Pumps, and PEX tubing?

[Joesell]

I'm getting a used CB OWB tmrw. What size/brand pump do I need, and where is the best place to buy it?

Who makes the best insulted PEX tubing for the money?

Thanks a lot, Joe

 

[djones]

You need a Taco hot water pump model 0011-f4. $279.95 @ Graingers or your local plumbing supplier. Mine just STB today after 6 years of operation. It's quiet and strong enough to draw the water from more than 50' from the boiler. You need to look good at the PEX piping. Some suppliers provide just the pipe, wrapped in insulated tape and pushed through a 3' tube, others have a fully insulated tubing with the pipe inside, kind of like spray on form insulating. Prices will vary according to the type you want. You'll also need the fittings and sealing rings and the seal tool. That you may need to borrow.

 

[AIM]

Taco makes a good pump. So does Grundfos. Their website has a pretty easy to read calculator as for the size you'll need but I'll bet that their standard lower priced pump will do the job for 95% of the installs. (same with taco)
Ebay is a good source.

As for the pex... I don't have the spray foamed in 1" lines but from what I've read. That is the way to go. It's about $10 per foot which sounds really salty but apparently it's worth it. Melting snow over your lines is a bad thing. (I did that) Now my lines are above ground (ran through my shop) but if I ever had to go underground again I wouldn't think twice about the choice. It would be the foamed in lines that are in 4" tile.

 

[rx7145]

I would get a Bell and Gossett they are oil lubed not water lubed like Taco. A NRF-22 or a PL-36.

 

[Joesell]

I got my OWB today. It's a used CB 5680. The guy had two pumps running. 1 was pushing, and one was pulling. They were mounted right next to each other in the house.

Is that overkill? Will one pump do the job?

 

[rx7145]

What size pump? And how far are you going?

 

[Joesell]

I haven't bought the pump yet. I'm not sure which one to get.

I'm going to hook it up to an old farm house for now, 50' run max. I'll be staying there until my house gets built. Then I'm moving the OWB, and hooking it up to my new house. Shouldn't be more then 100'.

I'd like to buy the pump with the 100' run in mind.

 

[rx7145]

This would be my pick: Pump, Circulator, 1/12hp - Hot Water Circulating Pumps - Hot Water Circulating - Pumps : Grainger Industrial Supply

A Taco 009 or 0011 should work as well.

 

[coalman]

I had a problem with one of my customers He did the install himself and put a very big water to air exchanger and he could not get alot heat after a minute or two So I thought it was the pump I called Taco and talked to on of the enginers he asked a whole bunch of questions and after about a hour long talk he told me witch pump would work best He also said bigger is not always beter you need so much backpreasure and restriction So my advise is call Taco and tell them what you are doing and they will help you out

 

[Joesell]

It seems like the Taco 0011 might be the way to go. They're cheep enough, and easy to find.

Thank you all for your help!

 

[Slick]

I don't understand how everyone can suggest and buy pumps without knowing the system....do yourself a favor and run the equations, it's not hard. They make a bunch of pumps for a reason, some have more head and less flow some have more flow and less head etc....

http://www.taco-hvac.com/uploads/FileLibrary/SelectingCirculators.pdf

 

[Bricks]

I don't understand how everyone can suggest and buy pumps without knowing the system....do yourself a favor and run the equations, it's not hard. They make a bunch of pumps for a reason, some have more head and less flow some have more flow and less head etc....

http://www.taco-hvac.com/uploads/FileLibrary/SelectingCirculators.pdf

And figure your heat load to know the size Pex you will need to carry the right amount of BTU`s.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

And figure your heat load to know the size Pex you will need to carry the right amount of BTU`s.

And...
Size your HX's to the load, then size the pipe/circ's to the GPM required for the load...

 

[John D]

Im looking for better performance from my system, I dont have a clue as to how to find the right pump...ive tried to get the "head" but havent yet.. I did figure out that i have 220ft of 1" pex and i have an additional 33 ft based on the chart,90's and ball valves,2 tees....but what about the HX? Unfortunately the chart is for radiant heat where the flow is in a simple loop.....the hx would be a variable depending on how many plates,the brand,and if its got buildup inside....I have the stock armstrong circ my Shaver came with,and i tired a taco 007,and I think i need a little more oomph,I am dropping 30-40 degrees at times below the outside temp....when all 3 circ zones are on..Id like to cut that number back to 15-20 degrees..thru my 1" lines,and 50 plate HX...(which i cleaned this yr with white wine vinager for 4 days......I was thinking of the taco 009 or 0011,theres 2 different 0011s one is designed for more head mediun flow(it has a large motor),the other looks like a slightly larger 007 and is 50 dollars cheaper and is designed for high flow with little head....i wish i had a clue what i needed.

 

[Como]

Microflex is generally thought as being the best insulated pipe.

Unless you want to do some snow melting.

 

[sgfarm]

call your CB and get the manual

When I bought my CB 5036 this fall, it has a table of pipe size vs length and fittings and heater units and then recommends a Taco pump based on the restriction.

I have a taco 009 and my boiler is 65' from the house and it is doing my hot water and furnace coil. I am right on the edge of it being too big and not enough back pressure for the pump to be happy.

So I would recommend that you get the manual for you owb and read the pump sizing table carefully.

 

[John D]

My boiler is 70 ft from the house but the pex is 110ft.The furnace is 15ft inside the house and I have it running up the side and thru the soffit then dropping into the boiler room...

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[John D]

I did the math on the chart... I come up with 9.46 feet of head.... of course this isn't taking into account the 50 plate heat exchanger... I am considering buying an armstrong pump...that's what the Shaver came with and mines going on its 4th season of use....I'm thinking the Astro 50ss-3. It is a 3 speed pump and at 12 ft of head it's flowing 5gpm on the medium speed.....I will probably need the high speed (11gpm at 10ft)once I add the 2nd exchanger and a few more fittings .....the Armstrong pump is only 219.99 in SS and 125.00 in cast iron....

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[John D]

I bought a taco WB 2400 pump. Its got a urethane /nylon impellor and is somewhere around 13gpm.This pumps been on 2 days. The pump has increased my temps inside by 6-20 degrees depending on the load.I clearly didn't have enough pump before. I think I will save electric now..all the pumps run much less now...the zones are satisfied much quicker, so the pumps turn off faster.

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[mtfallsmikey]

Variable-speed circs. are the future....here's some common rules of thumb on pipe sizing:

GPM: Pipe Size
2-4 3/4"
4-8 1"
8-12 1 1/4"
12-22 1 1/2"

1 GPM = 10,000 BTU @ 20 deg. Delta T