Balancing 2 zone heat

[Anonymous]

I purchased a condo with 2 zone baseboard oil heat. It was a foreclosure with everything drained and a few split baseboard pipes. Everything is working fine now – boiler has been serviced, new pressure regulator, backflow preventer, expansion tank, etc. But the Watts PB56 Purge and Balance Valves were loosened up for whatever reason. They’re back together tight with no real leakage, but any setting on them has been lost. There are 2 Taco electric zone valves on the feed side of the system before the baseboards, then the 2 purge and balance valves on the return side. How should these balance valves be set? There’s 2 floors to the living area and a basement where the boiler is, so the 1st floor is barely 9′ above the boiler and the 2nd floor another 9′ above the 1st. I do have a screw on water pressure gauge. Should I turn on one zone at a time to balance? Should the 1st floor flow be more restricted than the 2nd to ensure adequate flow up there? I’d appreciate any insight on how to properly balance the system, or even if I shouldn’t do it myself. Thank you!

[SylvanLMPParticipant]

These purge balance valves are completely redundant to the zone valves. Open
them
wide and forget about it. The heat is controlled by the thermostats opening
and closing the zone valves. The balance valves would only be useful if it
were a single
zone system with one thermostat. Frankly you could have removed them, the
only thing
nice is the purge feature if you have to drain the system for some reason.

[greyhoundxParticipant]

Thanks for the reply. I guess the only time the system would act like a single zone system is when both zone valves are open? But that probably won’t happen too often? Thanks again.

[SylvanLMPParticipant]

Your very welcome.

By the way they wont act as a single zone when both zones are calling for heat because as soon as the thermostat is satisfied one will shut down.

They both should open only on the coldest days and most lightly on start up.
Once the system is up and running they should modulate between one another.

Have a warm winter and congratulations on your new home. Sylvan

[greyhoundxParticipant]

Thanks SylvanMLP, I’m starting to feel pretty comforable about how everything works. This bulletin board is a great thing. Now if mother nature will just take it easy on our wallets this winter! I appreciate all the info, take care.

[SylvanLMPParticipant]

The only thing I would suggest have your oil burner repair guy make an efficiency test of your burner for proper combustion and possibly a high out burner like a Becket or Sunray if the burner box is in good shape this alone could say you a small fortune

Let them take the CO reading a stack temperature tell him you want the flame nozzle properly adjusted and a new filter) oil) installed. Watch how the serviceman works and ASK QUESTIONS RE your system.

Good luck

[greyhoundxParticipant]

Looks like I’m in pretty good shape here. It’s a Thermo-Dynamics boiler around 5 to 7 years old with a Beckett burner. I had it fully serviced a few weeks ago. I had put in a new tank filter a couple weeks before he showed up when the tank was filled. Then he put in a new one also – there was a weird gel on the one I put in – probably from the tank standing empty for so long. He replaced the nozzle, adjusted the spark gap, vacuumed everything, pulled the flu pipe, brushed the chamber – tore the thing almost apart – you name it. Plus he answered all the questions I could think of at the time. He seemed pretty good – 14 years in the furnace business. He said it tested at about 84% efficiency – pretty darn good according to him. Thanks again for all the good info – great for anyone else on the board reading it too.

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