Terence McCann

Hi Rob: Have a look here. The model TH-111 shows a GFCI included. http://www.repesa.com/manufac/aube/progstat.htm

Chad Stated: The only reason I know any of this is I was considering using polybutylene in a boiler I built. The above post represents my entire body of knowledge on this subject. So all other questions should not start w/ "chad" How 'bout "Chad, what's for dinner?"

Can you tell visually if the pipe has a oxygen barrier lining? Something in the model # perhaps?

For those that use them around the base of toilets. Do you check all toilets or just the ones that are loose at the floor?

Thanks all.

Thanks David: One step further - code? How would Brian put it: I'm a pushin'

Hello all ( you too George []) Is a furnace with a ventor motor & open burners considered a forced draft system? The burners jet into a tubular style of heat exchanger where you can see the flame (open to atmosphere so to speak). No draft diverter is noted. Reason for the question: In this neck of the woods I see a lot of this style furnace tied in with a "el natural" draft hot water tank with a wye "B" vent style fitting going to a common flue. I've never noted a back-draft condition on the hot water tank. Thoughts? Tanks.

Mike: Your quote stated (paraphrased): Lastly, gas and water connectors must be replaced with flexible connectors and the flue should be braced. Flexible connections allow the water heater to move several inches without breaking. The flex pipe in the photo was on the T&P discharge line. In my post I should have been a little clearer about the question but the only flex pipe visible was the discharge line. I need to poke my nose in our code book but I don't think flex on a T&P discharge is kosher not matter what size.

How's the run & rise?

The regulator vent is plugged, that should be opened up and piped to the outside. Is the home propane? Anyway to check incoming pressure as Chad had mentioned? Most of the homes in this area have 3/4 black coming in.

Is copper flex line even allowed no matter what size?

Hey Brian: Played around with it a few years back. It would get hung up on certain words so you would have to annunciate them very clearly and repeat yourself on numerous occasions - finger, f i n g e r, F I N G E R Got to be a huge pain in the a@@. Found both index fingers were faster. Perhaps the software has gotten better but I wouldn't waste my money.

George? [:-bigeyes] []

Hello Jerry: On page 13 of the Sure Test manual it states "NOTE: the SureTest will not allow the GFCI test if a no ground condition exists. Repair the ground circuit before testing." I believe that you can install a GFCI on an old two wire circuit and the internal button will trip the GFCI. Perhaps a bad ground (although you would think the SureTest would show a bad ground)?

Hello Don: The boiler would be as it's a pressure vessel, the insurance company also inspects boilers. I doubt that they would check the chiller. What I always find amusing is when they find a issue with a boiler that has been in operation for years and they have been inspecting it for years. Job security.

Chip: My apologies if I sounded like sandpaper. People are trusting your knowledge to properly guide them with their hard earned money, hundreds of thousand of dollars. It's akin to giving your money to a stockbroker, who's lack of proper training, causes you to lose money. You wouldn't be happy. Mike is right, we need a smaller hammer and a brighter light.

Thanks Douglas: Understand now.

Understood Mike: We all took our first steps. It's worrisome though that there are those practicing on warm bodies without the watchful eye of professional training/instruction. It's a recipe for unhappy endings which ultimately gives all of us a black-eye. Stepping of soapbox now noticing that it could use a wash.

Chip: If you're truly earnest in trying to become a professional then attend a professional school. ITA is one of them however, there are others. If your post was of a serious nature then my reply is of a serious nature as well. If you can not tell the difference between a condensing unit and a heat pump then you really need to seek professional training. You are doing your customers a dis-service if you do not have, at least, a rudimentary knowledge of the systems/components of a home. Perhaps you can talk to some of the home inspectors in your area and see if they are hiring and are willing to train. To sum it up, you would hate to hear your doctor asking another doctor if he knows where the heart is located. I do not profess to know everything, I still ask a lot of questions however, (hopefully) the questions I ask are geared more towards fine tuning than "why doesn't the air conditioning help the heat". If we don't raise the bar of our profession the lawyers/politicians will.

Amen George. The older systems consisted of a 2-pipe system. You had to wait for system to cool down after the boiler was running before starting the chiller - pop a relief valve and dump a whole bunch of freon. Some of the larger complex have centrifugal chillers and these are a beast unto themselves. Suction pressure is measured in vacuum and the head pressure runs about 5#. These systems also have cooling towers that need attention. The newer systems might be 4-pipe (which will allow you to run a/c at the same time as the heat) but these are far and few between, to costly to install. Anyone with less than 10 years of pure HVAC service tinkering with these is asking for trouble.

In the commercial world we used the rule of thumb of nothing over 5' for flex. Flex causes an inordinate amount of pressure drop. Flex was used to attach the diffuser to the metal duct run. Even most of the low-end homes I've seen still have metal or worst case duct-board. How many feet of flex are you seeing Donald? Do the come right off the plenum with this stuff? New home, older? Sorry for all the questions, just curious.

Hello Douglas: In your response, and I’m paraphrasing, you stated: Sure, the grounding electrode conductor is in parallel with the neutral, and is theoretically capable of carrying some current. However, simple Ohm's law calculations tell us that the amount of current should be negligible. If the resistance of the service neutral is relatively high, say .5 ohms, and the resistance in the earth is relatively low, say 20 ohms, we should still have 100 times as much current in the neutral. Add to that the fact that the current in the neutral should only be the imbalanced load difference between the two hot conductors, and I'm completely at a loss to explain some of the extraordinarily high readings you are getting. Let's try some examples in my theoretical 20 ohms and .5 ohms scenario: You said that the service neutral is relatively high at .5 ohms and that the resistance in the earth is relatively low at 20 ohms. Are these two numbers reversed? .5 ohms is less resistance than 20 ohms or am I missing something in your explanation? Thanks!

Chad: Here is a good web site. It also has some blurbs on home buyer info. http://www.inspect-ny.com/septbook.htm

George? [:-bigeyes]