"Water Hammer" and Other Problems Following Boiler Replacement. Help?!?!

Whenever I hear that an Engineer “designed the new heating system” it is followed with the many problems the owner is having with the new heating system. From my 30+ years experience of rehabbing and renovating Brownstones and small apartment buildings, I have always consulted with experienced Heating Plumbers in the area, that install and maintain the boilers. They know what works and what does not. Engineers like to try out all the new technology etc., at your expense being the Guiney pig! The bottom line is the company that installed it should be responsible, but if it is installed as per the engineers specs, then you are probably screwed because amazingly in most engineers contracts fine print is some legalize that they do not guarantee their design to actually work! If you have a management company managing your building, they should have known this.

resident2

in Plumbers and Plumbing 9 years and 5 months ago

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ldbetta | 9 years and 5 months ago

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My self-managed 8 unit co-op building recently had our oil burning boiler replaced, and are in the process of getting approval to convert from oil to gas. Following the replacement of the boiler (still using oil) we’ve been having a number of problems in the building starting with the fact that the water was only hot if the the heat was also on, so there was not hot water on warm days. The other issue was that the water temperature while showering would fluctuate between warm and cool for short periods of time. The engineer who designed the system recommended that a “thermal loop” be added to address the inconsistencies in the water temperate but that didn’t stop the problem, and immediately following that work we started to get a “water hammer” problem where the pipes downstairs violently rattle when one of my neighbors turns his bathtub on. At this point we still had no hot water on warm days. The heating company recommended that we replace the mixing valve that was originally installed with a smaller one which we did. This seems to have eliminated the issue of having no hot water when the heat isn’t on, but we are still experiencing some issues with the water temperature being inconsistent while showering, and more urgently the “water hammer” issue. I’m at a loss as to what might be causing this problem and how to address it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

steam_man | 9 years and 5 months ago

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Woof. Where to start? Do you have a steam or hydronic (hot water) heating system? Do you have a hot water storage tank? I’m not sure what you mean by a thermal loop. Is that a DHW recirculating line or is it a thermal trap at the storage tank? The problems you described can be found in an improperly designed system of both types. If it is a steam system it sounds like your aquastat isn’t wired or maybe it isn’t even installed. If you have a hydronic system there is a problem with the boiler’s control settings for heating and domestic hot water. The boiler needs to be set up for DHW priority. The domestic water pump and aquastat wiring needs to be checked to determine it is doing what it’s supposed to. Heck, maybe you don’t even have a storage tank! You should in a building that size. To be honest this isn’t a question that can be answered hon this forum as there are components and wiring that needs to be reviewed in order to ascertain the situation. You should get masterplvmber to come over and tell you what’s happening and how to solve it. He has a company that does just that. Wait around a bit. He’ll show up on this thread shortly. You’ll see.. Good luck. -SteamMan

eman134 | 9 years and 5 months ago

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I am going to assume that you have a steam heating system with either a heating coil or indirect hot water heater producing hot water. It sounds as though the boiler was not being called on to produce run on call for hot water on warm, nonheating days.As steamman said could be an improperly wired aquastat. As for the water hammer, it could be any number of things depending on the installation. I can take alook if you want. since heating systems are my business. My contact info is in my profile. Your installer should really be on top of this situation.

thetinkerswagon | 9 years and 5 months ago

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what they said and they are the experts. we have a copper coil on our system that I suppose contains air. it is just a dead piece of copper tube going no where. they are commonly used to absorb some of the shock the change of velocity in water causes in the pipes (which causes the hammer/noise/vibration). if something like that will take care of it, a pro will recommend such and it is quick to install. Steve

ellenlourie | 9 years and 5 months ago

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you are writing “I’m at a loss as to what might be causing this problem” That must be a responsibility of people who installed boiler. You do not have to be heating expert, they are. Why aren’t they spending days there trying to resolve their own mistake?