The hot water from all of our taps has a very low flow rate compared to the cold water. It is a oil fired hot water furnace. I've checked to see if there is an iron fitting that might be causing this...but there's not. Any ideas?

 

Presuming your boiler has a tankless domestic coil, the most likely suspect is a plugged coil. Sometimes it can be acid cleaned by a pro or you may have to replace it.

 

I to am halfing the same thing happening, I from they are saying is the coils could be gloged or the pipes after the coils could be also be gloged, I also half a water sofener hooked up to mine and I do half a Iron problum. I have this water sofener/ Iron cleaner Iam going to try, I just don't know how long it is till you can use the water for drinking , and showers, cooking and all that.thanks, bigtruck.

 

bigtruck
The best way to clean the coil in the boiler. Is to take the water lines off it from the in and the out. Then run the acid mix in the coil with a small pump and back out in a bucket where you pick up the mix again to pump throught the coil again. If the mix dont cook anymore add some more muractic acid to the bucket

 

Thanks Ed I'm going to try that tomorrow I'll let you know how it go's, thanks again. big truck OUT!!!

 

Please be very careful when acid cleaning a coil. This process can build up a lot of pressure & heat. I do not suggest a homeowner do it. There has been more than one person badly burned &/or blinded by hot acid.

 

Update

I stripped down and cleaned the valve the lets cold water into the coil. It was really stiff. After installing it the pressure went up...but when the hot water comes out the pressure drops again. I'm wondering of the flow control before the furnace is shot. Why is a flow control there anyway...can I get rid of it or does it need to be there?

Also the circulation pump is installed upside down. Meaning it takes the rad water and pumps it through the furnace instead of taking the hot water from the furnace and pumping it through the rads. Any harm in this installation?

Here are some picture links of the flow control and the pump.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/gtbaker/TSP/CheckValve.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/gtbaker/TSP/kerr1.jpg

 

Your pump is on the boiler return. Many new boilers now use pumping away (circulator on the supply side), with the expansion tank installed at the point of no pressure change, which is just before the circulator. That is the preferred arrangement. In small residential systems it probably doesn't make a lot of difference, and I wouldn't lose any sleep over it! Some boilers are still shipped with pump mounted as yours is.

The critical thing is that the motor shaft axis has to be in a horizontal plane--and in that regard your pump was installed correctly. The pump doesn't care if it pumps up or down.

I'd **guess** the check valve is to prevent the hot water from being able to flow backwards, which might happen if there's a means for the hot and cold to mix upstream. Or, it might be there to prevent gravity feed (hot water rises) and unwanted heat loss/wasted energy. If that's the reason, a simple heat trap might do the job... One of the pro's can answer that one better... Or post on the Plumbing forum here...

Pete

 

The first picture is a flow control. It keeps you from using hot water faster than the boiler can make it. It could be restricted, or the mixing valve or coil could be restricted. Tankless coils are an inexpensive installation option to provide hot water, but limited in production. If you have the $$, you may want to consider putting in an indirect water heater, especially if you have high mineral content. Check out my favorite one:
http://www.heat-flo.com/
They make great stainless indirects.
The circulator you have is one of the best available and it is installed the same way the old one was. On new installs, they are often installed on the supply, but were always installed on the return when these modern circulators weren't available because the old B&G 100 circulators couldn't take the high supply temps.

****RE: Boiling the coil. I caution you that acid can easily eat right through the coil if it is too strong or left in there too long. The vapor will also burn your air passages, and the liquid will put holes in your clothes and skin if you are not very careful & wear proper protection with good ventilation.****

Replacing the coil (if that is the problem) may be a better alternative than boiling it with acid. I highly reccomend the indirect if you want to eliminate the chance of having this problem in the future.

 

Hi all, Well I got into the problum with my hot water flow, and just found the coil to be totaly cloged so, I went and put a new coil in and the hot water is flowing and HOT, thank for all your help!!! Big truck out

 

Good work! And we all get to hear about a happy ending too...

 

Big Truck...was it an expensive thing to get done? Also how long did it take to swap it out?

Back to my problem. I have it narrowed down to the Flow Control or the coil. But I really thing it's the Flow Control. Do I really need it? I was thinking on removing it. I was at my brothers house and he has the same setup and even had the same Kerr furnace and he doesnt have the Flow Control. Plus he has a wife and 2 kids and no problems with running out of hot water.

 

Where is the flow control valve?

 

It's after the the cold water valve and before the furnace. It controls the flow of cold water going into the furnace. It gives the water a chance to heat up.

Here is a pic of it. The Yellow Circle is the cold water valve and it's right below it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/gtbaker/TSP/kerr2.jpg

 

Hi It was $230.00 for the coil, and a gasket and high temp sealer comes with it. I broke 1 bolt, had to drill it out and ran a 3/8 corse tap threw it, But it worked out good, It took about 2 1/2 hours to get it all done. thanks, Big truck out

 

OK...So I go to turn off the main water again to try and fix my low hot water pressure. I went to turn off the main water today and it won't turn off. Do I need to call the city? Is that black thing just for my house or is it for a couple of homes.

My valve was hard to turn at first but after I got it going it was easy...but lots of water bypassing the threads. After I had the valve in the off position the water stopped leaking. But the water in the house is still on full.

How is a water valve built? How is a flow control built? Reason asking is if there was a rubber bit in the valve that's not there now could it hinder the hot water flow if it got stuck in the flow control?

Any ideas?

 

First, there are 4 common types of valves. My favorite is 1/4 turn ball valves, but the high quality ones are hard to find unless you frequent plumbing supply stores. Most hardware and box stores carry just the cheap ones because they are less expensive. Make sure the valve has a packing nut underneath the handle. Brands that I've had good luck with is Apollo, Jomar, PFLimited, etc... Another type of valve is a gate valve. It is a multi turn valve that has a much wider stem, to allow the gate to go up into it. It is a good type of valve, but tend to be more expensive. The worst type is a globe valve. It utilizes a seat with a rubber gasket on a stem to close it. I've seen the rubber part fail and end up in toilet fill assemblies, flex lines for sinks, aerator screens, etc..., and this very well could be a possibility. Check out http://tpub.com/fireman/69.htm for a good illustration of how valves are built and work. As for the main shut-off for your house, I would definately call the water dept. to find out how long it would take to have someone over to shut the main off, and see if you could have it scheduled to be done first thing in the morning when you can get a plumber out to change the valve. It is very important to have a high quality valve installed, because it is important for it to work when you need it. I had one time where I went to shut off the water at the main, and the handle broke off the cheap ball valve when I had the valve part way shut. Fortunately there was an old globe valve just before it that would reduce the flow to about 5 gal/min, but not shut off, so I changed it on the fly. Yeah, I got wet, but since I was able to swap it out in less than a minute, my shop vac made quick work of the water that didn't land in the bucket. I had another one that wouldn't close at all, and since the customer already had several inches of water in their basement from a broken pipe, and the shutoff at the street was nowhere to be found, I took my "jet-sweat" and unthreaded the valve, which hit the ceiling when I got it loose, and jammed my jetsweat into the open pipe, tightened it to stop the water, and installed a new ball valve. I then loosened my jetsweat and pulled it out and quickly closed the ball valve. I repaired the plumbing, and told them to either get a sump pump or call the fire dept. to pump out their basement. On that call I got soaking wet! Now, where was I, oh yeah, I highly reccomend you pick up a Watts mixing valve to temper the water and then you can try removing the flow control. Put a ball valve in place of that gate valve, and if you have to, you can throttle the flow with it, if neccesary.

 

Had the Flow Control Valve replaced and all is fine. You could hardly see through the old valve.

Cheers.