through the tangle of wiring—figuring out heat loss patterns and attempting to make sense of it. “While lasting repairs were made to the faulty zone control, the following year brought similar issues to the remaining ones,” said Calloway. “Instead of doing the repairs all over again with the rest of the controls, it became apparent that the old system just had to go. It’d be an all-out gutting. Bringing in the A-Team Before the first wire was cut, Calloway had one last idea for the system and its complications. He called on the best guys he knew to help him solve the riddle of the horribly mangled system. “I’ve worked with BJ Terroni a Bensalem, PA-based manufacturer’s rep firm many times in the past,” said Calloway. “I knew they would be crucial to solving the mixing temperature problems at this jobsite.” Enter Anthony Reikow, hydronics trainer and mechanical mastermind for Terroni, and Joe Fanelli, outside sales, another seasoned pro. Both were eager to help. When asked for his first impression of the Willett’s mechanical room after he’d had 10 minutes to ponder the mechanical-electrical warzone, Reikow at first couldn’t utter a response, something quite uncommon for the man who’s seen it all. “Though it may sound over-used . . . it was just a mess,” Reikow said. “It looked like a nest made by some huge, unwanted, furry creature. My OCD kicked in and I needed to organize it, simplify it; that’s when Joe and I got to work helping Matt.” Once Team Terroni confirmed the giant nest was an unsolvable crime, it had to go. The next step was to select its replacement. “I knew they’d have something in their arsenal to handle the job, I just didn’t know what toys they’d choose to play with,” said Calloway. Tools of the trade The decision was jointly made to keep only the existing boiler, just ten years old, now with properly-installed primary piping supplying 180°F water to the domestic hot water (DHW) and a secondary loop equipped with a Taco Radiant Mixing Block (RMB), supplying 115°F water for the radiant floors. “The RMB is a complete injection mixing system combining a variable speed injection mixing control, injection circulator, system circulator and air elimination in a single unit,” Calloway explained. It was set up as an outdoor reset control, set-point control or a Delta-T (ΔT) limiting control with no special piping or balancing valves, requiring no closely spaced, external controls or complex wiring. With this addition, they were able to eliminate a slew of complicated (and unreliable) gear that hogged wall-space in the mechanical room. The rats and their nest were permanently evicted. Another step was to install a dedicated circulator to force flow through a Triangle Tube indirect water heater. This would solve the many long years the Willets experienced with their faulty domestic hot water system. In a further review of the mechanical system, and how best to fix it, Reikow and Fanelli chose to specify eight Taco 00e VT2218 ΔT circulators—to be installed by the TLC crew. Today, they appear like soldiers at attention, a platoon ready for battle. “These new circulators are the best I’ve ever seen,” said Reikow. “You can navigate quickly and easily to any one of the five modes it offers—and it has two temperature sensors to provide the DeltaT readings right to the pump’s brain.” Seven Taco ZVC404 zone valve controls offer complete hydronic system control, each one governing the systems many zones, including domestic water as the priority zone. Two Taco switching relays, with changeable priority, control zone valve function. “The entire system now works just as it should,” explained Calloway. “The combination of BJ Terroni expertise and the right technology solved so many problems for us,” said Calloway. “Now, I could send an apprentice out there that knows how to use a volt meter and they can literally troubleshoot anything in the system at a glance.” It’s one thing for the trade pros to admire the repair work. Would the homeowners agree? A week later, a call came in to the TLC Mechanical office. At first, laughter made it hard to tell who was making the call. However, as the excitement died down, it was apparent that their problem-solving was the cause of their customer’s happiness. “Our home is now flawlessly heated,” Susan told him. “The thermostats are all working, and every zone is on when we want it to be, and we have no use for the old supplemental heat source anymore. Our ice-bath days are over.” It wasn’t long before they received another call, this one from a referral from the Willetts. And then he thought, it really is true: what goes around comes around. ICM ICM/July/August 2016 25 Matt Calloway commissions a Taco zone control.
ICM July-August 2016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above