How to throw away money and justify it!
It could be a bike, but it isn't.
In 1996, we were converting our house from electric based appliances to gas. The previous homeowner had a gas line run when the new neighborhood went up - 1986 or so.What wasn't done was the water heater, clothes dryer, or cooktop. We took care of the cooktop and dryer rather quickly. The hot water, not so much.
On demand systems were just getting popular - but people complained that two showers at a time were impossible. We have a well, so a shower and brushing
teeth is a challenge.
We went with the Bosch Aquastar 125 in mid 1996. I bought it on-line! Easy enough to plum in on the concrete wall of the basement - put in a new thimble into the chimney, and away we go. Over the years, it has been reliable - battery ignition based on water flow via mechanical sensor and micro switch. The thermocouple to sense the pilot light dies a couple times. NBD.
Well a couple weeks back, it wouldn't turn on. There was a leak that had left residue on the switch. I cleaned that up and got it to work. So fixing the leak seemed like a good idea. There was a rebuild kit for $70 that came with a bunch of new seals, and internals. One that sealed the starting pin (it sensed water flow) and one that sealed the gas rate pin - which varied the gas volume with water flow. Nice mechanical solution - the only electronics were "start pilot/ok, start burner/ok, turn off (no water, no burner, overheat)
Time for rebuild, and it is cruising along easy enough. Directions indicate to remove two screws, don't force them, call if they won't come out.
Well the leak was right on the screws - the rebuild kit replaces them with stainless. I'm in trouble. PB blaster, CLR, couple hours. even put in a call to
@jklett !
The two right down the middle. This is after all the cleaning.
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I emailed the technical line, and Terrance was very helpful, but basically said replace both the water and gas valves,
around $500 or buy a new one $630.
I figure i can live with the one i have for a bit - get it all fixed up, and adjusted. It is a slow leak, shouldn't be a problem.
Works for another week, and the water and build-up then ruin a lever in the microswitch - Another $100 part.
That seals the deal !
Terrance emails the installation requirements for the new unit.
The differences are:
3/4" gas line - i have 1/2, but the main is right there
3/4" water lines - I have 1/2, but it is only water
3" category 2 stainless vent, to code. (dedicated direct, horizontal vent in my case.) - i had 5" shared
OK -
gas line is a 10' pipe, Tee off the main, elbo, valve, another Tee, couple of nipples and a cap - and a new flex adapter. under $50
water - couple of CU pipes, some elbows, a tee. ($50) Oh, and the fancy isolation valves, with the ability to backwash the unit ($100)
Flue - pipe, thimble, elbo, termination, and 1 more pipe. ($180)
Here is how it goes.
Thursday, I order the unit - it shows up friday.
Friday i order the flue - it shows up monday
Monday i online order the pipe and pick it up tuesday.
1 - Monday - the thimble needs a 6" hole to pass through the side of the house. It is round - i don't have a 6" hole saw. $45
It works out ok. I center the hole from the inside , chip away some brick - mark it out to 6"+ and have at it with my
rotary hammer (in hammer mode) (there is no hammer-time emoji)
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Of course i hit a nail on the way in - so the new saw just lost half its life. Oh, and if you've every used a large hole saw with a
big drill, you'd know it wants to break your wrists. It took a bit, but got is done. Oh - it has to be 18" above the ground in NJ cause snow - gunna be close -
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This isn't quite it. See, i thought the pipe attached to the little box was all i needed, but there needs to be another pipe,
which i ordered on tuesday, and had overnighted - $24 pipe $20 shipping
Tuesday: Ok, inside i go - I center up the unit on the wall under on the hole, making sure it was high enough up for the pipe to reach the elbow.
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Gas line is first - Well, removing the old one is first. But that was easy - shut down the boiler, and disconnect it.
These are custom length, so i get to use the pipe tools!
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Other than my vice having a problem holding the pipe (i hammered it home!) this isn't a big deal.
So i run the pipe over to the wall and down. Attach the valve, a tee. drip end. I don't have the right adapter to go to the flex pipe.
On the list for tomorrow - more to do.
Oh, I mis-measured by 1/4" so i had to shave down one of the mounting blocks. Gotta love using another tool!
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The 3/4" feed is 20' away, but not in a straight line. So i pick up a roll of PEX - of course it is 100', so another $50 and i don't have a
3/4" crimp tool, so i pick up a couple sharkbites - $25. This was another trip to the store, cause i was going to hook up to the 1/2" feed already there but changed my mind.
Not bad - all hooked up - mounted to the wall - old 1/2 line is capped, but still feeds the local washing machine tap -
Wednesday - that extra pipe arrived, and I was able to finish-up outside. Sort of - i could shorten it - about 5" off the wall would do it. Did i mention i mis-cut the pipe too, so i have to order another one to make it perfect - but was able to make it work, just not optimal.
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I go to run the hot water line, and realize i didn't get enough copper elbows, and the wrong tee for the washing machine feed.
It can wait.
Thursday (today!) - so 1.5 days without hot water. Oh boy! So i have my list - some copper pieces, a couple more pipe hangers, and that gas pipe adapter.
Figured i'd hook up the gas first - no reason, just to "complete" another part of the project - I go to attach it and it is the wrong size - no not the adapter I picked up, the Tee that I had the lowe's order-online/pu-in-store. He pulled the wrong one off the shelf, and i didn't notice - why? Cause when i was there, they had missed a few items, and when the guy went to get them, one was wrong, so i still had to go get it myself. While i was at it - i didn't notice he gave me a damaged cu pipe - i worked around that.
So now another trip to HD for the right - part. It is only $3, but the extra trip - just painful.
The hot water side was uneventful - sweated that all in. flushed the system, and fired it up.
I took a shower, shaved (face & head), brushed my teeth.
Living like a king!
The PVC elbow should eventually be plumbed outside, because it could backdraft the boiler next to it.
It would also be more efficient too.
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Luckily, I didn't have to do any electrical work on this one.
So in the end, i could have had $600 worth of parts overnighted, slapped them into a box the next day and been done with it in a couple hours.
Instead it was a multi-day project and about $1100, and I still haven't paid for the permit. I'm not even sure what the process is with the covid.
Oh - one more thing - i shot a 5 second timelapse. I'll try to generate the vid - cause fun!
