing some flow in the DHW loop. My big concern here is that since the Prestige is a modulating boiler, sometimes the CH set point will be as low as 86 degrees ( if it is really warm outside ). This means that any induced flow in the DHW will cool the water in the tank and eventually result in a call for DHW heat. I haven't put the DHW loop in service yet ( I want to figure this out first ), but I imagine that this situation would cause DHW / CH cycling. My first thought is to install a zone valve on the DHW loop, which can then activate the DHW circulator when it opens. Thoughts? Do you have a flow check valve on the DH loop? Thanks for the responses (back in MARCH) to my query re: installation costs for TT. Got a little derailed on the installation back then.... I was curious about DIY installation or at least purchasing the system on-line and finding a HVAC person to install. I found the system on-line at a reasonable price, but have been told by several installers (those that were recommended by TT distributor) that they have to purchase as well as install or the warranty is void because TT requires certification. As an alternative to the Prestige TT with the indirect hot water system (and to save some $$), I'm considering going with a Burnham boiler and a Rinnai tankless... any thoughts? BTW- I'm in DC metro area.... and trying to get this all installed within the next month. Thanks. Originally Posted by WitsEnd I was curious about DIY installation or at least purchasing the system on-line and finding a HVAC person to install. I found the system on-line at a reasonable price, but have been told by several installers (those that were recommended by TT distributor) that they have to purchase as well as install or the warranty is void because TT requires certification. BTW- I'm in DC metro area.... and trying to get this all installed within the next month. Thanks. I know this thread is a bit old and I'm not sure if anyone's still reading it, but WitsEnd, did you ever find an installer? We're in the same boat. Buying a TT online, but need someone to install it. I would be happy to do it myself, but am swamped with many other house things. In fact, if anyone is interested in seeing what we're up to, please visit our website at http://greenrenovation.us/ Please post or e-mail joe at greenrenovation.us if you know anyone who's reasonable on the TT installation. It would be great to know what you paid so we can compare, as well. Thanks! Joe As a certified installed of the triangle tube boilers I have a couple of things that may help you guys out. Definately install the outdoor sensor and definately have someone reprogram you boilers you will probably be cold with factory settings if you live in the. Tristate area. The ch terminals are for heat and the dhw terminals are for hot water and are a priority. You should not have a primary pump or secondary pump turn on with the water heater pump and do not put a zone valve on the dhw. There is no need for it. I simply use taco 007 with a internal check valve on the dhw. I do roughly 3 boilers a week and they are triangle solos and buderus 91% oil boilers. As far as I am concerned the 2 best one the market to date. I have been putting in the triangles for 5 years and can count on less than one hand the number of service calls I have had on them. If you use a certified installers or a certified guy to set up you boiler he can sell you a 10 year parts and labor warranty on the boiler. And the smart series water heater is the best because it comes with a lifetime warranty to who evers name is on the warranty card. I hope this helped any other questions just reach out. I hope I help some of your questions.p The several kilobuck installation costs mentioned sure sound high. Is that for a complete installation or just the boiler? My situation is an existing in-slab radiant system with a 70's AO Smith boiler that I'd like to replace with a high efficiency unit and get the tax credit before it expires at the end of the year (or are they likely to extend it?). Just went to the Triangle Tube installer training program. (According to the guys that run it, I'm the first homeowner to ever do so ) Amazing program, very informative, well worth it if you plan to DIY the boiler. I now feel way more confident in this project, definitely doable. Also, now that I know more about the boiler, I'm even happier with my choice of the TT - it's really superior to most of what's out there. That's not just their sales pitch talking, the other students were all pros of various types, and all confirm that the TT is the most reliable and least maintenance-intensive Mod/Con they've ever worked with. I too attended the TT training in Blackwood back in September. I highly recommend this for anyone considering a self install.This is a very professional operation, I learned so much about the boiler and program it. I am a homeowner who installed a used Burnham boiler 16 years ago after reading the same book mentioned above. After much research online I chose TT. I met a lot of good HVAC professionals at the training and asked them a lot of questions as well as the instructor. I am one weekend away from firing up my new system. (gas meter arrives Tuesday) I spend my weekends in the basement. The install went smoothly, after much coaching from the folks at the training session I went primary/secondary. I designed my system after studying the presopac kit. I keep a running spreadsheet, so far I am at $4.848.01. still have to buy 12- 3/4 90's to switch over from my oil burner to my new system. I am re-using the Erie control I have. I used 3 taco 007s for 3 zones, (same as the older system) I have a Amtrol boiler-mate for DHW, but after all the kids left, I installed and on demand electric and by-passed it. I have piped the solo 110 to use the DHW output with circ pump and all, but I will wait until i see the gas bill before connecting the Amtrol. (I hope the Amtrol's thermostat plays nicely with the boilers input.) Once again, I can't say enough about the TT staff, the training and the guys who attended the training. You gotta go. I guess they were wrong about me being the first homeowner After sweating the small stuff, pun intended, the start up was a breeze. The gas co. hooked me up, bled the air, and watched as I turned on the solo 110- it cycled through a few times until it got gas- and bingo! it worked! I am the consumate pessimist. I had only put one zone on the new unit, I did not want to plunge the house into coldness, so I only hooked in the 2d floor (unused bedrooms). Tomorrow I turn off the oil burner, drain it and change the basement and 1st floor over. No more buying diesel fuel at $3.35 a gallon to pour into the container I have feeding the old boiler. (took the 375 gal tank out to make room for the TT solo 110. At the training they told me to set the lower limit to 120 for baseboard heating. I will play with the curve a bit in the MCBA. I did produce a lot of water, s to I know it it condensing which means saving money! (incoming temp below 130) I am still trying to figure out what setting 1, 2, 3 to set the supplied grundfos variable speed pump to. It came set on 3, but looking at specs, that may be too high. the delta t was no help as by the time I got around to checking the incoming and outgoing temp, they were the same, which led me to believe the 3 setting is too high. oh add another $159 for a taco controller and elbows and some t's and 3 more boiler drains to purge each zone. I should have put a ball valve to isolate the pipe that connects supply to return just past the double T's on my primary loop. I could not use the valves at the end of each manifold to purge the system because water ran back down to the return side. I must have missed that detail on the pictures of the presopack kit. Hi folks. I too am a home/cabin owner just returned from the Denver TT training last week. After seeing and learning about that Alpha pump, and hearing about my instructor's average of about a five watt draw from it in his home I have decided to ditch my secondary circulators and go with a single three speed primary pump and one secondary Alpha pump with zone valves. I have a small system with just two radiant zones in a 1000 sq foot slab. Since I had already purchased a Taco SR controller I just ordered 120 volt Honeywell zone valves to keep it simple. The Alpha just stays plugged into the wall, amazing! I didn't ask this at training, can the closely spaced tees that adjoin the primary loop to the secondary be vertical as long as the diameter multiples are followed in the spacing and secondary lengths of adjoining pipe? It would suit my installation better. Also I have read in the forums that if boiler piping is below the Solo unit (mine a 60) the outboard LWCO device can be installed on a cross fitting opposite the pressure relief valve at the top of the boiler, negating the need to bring up the supply side piping just to accommodate the LWCO? I enjoyed the training. It was a lot to cram in my head over a day and a half though. Have not got my certificate yet how long did it take to get it? I do have my hat, tee shirt, and manuals of course! I got my certificate at the training center on the second day. Don't know why you didn't. I too got a smart circulator (Wilo Eco in may case - more or less the same as the Alpha), but I wouldn't leave it plugged into the wall all day - it should be turned on only when there's a space heating call. Otherwise, when all the zone valves are closed, it's pumping for no reason, which is a waste of energy (and probably bad for the pump). I don't think it ever fully turns off - just goes to lowest setting. Yes, you can have T's oriented any way you want - mine come up from below, and work just fine. At the NJ training center they have a bunch of Solo's set up just that way with a LWCO. Basically, they have one more T, one more street elbow, and one more close nipple. The arrangement is then up from the boiler into a T, then straight up through the T is the LWCO. Out the side leg of the T is an elbow+nipple to another T, straight up through that T is the air vent, and out the side of that T is another elbow up into a pressure relief valve. Looks like you have a brass tree growing out your boiler, but works well according to the TT staff. Thanks good to know. Grundfos says (in their literature and videos) the Alpha does a long term system analysis and turns slowly with no load waiting to sense a valve reopening. I will leave it plugged in for the heating season as my Taco circulator controller, unlike their zone valve controllers, has no dry contact output for a common circulator pump, and I don't really want to tie it to the primary loop pump as I think the boiler has reasons of it's own to just run it by itself. I don't want to add any stat controlled relays out board of the controller either. The instructor told me the certificates come from NJ, probably why you didn't have to wait for yours. I went to CO for the scenery but only saw the mountains once when we landed. They sure treated us right. It is great finding this thread, I will chime in when I get the boiler mounted and start in. If you do a google search on 'precision hydronics prestopak' then click on the solo 110 kit picture you will find a great group of pictures. I used these to model my install. I put my air scoop along the wall just before the pumps and hung the pressure tank below it, but these pictures saved me a lot of head scratching. The wye strainer is an important part of the install. I even ordered 1 long 90's to make it look just like the pictures. (it probably cuts down on resistance too) I have my T's exactly like the kit. I still hate the fact that the T's being so close together will ruin my Delta T, but this is standard practice- the factory trainers said to put the T's real close. I would love to see these pictures. Are you talking about the houseneeds site? I am not having any luck at all since all I get are further sales item links. Perhaps you may have an actual link for me to follow? One question though for anyone. In TT's piping diagrams they show the boiler primary loop entering the closely spaced tees on what looks like the secondary loop piping, through the branch of the tees rather than on the straight thru piping what normally is illustrated as the primary loop. The rules about 8 diameters and four diameters appear to apply to the secondary in these instances and not the primary. Why I didn't ask about this in class I have no idea. This works either way? Here is a picture from the brochure Here is a picture of my set up part way done. icture of my set up- half way done. Precision Hydronics Web Link to more pictures PHP, Precision Hydronics Products I was looking right at that picture, but couldn't find a link to others you referred to. I had never pictured the closely spaced tees oriented that way and it seems to be a great space saver. Also the locations of the common gauge on the supply and individual gauges on the return legs are inspiring to me. I will be using one system circulator with a couple zone valves but I think I will try to adapt this basic design also. Thank you very much, I was looking right at that picture but had just assumed it was something more high end. Have you been able to achieve the ideal delta T for optimum condensation to take place with your short primary loop? Will I need the check valve on my primary return in my arrangement given that my primary and single system pump will always be on together, or is it needed to prevent some sort of migration thru the boiler itself(anyone)? I have zone pumps with integral flow checks in them, so i don't have to have an in line flow check. They are not that $ if you get them on-line. not sure if i can mention the on this forum but for $68 it was worth it. It has not been that cold here 23 is the lowest. I have the internal circulator set at 1. It seems to keep the delta t lower when one zone is calling for heat. I really cleaned the fin tube baseboard heaters so they would give off more heat making my return water that much colder. So far I get about 3 gallons of water in a bucket per day. I will play with my reset curve when it gets a lot colder. param 4= (min) 120, para 10= (max) 150, para 11 (coldest day) -10, and param 12 (warmest) 60. this seems to keep me condensing all night. I will have to change param 10 when it gets colder in January. Right now it is 29 out, the house is set at 67 and water is just pouring out. I find it hard to get the temps of the supply and return with my laser temp gun unless I point it at the unions, or the back of the circulator where the direction arrow is. Must be round copper does not reflect the proper light back. One thing i would do different is put a ball valve on the long run going up to the circulator tree. this would make it easer to purge air by isolating each side of the loop. I find it hard to get the temps of the supply and return with my laser temp gun unless I point it at the unions, or the back of the circulator where the direction arrow is. Get some flat black paint and paint the area of the pipe you wish to measure. Infra-red thermometers are notoriously inaccurate when measuring 'shiny' metals, even if it's no longer shiny! Google emissivity for more info on this... some of the expensive IR thermos have adjustments for the emissivity of the material being measured. Not quite as accurate, but certainly quicker would be to put a piece of black electrical tape on the pipe. Above all, if you are comparing temps between two different materials, it must be done with an equivalent surface. If you use black paint on one, you need to put it on all... Very interesting, keep thinking out loud. If you ever shoot more photos of your install I would love to see them. Did you make your own neutralizer or are you just using a bucket for the time being? I have a septic where my boiler is going so I will have to configure something. I will make my own acid neutralizer out of pvc pipe and marble chips, then pump it over to a drain that goes to the septic. I don't have a floor drain. I will buy a condensate pump on-line. Everything is running fine. I am having a small problem getting air out of the heat exchanger. Because the T's are so close, I think that air just loops back around. I switch the internal pump to 2, then 3, I hear air get pushed out, quickly put it on 1 and listen as the air loops back in. Some does make it to the air separator, so I will just keep at it. I also think that over time the disolved oxygen in the water will slowly work itself out. It only seems to come from the heat exchanger. I thought i read somewhere that bumping up the pressure a bit might stop air from leaving the water as it heats up. Here is a pic- as you can tell I am an amateur, but it was a great project. Thanks for the alternative angle photo. I have seen the Webstone purge tee used, do you think that would solve the problem? From what is available you would probably have to go with the one with the 1 1/4 main body and the 1 branches, but you are not going to disrupt your whole piping tree for that. I have also seen a few displays showing marine grade type W outdoor cable w/compression fittings connecting the various pumps, valves and sensors to the boiler and control boxes. I would like to try that if it will hold up in any inspections. being obsessive, every night when I get home from work I tweek my system. I figured out that if I set all circulators running, then turn the grundfos internal circulator up to 3 it pulls the water and air of the primary loop and out to the air seperator, and a bit got by but was picked up when it came around again. Call me old fashioned, but i like the old low tech air scoop better than the new fangled VorTech with the screens in it. I gave up on trying to find the temp. of the water in the lines with my lazer temp meter (even after painting the pipes black) I found a neat site that shows make a digital thermomter for about $5.00 assuming you have a digital multimeter kicking around. I will send off for the parts and, yes, solder them together. Then just touch it to the pipe and get the true temp. Hi Guys, I installed a TT Prestige Solo 60 a month or so back and it has not been going so well. I was hoping someone good help me out. After installation the boiler would lock out do to ignition issues E-2 when it was below 30 outside. A simple reset would bring the boiler back online and it would start right up. It pretty much happened every night once it go cold here. I talked to TT Service and they said the boiler should be combustion tested and adjusted. I found the local TT installer and had them come tune the boiler. The mixture was quite lean. Sorry to say the service man did not really seem to know what run the boiler or what it should be set at. Not a good sign. I dug out the manual for him and told him put it in high fire mode. He was able to adjust the mixture to to be as rich as possible which brought the boiler into the manufacture suggested range. After adjustment: C02 was 9% (8.8-10.5) 02 5% (2.3-5.3), CO 46ppm, CO air free 60ppm Gas inlet pressure 8.5. Efficiency 89% Excess Air 28% So that was on the 8th on the 17th it tripped out again as I was watching it. My sister heard to boom as she was walker in my back door, 5 booms later it locked out. The boom seems to be getting worse when it starts and thought it seems to be catching on the second or third try the last few days. I am now alerted to the sound and i keep hearing now. Not sure what to do. 1. Get the boiler company back, 2. Call TT services 3. Stick potatoes in the tail pipe and launch them into the neighborhood Anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to what is going on? Could fluctuations in the inlet gas pressure be causing this? - Ugh - I just heard it again - Erik MobileMe Gallery Sounds like you need to get in touch with the factory. Is it a natural gas unit or a LP unit? If it is LP, is it a new tank or an existing one. The manual for the 110 unit shows a special propane orifice- not sure about the 60. It's Natural Gas - it seem to depend on the weather outside. I bought a gas gauge to see if it is related to gas pressure.
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Hello all, What are your thoughts on surge suppressor circuit breakers? Do they work well? How does a whole panel get surge protection if a couple of branch circuits have a surge suppressor circuit breaker? I am not aware of such a thing as a surge suppressor circuit breaker. Do you have a manufacturer and model number in mind you are thinking about. If so, share it with us. Square D and Cutler-Hammer both have surge suppression in the form of a two pole part that attaches to the bus. Here is one. Surge Arrestor 2 Pole - Hardwire Surge Protection Devices - Voltage Regulation - 3XB84 : Grainger Industrial Supply Here is a Cutler-Hammer surge protector that plugs onto the bus in a BR loadcenter, but it is not a circuit breaker. Cutler Hammer BRSURGE Plug On Surge Arrestor Siemens has a similar one that has two single pole breakers built into it, but the circuit breaker part has nothing to do with the surge protector part. Siemens Residential Surge Protection If the protector is better earthed, then everything on all sides of that protector are protected. You have assumed what scams and advertising promote. That a surge is somehow blocked by going through a protector. Any protector that works by blocking does not protect from a typically destructive surge. As with all protectors, the connection to earth should be at least 50,000 amps. If one combination circuit breaker and surge protector is not rated that high, then another breaker may need be replaced by a breaker/protector to achieve at least 50,000 amps. Again, it's not any protector that does protection. Protection is defined by an earth ground. Either a connection to earth is made by a wire. Or made by a protector. The protector is only acting like a wire when an incoming cable cannot connect directly to earth ground. Earth ground (not the protector) defines protection. A protector or protectors must be rated to connect even 50,000 amps to earth. So do you guys think suppressors like the Siemens/Murray circuit breaker suppressors are worth using? The Murray is rated at 40,000 Amps. Could two units be used simultaneously to double the protection or would they interfere with each other somehow? An effective protector connects AC hot wires to earth. Two protectors mean a better connection. (This assumes those protectors are connecting both phases to earth.) Too much time is spent discussing the simple science. Art of protection is (and most of your questions should be) about what defines protection. Single point earth ground. And how that connection is made. Amps only defined a protector’s life expectancy over many surges. How good is it during each surge? That is defined by earth ground. So do you guys think suppressors like the Siemens/Murray circuit breaker suppressors are worth using? Yes. I installed ours a year or two ago and the change has been noticeable in terms of less flickering of lights, fewer annoying computer resets, etc. Plus all of the electronics in our other smart devices, such as our cordless land-line phones, our refrigerator and our other major appliances, are now protected from annoying - and possibly long-term damaging - fluctuations. The one I installed occupies two breaker spaces, and is specific to the make and model of our panel, just as any replacement breaker would be. Our service was, and is, well grounded to begin with. We're not relying on this device to protect the system from a lightening strike. We're relying on it to do what a small flotilla of plug-in suppressors would be doing, to do it more effectively, and to do it for everything in the house. So do you guys think suppressors like the Siemens/Murray circuit breaker suppressors are worth using? Yes, they are definitely worth using, but the plug-in type don't offer the best protection when compared to other devices available. When you compare the price for a plug-in surge protection device at around $60-$70 to a panel mounted device, the panel mounted device offers you a lot more for your money. Here is a much better device at only slightly more cost. Complete Home Surge Protection-CHSPT2MICRO at The Home Depot The panel mount type device usually wires to a 15 or 20 amp 2 pole breaker in the panel so it isn't as easy to install although it isn't difficult. Here's what you need to know about surge protection devices. http://www.google.com/url?sa=trct=j...l_N8v0UKWF_-Nw Thanks I am going to stick with the Murray suppressor (it cost $106.88 at Amazon) because it matches my panel and it also does gives me circuit breakers (I am maxed out). Though I am curious, why is the Eaton so much better? So do you guys think suppressors like the Siemens/Murray circuit breaker suppressors are worth using? Yes, they are definitely worth using, but the plug-in type don't offer the best protection when compared to other devices available. When you compare the price for a plug-in surge protection device at around $60-$70 to a panel mounted device, the panel mounted device offers you a lot more for your money. Here is a much better device at only slightly more cost. Complete Home Surge Protection-CHSPT2MICRO at The Home Depot The panel mount type device usually wires to a 15 or 20 amp 2 pole breaker in the panel so it isn't as easy to install although it isn't difficult. Ours is mounted to the bus bar in a full-height two-pole space. It doesn't plug into anything. And it cost less than $80, IIRC. Though I am curious, why is the Eaton so much better? Check the specs. Also, a lifetime warranty. I like the lifetime warranty. You know how you cannot use non Murray circuit breakers in a Murray panel, is it fine to use other surge protectors in the Murray panel? Perhaps when I get a subpanel I can get the Eaton some day but right now I have no space for it so I'll just get the Murray. The device may appear to mount properly on the bus but there are no guarantees and it is not listed for use in other brands of panels. Interesting discussion on similar topic: Whole house surge protector [Archive] - RedFlagDeals.com Forums Warranty is most often to hype an inferior product to naive consumers. For example. Who has the best warranty in the auto industry? GM. Does that prove a Chevy is superior to Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda? Of course not. As stated previously, amps only defined a protector’s life expectancy over many surges. How good is it during each surge? That is defined by earth ground. Lightning is maybe 20,000 amps. So a minimal 'whole house' protector starts at 50,000 amps. Because any protector that fails was ineffective. How effective is that protector during each surge? That is why most of your question should be about the other item that does the protection. Single point earth ground. Protectors are simple science. Earth ground is the art of protection. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. I like the lifetime warranty. You know how you cannot use non Murray circuit breakers in a Murray panel, is it fine to use other surge protectors in the Murray panel? Perhaps when I get a subpanel I can get the Eaton some day but right now I have no space for it so I'll just get the Murray. The Eaton device doesn't mount in the panel, but on the outside of the panel or adjacent to the panel so it isn't brand specific on which panels it can be installed with. In your case, the Murray may be the best choice as your panel is full and the Murray is designed to be installed and give you back two circuits with the thin circuit breakers built into it. deleted redundant message You are thinking that a protector somehow stops or blocks a surge. Putting a protector between lightning and an appliance to block a surge is bogus. Lightning must be earthed before getting into the building. Connect it to earth so it will not be on branch circuits. If a 'whole house' protector (in a breaker or attached to the meter or breaker box) connects low impedance (ie 'less than 10 feet') to earth ground, then lightning need be inside the building. A minimal 'whole house' protector will earth even 50,000 amp lightning strikes. If smaller, then consider installing two. Ask few questions about any protector. Your attention should be focused on what actually does protection. Single point earth ground. An art. And where most protection mistakes are made. Protection is about ‘low impedance’ earthing of every wire incoming to a panel. Either earthed directly. Or earthed via a ‘whole house’ protector. Only then is every interior house wire house protected. Protection is about earthing every wire that enters the building. Not about earthing branch circuits. The best information on surges and surge protection I have seen is at: http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lhm/IEEE_Guide.pdf - protect your house and its contents from lightning: IEEE guide for surge protection of equipment connected to AC power and communication circuits published by the IEEE in 2005 (the IEEE is a major organization of electrical and electronic engineers). And also: http://www.eeel.nist.gov/817/pubs/sp...%20happen!.pdf - NIST recommended practice guide: Surges Happen!: protect the appliances in your home published by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2001 The IEEE surge guide is aimed at people with some technical background. You are thinking that a protector somehow stops or blocks a surge. Putting a protector between lightning and an appliance to block a surge is bogus. Apparently westom is talking about a plug-in protector. They do not work by stopping or blocking. As explained in the IEEE surge guide (starting page 30) they primarily work by limiting the voltage from each wire (power and signal) to the ground at the protector. If using a plug-in protector all interconnected equipment needs to be connected to the same protector. External connections, like coax also MUST go through the protector. A minimal 'whole house' protector will earth even 50,000 amp lightning strikes. If smaller, then consider installing two. Service panel protectors are a real good idea. But from the NIST guide: Q - Will a surge protector installed at the service entrance be sufficient for the whole house? A - There are two answers to than question: Yes for one-link appliances [electronic equipment], No for two-link appliances [equipment connected to power AND phone or cable or....]. Since most homes today have some kind of two-link appliances, the prudent answer to the question would be NO - but that does not mean that a surge protector installed at the service entrance is useless. Service panel suppressors do not by themselves prevent high voltages from developing between power and phone/cable wires. The NIST surge guide suggests most equipment damage is from high voltage between power and signal wires. A service panel protector is very likely to protect anything connected to only power wires from a very near very strong lightning strike. I would not install two. Install one that is proper sized. The author of the NIST surge guide looked at the surge current that could come in on residential power wires. The maximum with any reasonable probability of occurring was 10,000A per wire. Larger ratings mean the protector will have a long life. Recommended ratings for service panel protectors is in the IEEE surge guide on page 18. Protectors that plug into the panel are usually easier to install. Separate ones that mount through a knockout (like in the link from CasualJoe) are available with higher ratings and are likely cheaper for the same rating. Some of them have some kind of protected equipment warranties. Subpanels require a different surge protector (the neutral and ground are not bonded). Surge protectors limit the high voltages from a surge. They do not protect from anything else.
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I responded to a post a while back saying that I had ordered one of these and was asked to give my feedback once I had it for a little while. First off, it's hard to find much information on it besides what is already on the website. I took a look at the testimonials that are there and noticed that one of them had listed first and last name of someone, and their state of residence. I decided to try to track the guy down and call him. I talked to the guy for about 20 minutes and he gave me a good recomendation. Basically I was looking to see if there were any issues with his cover. He had it for a year and hasn't had any. He's apparently in no way affiliated with ******.com also. Anything that I could find online about these covers that was negative, was from people that haven't tried it and were skeptical. Something about the air not being a good insulator. What is between the pockets in foam, or styrafoam.....Air???? So anyway, I received mine about a week after I talked to the guy...altogether, it took almost 5 weeks from the time I ordered it. It was custom made to fit my tub. It was exactly what I expected, but much much different than a foam cover. I filled the tub with water, then filled the cover with air, laid it in place and that was it. I let the spa heat up, then installed the hooks to keep the cover in place. All in all, it was pretty simple. I filled mine up with air enough so that I have a slight dome affect. When the rain hits it, it runs right off. The snow will at first melt, but eventually will build up a little, but never causes an air leak through the seal. The cool think about this cover, is since it lays on the water, if forms a seal around the inside edge of your spa, i.e. on the acryllic. Then the top half of the cover lays over the outside edge of the top of the spa. So far, my spa runs significantly less than it used to with the old foam cover. It is soooo much easier to get on and off than the old cover. I did not have a cover lift. The inner part to the cover is like a rubber raft, one that would be used for whitewater rafting. The exterior, at least on mine, it like an umbrella, thus the Sunbrella material that they use. So far I am very happy with the purchase. A new foam cover is slightly less, but my original cover didn't even last me 2 years. I thought it worth the risk to spend a little more for ease of use and something that will last longer. It won't collect water and get water logged. Post responses if you have any questions. I am a long time Spa owner and when it was time to replace yet another foam filled traditional hot tub cover I decided to take a look on the web for some new ideas or maybe a good deal on a cover. If you do a simple hot tub cover Google search you will surely come across the SPACAP by Another Company. The problem I had was that no other info was available about this product except what the maker had on his site. I read through his info and it sounded great. Supposedly more efficient than traditional covers and it will last longer. The theory made sense to me but I couldn't figure out if this was such a great idea why 25 other companies weren't offering the same thing. I tried to research and talked with as many knowledgeable people as I could with no definitive opinions anywhere. So I bit the hook and bought one. I ordered it in the fall of 2004. I am writing this opinion in December of 05. I have owned it 18 months or so. The cover came from the manufacturer quickly and was well constructed with a perfect fit. But the jury was still out as to wether an air bag works as well as foam insulation. The first thing I noticed was that snow (I am in Wisconsin) never accumulated on the Spacap. I used to have to sweep snow off the top of my traditional cover after every storm. But snow melted off the Spacap as fast as it fell.....HMMMMM. Next I noticed my spa pump running more and my electric consumption never went down. Contrarily my power consumption went up. I still needed more concrete evidence. A bit more scientific. Here is what I did......You be the judge. I got a thermal imaging camera. This is used by energy annalists to check homes for heat loss and efficiency. It is also used by Fire Departments to check for hot spots in burning buildings. It uses infrared technology to get spot on accuracy. The camera allows you to point at any object and get a pinpoint temperature reading of the object. I did the test on a day that the outside air temperature was 12 degrees. The thermal camera was reading ambient objects at around 14 degrees. It was reading the outside of houses at 19 degrees. Now the big moment......lets point this puppy at the Spacap. It read 40 degrees. What? Yes 40 degrees. The hot tub water is at 100 degrees. Gad that doesn't seem good at all. One last test to do. I needed to compare it to a foam cover. So to the neighbors yard I went. I turned the camera on to a traditional foam cover with a 102 degree hot tub. The camera read 19 degrees. Needless to say I am seriously bummed out that I got taken by a slick web site. I like to think I am smarter than the average bear. Anyway I felt I needed to post this info to the web so others can have a fair opinion before spending $400 or more on a Spacap. During my research of spa covers, I (like some of you out there) stumbled upon the unconventional SpaCap on the web. I was immediately skeptical. First, let me say that I have no direct experience with the SpaCap, but the findings of Tomm1963 do not surprise me. I agree that air is a good insulator -- when it is not moving! Many common insulations (like fiberglass and foams) make use of trapped air, but the air is not free to move. The air is trapped in very small spaces or chambers, thereby reducing heat transfer via convection. I'm assuming that the SpaCap has one (or no more than a few) chamber(s) which allow the air to move -- a lot! Chamber air at the bottom of the cover (nearly touching the 100 degree water) heats up and immediately rises to the top of the cover and in turn heats the 20 degree air outdoors. Bummer -- aside from the fact that it likely won't hold the heat in, the cover appears to be light-weight and fairly indestructable. So back to my research of spa covers I go. Hey thanks for all your postings by the way. I too was looking for a new cover and found the spacap website. Looked extremely promising but I don't know if I can trust their claims either (like most of you). I called them and they weren't that helpful in convincing me that the product was as good as advertised and they also weren't very concerned about their unsatisfactory Better Business Bureau rating. These things scared me even though the concept seemed really promising. I even tried to websearch the consulting firm they had to do their R rating verification but couldn't find it. I wanted to call them and just verify everything. Anyway, I ended up ordering a conventional one from a company that has a 7 year warranty on their product (yes that was 7 years, 3 at 100% then prorated over the next 4 yrs). Since my original cover only lasted 3 years, I thought that was not too bad for a warranty. Plus they had free shipping (very cool). The other company also had an excellent BBB report so I caved and purchased from them. I'll let you all know how it turned out in a few weeks... This actually brings up another issue worth talking about. WARRANTY. The first and foremost thing to remember about warranties is that they ONLY cover MANUFACTURERS DEFECTS. Not normal wear and tear or abuse. Schardenzar says his original cover only lasted 3 years. I can pretty much guarantee you any failure of it was not due to a manufacturing defect, therefore not covered under warranty. I've been selling spa covers for over *gulp* 25 years, and we've been manufacturing one type or another for over 15 years. I don't recall EVER having a warranty issue with a cover that's more than about 6 months old (more like 6 weeks). In fact, so few warranty problems come up that when people ask me, what kinds of manufacturing defects does the warranty cover, I don't usually don't have an answer. Ok, so after a great deal of thought, what kinds of issues can come up?........ Stitching. As you probably know, a sewing machine uses two sources of thread. There's the main spool that sits on the top of the machine, that's visible and easy to keep an eye on, and then there's the bobbin. The bobbin holds much less thread and is kind of hidden under the sewing machine. It's possible for the sewer to unknowingly run out of bobbin thread. If they keep on sewing, the thread from the main spool gets sewn into the fabric, but without the bobbin thread will simply pull out and the cover will come apart. It happens ocationally. It's very rare and unusual though for the cover make it the rest of the way through production without falling apart. Inserting the foam cores into the cover puts about as much stress on the cover as anything, and this is where it will pop apart if not sewn correctly. Even if it were to get shipped out and delivered, it's going to start coming apart in the first few weeks. That's about it .......... I would imagine it's possible to get some faulty material that the cover is made of. But, I've never heard of that happening. I think it's about as likely as getting a misprinted dollar bill. Let me know, please, if you have heard of, or can think of, anything else. But there's a catch to all warranties that most people don't know about. Even if there were to be a problem, it's the consumer that's responsible for ALL shipping costs, both in returning the cover to the manufacturer and in having it shipped back to them. Guess what? The cost to you of that shipping will be MORE than the cost of a brand new cover. YOU will have to pack up the cover in an acceptable way for the shipping company to accept it. It's then going to cost you anywhere from $200 to $400 to ship it back to the manufacturer. Good news though, shipping it back to you should only be around $100..... Though, if the warranty claim is denied, you'll be out the $200 - $400 it cost to get the cover back to the manufacturer. The few issues we've had we've ALWAYS been able to resolve with a phone conversation and a few digital pictures. I know of other companies that also always attempt to do it this way. But I also know of some companies that if you have a complaint, you HAVE to return the cover to them...period Someone must have an example, even if imaginary, of a warranty problem? Thanks for the heads up on the warranty Dr.! I appreciate the help! The last cover I had became extremely waterlogged within the 3 years - there was no warranty after about a year I guess. Hopefully this next one wil work out better. In the spring of 2006, I too needed a replacement for my spa cover. I found the Spacap website intriguing to say the least. I live in the mountains of California, and we are all about extremes. Summer temps can get into the high 90's, and we can receive upwards of 6 feet of snow in winter storms with 60 MPH winds. Needless to say, I needed a spa cover that would on one hand keep the warmth in, and on the other hand keep the elements (sun, wind, snow, leaves, rain, etc) out. After much consideration and many chats with the Spacap people, I decided to give this thing a try (with much skepticism). I ordered their top of the line product with 3 air chambers and protection by sunbrella. Things did not get off to a good start with the Spacap company with my order. After 8 weeks and probably a half dozen phone calls, my cover was finally being shipped (They had told me when I ordered the Spacap that it would be shipped in no more than 21 days). I inflated the 3 chambers, during which, one of the intakes was already starting to separate from the material that it is affixed to. Once inflated, I affixed the fasteners ready for any wind that might come up. Within days, we were blessed with some gnardly 45 mph gusts-all seemed well with the Spacap; that is until we went to get in the spa the next day. The spa was completely dirty with leaves and dirt, not to mention our filters needed cleaning as well at this point. Our first test of mountain weather and the spa cap was not living up to its bidding. After several weeks, we also noticed that the once inflated Spacap was losing its dome shape. This became quite a nuisance, we were inflating the Spacap every two weeks or so. As we got into summer, our next mountain weather phenomena raised its ugly head. We were getting daytime highs in the 90's with nighttime lows in the 40's. If the Spacap was inflated to its proper level in the early evening, that night it would deflate because of the cooler temps (Boyles Law). By midday the next day, it would be so over inflated that we were unable to undo the fasteners to get in the spa. This sequence repeated itself multiple times throughout the summer. The overt display of Boyles Law was demonstrating to me, that this product seemed to be very susceptible to environmental temperature swings. Needless to say, a second failure in as many attempts. Finally, it was now winter. This is really why we bought this thing, the hope of huge savings on our electric bill as advertised by the Spacap people. Well, the Spacap didn't live up to this either. With wind and rain initially, we were still getting debris in our spa, and now with the rain we were starting to get pools of water on top of our Spacap. We called the company, and let them know what was going on. They informed us that under no circumstance were we to allow standing water on the Spacap. Apparently, the impermeable sunbrella is quite permeable under standing water. If water were to get inside the bladder system, it is very difficult to get out. Well, more work had been created for us. Not only were we required to refill the air chambers, but also now we had to keep all water off of the Balloon. That leads me to winter problem number 2, wind. It is quite impossible to get into your spa with any measurable wind (above 15 mph). The shape of the Spacap is very near the shape of an airfoil, i.e. wing or sail. At the point you unhooked the fasteners and began to lift the Spacap, the wind would grab it and where it would go is up to nature. Finally, snow! What can I say about snow? As previously posted, snow initially melts because of the warmth of the Spacap. This ultimately creates a really nice layer of ice on which the reaming snow accumulates (makes for easy snow removal). Without a spa lift or anything of the sort, the Spacap must rest on top of the snow-quite a feat of strength when the snow is 3 or 4 feet deep (my spa sits flush to a deck). What about all of those electric savings Spacap talks about you might ask? Well, with no substantial change in any other variable, we saw usage go up by 21.3%. Not to drag this out any further, but I must add one more thing that I have learned from this experience. Speaking with Jeff (a Spacap guy) on about the 1st of November, I voiced my concerns that I have shared here. He tried to convince me how great the Spacap was and that if I weren't happy I could return the product for a full refund or repair for further use. I told him at that time that I was sure I wanted a refund. He convinced me that I should continue with the product for a couple of months noting that eventually I would have to send the product in to be repaired, and if after a couple of months had gone by and I still wasn't satisfied the offer of refund would still be valid. Fast forward to Jan 2007. I have made multiple attempts to get in contact with Jeff; he won't take any of my calls. All I'm getting is response from another associate that they are willing to repair my Spacap-refund is not an option. I was fully duped by Spacap's website, please don't let this happen to you. Popper The spa cap will be warm, always. Snow will not remain on top of it. If you were to put a heat gun on it you will always get a warm reading. This is because the cover rests on the waters surface. No insulator on earth has a rating of r100. If and only if the spa cap had a rating of 100 would you get a cold reading. The only heat loss is what you read on the outside of the spa cap. A foam cover attempts to insulate from six to 12 inches above the water. If I get cold and sit next to a blanket I don't get warm. I have to place said blanket on my body. It will keep me warm, but over time that blanket would lose some heat through the outside of it. once the foam saturates there is no longer dead air to insulate. all foam covers saturate; that would be fact. (a wet blanket won't keep you as warm as a dry blanket) The spa cap will be warm, always. This can ONLY be caused by heat from the spa escaping through it. Snow will not remain on top of it. This is because SO MUCH heat is escaping through it, it's melting the snow. This is because the cover rests on the waters surface. That statement had NO bearing AT ALL. It doiesn't matter if the cover is resting on 100 degree water or 104 degree air. No insulator on earth has a rating of r100. ummmmmmmmmmm, no. And insulator, any insulator, if thick enough has an R-100 rating. But that's totally irrelevant. The SIMPLE fact is that the warmer it is on top of the cover, the more heat is traveling through it, and the LESS insulating it is. A saturated foam cover will freeze in the winter. All foam covers saturate, thats the reason they get heavy. If I want to cool off my soup I place an Ice cube on it. Or I stick it in the fridge. The foam covers won't be as warm because the heat has already dissipated. They attempt to insulate from 6 to 12 inches above the water. My spa cap insulates right on the water. how could a foam cover possibly beat its insulation. The SIMPLE fact is that the foam cover just cannot. The only heat lost is the reading on top of the spa cap. Think about it. oh and by the way dr spa you slam the spa cap all over the internet, and youre VERY QUICK with the response, could this be because you sell foam covers and have something to lose from a superior product. get your facts straight bro. good luck You said it yourself............ The only heat lost is the heat on the outside of the cover. Take 2 different spa covers. Now one cover has a surface temp of 40 degrees and another cover has a surface temp of 19 degrees, which cover is losing the most heat? The foam covers won't be as warm because the heat has already dissipated. What in the world, no, universe, are you talking about? Where has this heat dissipated to or from? If you bother to read ALL the complaints on the net about this spacap, you'll see numerous people complaining about their spas running longer heating cycles, dropping in temperature faster, increases energy costs and more when comparing the spacap to a traditional cover. Additionally, my only slamming of spacap is to repeat what their customers with actual experience have to say. And yes, not only do I sell covers, but this year should manufacture over 50k. How could you get a cover thick enough for r100 Nowhere in your original post, nor in my response, was there any mention of a COVER having an R-value of 100. You simply said insulator. PLEASE reread this response a second time before responding to be sure you understand what I'm saying. ALSO, you might just want to reread the second post in this thread. The testing was done in such a manor that it probably would be admissible evidence most courts. Any possibility you're Jeff Sliger? no there's no possibility of that dr. however, congrats on the 50k. I have had my air cover for 3 years now and I like it. It works very well. I replaced my intact spacap 2 years ago. The only addition to my previous post is that since I have gone back to a conventional cover my electricity consumption has gone down. Shoepimps reasoning doesn't' stand up to a basic physics class. That said if you like it good for you. It just doesn't stand up to its advertising. Here is the company's website if you want to see what they're all about... wondering if this would be workable to have a foam (ensolite) cap made of just fill it w/ping-pong balls ? ? ? Which company had the 7 year warranty? Used a spa cap for 3, ozone ate a hole in the baldder filled with water.. These guys at SpaCap are selling a product that totally does not live up to specs. My electricity bill spiked up since I got mine several years ago. Plus its a pain to get on and off. Furthermore, I gotta mention this to anyone thinking of getting one of these: If you just want to decomission your spa for some time, forget about keeping this cover on it...it totally EFFed up my SpaCap. Why? Because the spacap only functions the way it is supposed to when there is water below it to support its weight...if not, then unless you have the maximum amount of air in it and also keep it tautly fastened on all sides, it collects rain water. And when that happens, the water gets in past the canvas, and it becomes a VERY expensive birdbath (while collecting fall foliage). What a BIG mistake. I just had one of my worst customer experiences with spacap and strongly suggest you think twice before buying one. The covers look good on the website but they are much bulkier and awkward to put on and off than expected. My biggest issue was properly sizing the cover. I was off on a side measurement and the cover was too tight on one side. Measuring spas isn't as easy as it looks (lots of corners and angles) and if you are off on your measurements you are hosed. Unless you are really accurate, don't take the chance with one of these. They offered to fix it for an additional $190.00 but have no other return or satisfaction policy. Also, the customer service was arrogant and condescending. I offered to pay for some of the hard costs in making the cover but they refused. I have never complained about a company on line, but Spacap deserves a huge thumbs down. It sure looked good on the website, but what a misrepresentation! Insulation isn't better, it's worse! Mine lasted 2 years, then started leaking. I sent it back and they claimed that my pH was off and ate through the cover! We didn't use it that much, the kids are away at college, and I tested the water regularly, so they are full of you-know-what!
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6 months ago I purchased a 4 year old house. The septic tank had just been pumped. I noticed a strong sewer smell coming fom both sewer vents on the roof then, and it is still there. (You can smell it at a distance from the ground, especially if there is little or no wind.) The toilets flush fine. I've tried different sewer additive treatments with no luck. Do you have any ideas for why this is happening? Also, do you know anything about vent pipe filters, such as the sweetstack? Do they work? Thank you very much. Vent stacks are supposed to remove foul air to the outside, it equalizes pressure so that the fixtures operate properly. What you are experiencing is downdraft from the roof. Those carbon filters you speak of work very well, sometimes frost over can cause the carbon to not work effectively. Most complaints come during the outdoor seasons where people tend to be outside the most. I used some Odorhog filters and my smell dissappeared completely. i am happy. hopefully, I wont have problems with the vents getting iced up and closing in the winter. I ended up purchasing a couple of sweetstack filters, (which appears to operate the same as odorhog filters) and the odor has completely disappeared! Now I can enjoy my outdoor activities. Thank you very much! Are the sweetstack and odorhog easily removed from the vent pipe. I may need to do this if/when they ice over during a cold Iowa winter. Thanks. Usualy what causes this is the stack being in an area of undesirable air flow. Extending the vent stack will usually fix the problem without need for a filter. This method may not be acceptable as it could visually unapealling. Originally Posted by iowa Are the sweetstack and odorhog easily removed from the vent pipe. I may need to do this if/when they ice over during a cold Iowa winter. Thanks. Yes, Iowa, the filters are easily removed. I just black electrical taped mine on at the joints (which was intended to be temporary just in case the filters didn't work) and it is virtually invisible so I'm leaving them that way! Anyway, if they did ice over, you can easily either remove the whole filter, or you can just pop the cap off and remove the piece of nylon stocking with the carbon filter particles inside. Very simple, the hardest part is getting on the roof. Originally Posted by JimmieDee Usualy what causes this is the stack being in an area of undesirable air flow. Extending the vent stack will usually fix the problem without need for a filter. This method may not be acceptable as it could visually unapealling. I tried extending my vents (about 4 feet) just to see if it made any difference. It didn't seem to do anything. The vent filters seem to work perfect. Originally Posted by wanous The vent filters seem to work perfect. Absolutely amazing that my problem could possibly be solved with a carbon filter!! Thanks for writing back wanous! The next question is whether roof plumbing vents should even emit an odor. I have heard arguments for both no and yes. Oh well....some things will always be a mystery! Take care.
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PLEASE HELP! I borrowed a weed trimmer from a neighbor and the fuel lines cracked and broke and i had to replace them. In the difficult task and numerous tries with different configurations i am stuck. I got the fuel lines right finally. Unfortunately now it wont start. I can spray carb cleaner into the intake and it runs until the cleaner is burned up. I am scared I may have messed up the valves inside the carb or something from the numerous primer bulb connections i had to try. I think i tried every possible fuel line configuration before I got it right. Any Ideas??? since the fuel lines broke only when you borrowed the trimmer I must assume that they was already brittle.And if that be the case,the damage (if any) to the inside of the carburetor has already been done. Are you sure though, that you got the lines in the right places?There are 3.The bottom fitting on the carb.is where the line out of the fuel tank goes.Then a line runs from the top fitting on the carb to the largest nipple on the primmer bulb.The other line runs from the other nipple of the primmer to the other hole in the fuel tank.This is only the return line.Make sure too that the fuel filter inside the tank is on the fuel line.does the primmer button fill with fuel and hold it??If not reverse the two lines on the primmer only.If the trimmer still wont prime,or run,the carb.will have to come off.Be soaked in carb.cleaner and a repair kit put in. i also have a ryobi gas trimmer problem. mine is new (less than 6 months), but it will not run. at first, i thought i had the gas/oil mix ratio wrong, so i altered that. nothing. i cleaned the spark plug, the carbureator. nothing. i disassembled the carb and thoroughly cleaned it, i bought new gas and oil mix. nothing. it will start strong, while the switch is in 'start', but once i squeeze the throttle, it's like it bogs down or something. sort of like the engine doesn't have enough power to spin the shaft. so i tried pumping the throttle, to try to rev it up, start it spinning slowly. it doesn't matter, it still just dies after a while. the little flapper thing in the gas cap is not clogged. the fuel filter is not clogged. i can't take the stupid thing back to the store, because i'm a dummy and didn't keep the receipt. i've heard about some hi/low screws or something. can someone please explain that to me, or offer some other advice. i'm in need of help. thank you. sounds to me Jimmy that the muffler or the exhoust ports might need cleaning out.There clogged with carbon.Take spark plug out.clean port holes with piece of wood to keep from scrstching the inside of the cylinder or the piston and blow it out with air.Put plug back in and crank. thanks for the advice. i tried that, and it was not clogged, so no luck with that. BUT, i figured out that if i barely squeeze the throttle, it runs like a champ, but wide open. as soon as i squeeze it more it bogs down. maybe it's getting too much gas, flooding it out? the quarter-disc thing on the carb where the throttle cable connects, that moves the disc inside the carb, i moved the cable to a different hole so that it wouldn't open the valve so much, and it runs alright. the shaft spins and i used it for a little bit. still not much power though. is there some adjustment i can make to something to have better control, so it's not just shut or wide open? turn the high speed adjustment screw out (CCW) 1/16 to 1/8 turn and see if the problem clears up.The adjusment screw is prob.going to have a piece of plastic over it ( a lemiter). This can be pulled off with a good needle-nose. I too have a Ryobi gas TrimmerPlus 15, 31cc that won't keep running. Mine is very old, I bought it 11 yrs. ago from Home 'Despot' with the blower attachment (long type no longer in production). I use it lightly but all year around. I've never had to do anything to it except change a worn out bumper knob. I've always been very careful mixing the oil and have never touched any adjustments. It has started faithfully and exactly the same for over a decade until the last time I used it. It wouldn't keep running. I ignored it a month and now it won't start at all. Can you elaborate on some low tech routine maintenance or cleaning rather than screwing with the carb jets? I'm thinking my problem is spark or maybe fuel flow related. I pulled the plug and it looks good but dry after many tugs on the rope. I never got any indication of a spark on any choke setting, which is very unusual. It always started and ran a few seconds on full or half choke until today. I don't suppose there is a magneto that needs replacing is there? I'd take it to a local shop but I know they will mess with and smash the carb jets and it will never run right again. That's exactly what happened to my next door neighbor's identical unit. After the repair shop his never ran right and he had to junk it and buy a new one including all new attachments. I don't want to go down that road. Take the muffler off and try to start it without,the muffler,it will very loud,do not let it run very long,you might have a clogged muffler,if so I soak it in carb,cleaner over night and rinse it out with water then I heat it with a propane torch and get it wery hot and then pick it up with some pliers and hit it on the concrete to get any carbon out of the muffler flakes will come out when you hit it on the concrete,be careful not to get burn in doing this,hope this helps. Jerry If the muffler try does not work, then you have a carb problem and not getting enough fuel at the high speed jet. This could be due to the adjustments are not open (backed out) far enough or that the diaphram and fuel pump portions of the carb have hardened up and need replacing. Kits are available but the numbers are in various locations on the carb. I removed and checked the muffler. I don't think it is blocked or causing the problem. I stuck a wooden stick in through the plug opening and moved it around. There was carbon present but the ports were clear. I checked the plug and gap. It is fine. I squirted carb cleaner into the cylinder, reattached the plug and muffler and gave the rope a pull. It sputtered, so there is spark. That leaves fuel flow as the problem. I removed the dark, brittle fuel line from the bottom of the fuel tank and fuel dripped slowly from the tank. Unfortunately, each time I tried to reconnect the hose, it cracked. I need to replace all the fuel lines and in doing so hope to find the air leak or blockage that could be my main problem. I still find it hard to believe that it would run exactly the same for eleven years then suddenly change air mixture out of limits unless it was from an air leak in the fuel line eliminating suction or a blockage in the line or carb as suggested. I'm sure the carb needs a rebuild of any parts that deteriorate over time but it did start and run well until quite recently. First, I'm hoping I can find more of this tiny clear plastic fuel line somewhere and then replace all the lines. One short fuel line from the carb appears to end at a bracket with an open hole. Is that an overflow or is something broken off? Replacing the fuel lines didn't clear the apparent blockage. Is there any kind of filter in the carburetor I could clean or replace? Yeah, FLPCGuy,there is a filter in the carbretor,its on the fuel pump side (the side with just 1 screw).But more than likely the diaphragms in it is hardened and not working as they should and you'll have put a GD kit in it. Thanks Repair_Guy. I'll try to find a 'GD kit'. I took apart the 2 screw side already and didn't see any dirt or blockage. Any tricks I should know about the rebuilding this carb, special tools, etc.? Aaaaah you have a Zama carb. with the primmer pulb.momnted right on the fuel pump.Just take the red duck valve that is just under the primmer bulb out B 4 U put the carb.and end plates into your carburetor cleaning solution.Be careful and run something through this valve to see if it clear of any debre,and will open.And get any bits of old gesket that might stick on the carb off.Otherwise it will suck air from these places.If the primmer is very dark in color,replace that too now,Because you will have to B 4 long anyway.Reply back with type and number on carb (which will be prob.a C1U ******or C1Q******)?? ETC. and someone can look it up and tell you the right primmer bulb to use. You don't have to worry so much about the metering lever.these come pre set and are right on the money 98% of the time. I have a Ryobi 767rj with a 31cc engine. I believe it is about 6 years old. It suddenly bogged down when I reave it up. I thought the spark plug had gone bad and replaced it. The engine cranked and run normal, but this week I was weed eating and about 30 minutes into my trimming the engine bogged down again. I found the engine would start if I put it on full choke. I moved the choke control to center position and it would run for a few seconds and die. I can't get it to run on non choke position. I check the gas lines and primer and the carbruetor is getting fuel. The spark plug is wet. Do you have any suggestions. Thanks in advance. Sounds to me Sam Smiley,like your trimmer is getting too much air and not enough gas.Take the plastic limiter cap off of the high speed adjustment screw on the carb (the nearest one to the air filter) unscrew it 1/16 - 1/8 turn.Then try it. Reply Guy, I removed the plastic cap covering the adjustments. One being black and the other white. the white was located toward the front of the engine and the other toward the air cleaner. I tried ajusting but to avail. I found the black one had to be set total counter clockwise(on the stop) for the engine to start. I finally shook the trimmer real hard and the engine started and ran normal. I think that is telling me there is some trash in the carb. Could this be the trouble and if I need a repair kit for the carb where do I get it? In my repairing I found out to check the starter rope knot before getting to carried away. (I check my chainsaw and tied a new knot in it) The thing broke and the rope went inside. I was able to rethread the rope and put on the handle, but I have about 2 inches of slack. Please tell me remove the clutch, install a new starter rope and adjust the rewind. Thanks so much. Sorry I meant Repair Guy. Ryobi 31cc SN 4031 UB24RA; EM 18 ZAMA Carb No primer bulb on this Model Neighbor gave it to me 2 years ago. Ran well, but fuel leaked at the 2 fuel line nipples at bottom of tank. Removed muffler. No carbon build up. I just fixed that leak. Hard to start. Erratic performance. Will start after choke and then starts at 1/2 choke position. Bogs when throttle opens. Removed plates from both sides of carb. 2 screws on each side. Fuel pump diaphram is not dried up, flexible. mixed fuel system cleaner w/fuel. Gas is presently dripping out of carb venturi. Thinking of removing carb, removing the 2 plates and diphram and soaking body in solvent. There are 2 adjustment needles on top w/delimiter caps, yellow and red. Red is nearest the engine. Athird needle is close to throttle shaft. What do these control? Originally Posted by borgward Thinking of removing carb, removing the 2 plates and diphram and soaking body in solvent. I cleaned my first couple of 2 cycle diaphragm carbs a couple of weeks ago. As I understand it, soaking the plastic parts in carb cleaner is not recommended, and I used spray carb cleaner instead, which reduced the amount of dis assembly I need to do. Worked like a champ when I got done. That was probably carb cleaning for cowards. I have a Tecumseh 4 cycle engine that hasn't worked quite right despite being the carb being cleaned several time with spray carb cleaner. I'm thinking of taking that one apart and dunking it to see if that solves the problem. Which plastic parts are yo referring to? I planed on removing the to side plates and the rubber diaphragm, as I did not want to expose it to the solvent. Are there more plastic parts in the body? Ive been reading this post and many others on a lot of sites about 4 cycle trimmers but havent found my answer. I have a Ryobi 975r 4 cycle trimmer. Will start on choke but will not run on idle or 1/2 choke. I checked the muffler for excess carbon. Recently adjusted valves and plug is good. Replaced fuel filter and lines (easier to feed lines thru tank if you cut end to a point and tie a string to it). I replaced the primer bulb (not mounted on carb), and pull rope (broke after too many pulls lol). Rebuilt and cleaned the carb (Zama C1Q). Zama web page pics dont show 2 plastic diaphram plates like I have hope I didnt get them reversed (any guidance?). Engine runs on full choke only. Limiter caps are off the carb, and it seems like the inboard screw (mixture) has very limited impact on engine performance on full choke-heck that may be correct for all I know(neadles dont look damaged). On full choke the engine is pretty unresponsive to throttle input (but Im guessing thats the nature of full choke). Spent too many hours on this dog. Ready to launch it down the driveway but I hate to give up on anything. I couldnt check compression (dont have the right adapter for my guage) but it ran strong just recently (prior to giving up the ghost). Any suggestions beside trash it? Thanks Dave When you have the choke on and run it for about ten minutes see if the plug turns sooty or does it stay clean? If it turns sooty you could have an ignition problem or low compression. If it stays clean, the choke is either subbing for the primary and idle circuits or crutching the fuel pump diaphragm. I would lean more toward this scenario than the ignition/compression. This would explain why the adjusting screw had no effect on the running. The choke circuit is a separate little animal. Yep - full choke = not much out of the throttle. Plugs not sooty, just a little black, no carbon running off on my fingers. One thing I didnt mention is I didnt tear off the Welsh plug. The Zama instructions scared me from trying that. Could I have reversed the 2 diaphram plates (old were clear plastic, new ones are one tinted and other clear with various cutouts)? Beside what I mentioned before, I checked compression and its 105 psi. Added a squirt of oil and its still 105. Not sure of the accepted value for compression. The 105 is workable. A small chance the problem is in the ignition, but most likely in the fuel system. Went thru the carb again (Zama C1Q-P8) soaked it for 3 days in old syle carb soak cleaned it out and same problem runs only on full choke. Even used another new carb kit. Took the exhaust off and cleaned it again. No change. The mixture scrw is more responsive but still wont run without full choke. Funny thing for a min or two it ran without choke and without the exhaust but after literally 1 min it stopped. Im beaten. Could it be the check valve under the Welch plug? Could these problems be due to the magneto? I have two Ryobi ss30 weed eaters that exhibit the same problem as described above: starts under choke, will idle, but when given throttle, they die. They have less than 10 hours run time each. Can replacement magneto's be bought? They would be ignition modules and it would be very unlikely the engines would start at all if they were causing a mid to full throttle range cop out. The most likely would be in the fuel system. If you have the mixture screw set too light or too heavy you can get the same problem. As a rule, though the carb isn't providing the fuel in the mid to upper throttle range. That can be a plugged circuit or a faulty fuel pump diaphragm, or a plugged fuel filter, a collapsed fuel line, a perforated fuel line, or a plugged vent in the fuel cap. I wouldn't invest in modules just yet. After reading countless threads on numerous forums about Ryobi grass trimmers I devised a solution: None of us should buy their crap anymore. These foreign made, low quality, pieces of junk are perpetual lemons designed to make their makers and places like Home Depot wealthy. Ryobi is always $20-70 cheaper than everyone else's machines, but none of them last. The vast majority run for 3-6 months, then die. Its been this way for 5 yrs or so. Bought mine in Aug of 97'.... still goin strong Beer 4U2 Mine eventually only ran in half choke then only full choke cold, then no more full throttle and would stall out. SS30 from aprox 2005, **** republik of CALIFORNIA!!! (emmisions) Zama carb, see thier web site for tuning I let it sit too long, didnt use fuel stabilizer. Read up, did the following, and runs like new: Thanks to everyone for posts the final key was the mixture replaced fuel lines with good ones, old ones dried and cracked, clogged. Still looking for replacement sceen filter. blew out carb with cleaner. let sit over night, still wouldnt run right removed the friggin red and white mixture limiter caps with pliers burned and mailed ashes to C.A.R.B. and EPA. LOL turned two screw 1/4 turn counter clockwise. (richer) Left low rpm mix, right high rpm mix USA Zama : Service Tips Runs like new again!! rotated lower half 90 degrees for edging, motor runs better in upright position. less likely to leak fuel too. Driveway edge looks awesome now!!! Beer 4U2
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