Viega Gets The Press To Press-Fit

A classic fable about salesmanship concerns two shoe salesmen sent to remote Africa. The first wires back, "Forget it, nobody here wears shoes." His go-getter counterpart sends the message: "Loads of opportunity here! Nobody has shoes!"

The folks at Viega feel that way about their plumbing and hydronic systems and ProPress fittings. Press fittings occupy no more than 5% of the U.S. market thus far, compared to around 60% in Germany, a Viega executive told me. Similar shortfalls exist in potential demand for the company's PEX-based PureFlow plumbing and ProRadiant heating systems. That spells big opportunity, and the reason why Viega has been aggressive in promoting itself for long-term gain in the U.S. and Canada.

Part of that effort included a 2-day trade media-only training program held last week at Viega's impressive training facility in Nashua, NH. This reporter and eight others from various industry publications did some hands-on work with Viega's systems along with competing methodologies. Despite all those wordsmiths wielding power tools and torches, the building is still standing.

At left, Supply House Times Managing Editor Pat Lenius tries her hand at a "primitive" sweat joint while Viega's Media Communications Specialist Tricia Musgrave awaits her turn in the background. Below right, Training Manager Jason McKinnon explains a radiant piping connection.

--by Jim Olsztynski

In this issue of The Radiant & Hydronics eNews:

• ASHRAE To Host Virtual Conference
• PM Live Sign-Up
• This month's answer to The Glitch & The Fix
  

CIPHEX West Slated For Nov. 3-4
More than 2,500 industry delegates are expected to attend CIPHEX West 2010 when the trade show and conference takes place in the BMO Centre at Stampede Park in Calgary, Aberta, Canada on November 3rd and 4th, 2010. The event attracts close to 200 exhibiting companies.

New Website For Oil Heat
PriMedia has introduced an updated website for the Oilheat industry that presents home comfort dealers with 35 different categories of helpful solutions to address their marketing needs. Sections span billing inserts, websites, print and broadcast ads, direct mail, newsletters, service agreements and more.

NAOHSM Gears Up For 2010 Meeting
NAOHSM (National Association of Oilheating Service Managers) recently announced that it will hold its 57^th Annual Convention & Trade Show from May 23-27, 2010 in Providence, RI. Theme of this year's event will be "Superheroes of Service" -- a tribute to the men and women that make the industry shine. Technical and managerial courses will be offered from Monday through Wednesday of the event.

'Geodonics'

The marriage between geothermal heat pumps
and hydronics offers profitable opportunities

If you already sell state-of-the-art hydronics hardware for use in boiler-based systems, expanding into geothermal heat pumps is a natural. You probably already know much of the technology that holds a typical system together. As customers increasingly seek "green" solutions, having the expertise to facilitate a "geodonic" system is a profitable opportunity.

Read the Complete Article @ SupplyHT.com >>

Certified Geothermal Designers/Installers Are A Click Away

The nonprofit International Ground Source Heat Pump Association lists certified designers and installers on its website.

                ____________________________________________

©2009, J. Siegenthaler - all rights reserved

Hydraulic Separators Need Help

Click here for a full-size PDF view

The Glitch

Overview: A multiple boiler system is being planned to supply several independently controlled heat zones. The system also includes an indirect water heater operated as a priority load. The load side of the system is piped with 1-inch copper tubing. Reverse return headers are all installed.

During domestic water heating mode, all space heating zone circulators are turned off to allow full boiler output to the indirect tank. During this time, both boiler circulators and the indirect tank circulator are turned on. 

Exercise: Can you spot several incorrect or missing details in the schematic shown at right?

The Fix

In order for a hydraulic separator to achieve its goal, headers leading to the individually pumped load circuits must be generously sized (design flow velocity of 2 ft. /sec or less). If not, a significant pressure drop can develop along the length of both the supply and return headers. This pressure drop will cause some interference among the zone circulators. It's not the fault of the hydraulic separator, but rather the headers connected too it. This is also true on the boiler side of the separator.

When the header is generously sized there is no need for reverse return piping. The latter is appropriate when the same circulator supplies flow through several parallel piping circuits having similar flow requirements. This is not the way this system is configured. Why waste piping when it's unnecessary? 

Another problem involves the indirect tank connected on the boiler side of the hydraulic separator. In this arrangement, the sensor for the multiple-boiler controller is not getting a good indication of the water temperature going to the load during the prioritized domestic water heating mode, and thus cannot control it properly. This has been corrected by moving the connections for the indirect tank downstream of the supply temperature sensor.

The coil heat exchanger inside the indirect water heater is also piped backwards. Hot water from the boilers should always enter the top of the coil to create counterflow heat exchange within the tank.

Other errors / omissions include:

1. Lack of purging valves on the zone circuits and indirect circuit.

2. Circulators piped too close to the header (and thus receiving turbulent flow into the impeller). There should be at least 12 times the pipe diameter of straight piping leading into circulators.

Visit www.HydronicPros.com

Taco's Solar Pump Line With Integral Controls:  Taco's latest addition to its 00® family of circulators includes a line of variable speed 00 solar pumps designed to match solar collector output, a feature that increases solar system performance by 20%. Taco's variable speed circulators with integral solar control includes the 009 solar drain-back circulator and several cast iron and non-ferrous pump sizes with integrated controls for jobs of all types and sizes.  www.taco-hvac.com

Noritz's NH Boiler Series: John Siegenthaler addressed an overflow audience of contractors from all across the Northeast on the benefits of Noritz America NH Boiler Series, according to Yoshi Asano, Noritz America Senior Marketing Manager. The event, which was held at Noritz's New York branch showroom on November 5, introduced Noritz's ASME certified tankless hydronic boilers, NH-1501-DV and NH-2001-DV, for both residential and commercial use.

New Lightweight Drill: Metabo now offers a lightweight, rugged 1/2" drill that provides up to 248 in-lbs of torque with an 8.2 A motor. With an ergonomic pistol-grip design and easily accessible trigger button, the new BE1020 1/2" drill is especially ideal for joiners, fitters, HVAC installers or any user who requires a universal, high performance tool for drilling both large and small holes in almost any type of metal or wood material. For use in even more applications, users can remove the chuck and access the drill's spindle with a hexagon recess that accepts screwdriver bits up to 1/4" for driving applications. http://www.metabo.us/Product-catalog-handheld-powertools.23980+M50de58de54f.0.html 

Condensing Wall-Hung Hydronic Boiler: Raypak's all-new XPak modulating, condensing wall-hung boiler is offered in model sizes 85 and 120. It achieves 92.6% thermal efficiency at full fire and is certified for CPVC, polypropylene and SS venting. Direct vent ready, install as concentric vent or twin penetration for total jobsite flexibility. The unit is built with an innovative, state-of-the-art extruded aluminum heat exchanger, ASME H stamp. www.raypak.com

Hydronic Zone Control: Caleffi's 644 Series Motorized Ball Zone Valves provide zone control for applications requiring high flow rates and high close-off pressures. Standard mixing and diverting models are available as well as a unique three-way bypass configuration that switches between primary and bypass flow ports to prevent pump dead heading. An energy-efficient 24-volt three-wire actuator provides traditional two-position control action, or can be combined with any three-wire floating controller for outdoor reset on radiant systems. www.caleffi.us

New Pumping Station: Taco's latest solar technology combines all the products needed for a closed-loop water heating system into a single, pre-engineered package. Make just five easy connections: two for the solar collector(s), two for the storage tank's heat exchanger, and one for the expansion tank. Includes an integral variable speed solar control pump, isolation ball vales, air elimination, flow meter and safety group. www.taco-hvac.com

Award Winning Pump: ITT Bell & Gossett has won an honorable mention 2010 AHR Expo Innovation Award for its new Technologic 502 variable speed pump controller. It is the latest-generation hardware platform providing advanced pumping software and proven algorithms to create a smarter, more cost-efficient and energy-saving pump system for HVAC and pressure booster applications. Contributes to LEED certification and may also qualify for economic stimulus rebate or local power company incentives. www.bellgossett.com

By Dan Holohan

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