Quickly Replacing Leaky Vent

This video I take care of a leaky air vent. The vent isn't leaking yet has evidence it leaks at times. Therefore before it can leak anymore I replace the hot water boiler air vent. Afterward, I turn the boiler on and test. My spray paint can fail on the first attempt to paint. I luckily​ had another can of paint.

[@davidnull5590]

Nice job, you do good work. The boiler piping is aesthetically pleasing, it's nice to see work like that.

[@ronalddsouzak]

Clean finishing work. Good job!

[@theoldbigmoose]

Nice touch painting and cleaning off the top of expansion tank. Nice, very nice!

[@thehvachacker]

I sprayed wd on the tank before painting. Made cleanup easier. Wonder how many watched the last 2 minutes to see the paint job. I forgot to edit out where i said the videos done, then found the another can of paint to fix up the air scoop.

[@nsaglian]

Nice video. That mechanical space is spotless, beats some of the more crusty spaces you need to service!

[@thehvachacker]

The floor is about to get painted usually there is shelving on the outer perimeter. Yet I always have enough space when working here.

[@johnmurphy6366]

This is the difference between service calls in October,versus January,no one has time to beautify boilers in January,nice touch with the paint,whoever plumbed in the boiler ,nice job.

[@thehvachacker]

I try to still do this in January, it depends on the customer

[@GarveyMustangMan]

Thanks for the video, this is the exact issue I’m having.

[@eduardohuratdo3795]

This guy migth be a pefectionist

[@TYMWLTL]

Shut the water supply off. shut off as many zones as you can to prevent gravity bleed back when vent is removed. Drain boiler until pressure is zero. Have the new vent in one hand while removing the old one and make the swap instantly. Put everything back on after turning water supply on first. Done.

[@thisisupperside]

should i shut the furnace too?

[@supremedictator.]

I am astonished that you got the vent off that easily. I went at mine with everything under the sun and it's still on there! I have a replacement valve now, but I can't get the old one off. I think that I'm going to have to stick the whole air scoop in a hot oven for an hour to heat it up enough to get the thing to separate. When I called Taco about it, they apparently knew about this issue and said that most people just replace the whole air scoop rather than trying to get the leaky vent out of there. The water drips down and collects on the threads where it corrodes and gets stuck. It's a truly terrible design! I might decide to chop the top off the rim that goes around the base of the vent valve to gain access to the hex that's on there. But I have a hunch that they put that lip there to prevent people from (over) tightening the thing down.

[@The-Powell-Group]

....wrap an old belt around it...and use lever to add leverage...but my experience is it's not worth the $10....i.e. get a new one.

[@caru3257]

I never had a problem getting them out. If it was put in with Xpando, heating it up may not work. I never tried getting the guts out. I do to turn them in for scrap.

[@supremedictator.]

@@The-Powell-Group The vent alone is $160 and the whole scoop is nearly $300.

[@supremedictator.]

Yesterday, I successfully got this valve replaced. In order to accomplish it, I took the top off the air eliminator, removed all the plastic and rubber bits, then stuck it in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes. This darkened the green paint a bit, but it heat up the cast iron enough that with a two foot long pipe wrench and the really hot green piece in a vice, I was eventually able to apply enough pressure to both destroy the metalic valve and get the valve to come out of the air eliminator top. I had a replacement on hand, so I didn't mind destroying the one I was removing. I was seriously nervous that I was going to rip the valve head off the threads, but fortunately that didn't happen for me. I sprayed a little wd40 into inside of the valve body to try to shrink it a bit (with the cap still on, but the guts all out) and about 10-15 minutes later, after a LOT of persuasion, it finally budged.

[@ricardocenteno375]

Taco high vent helps purge air in the system correct does that manifold it screw into have to be replaced at all

[@Eddy63]

Picasso couldn't have done any better with the painting ... Good vid Hackster ... Good fix ...

[@thehvachacker]

Thanks Eddie with my regular paint can getting plugged up I had to use the paint I bought to paint up my calipers.

[@Tworth23]

Hey buddy, I see you only drained boiler a small amount, it’s not necessary to drain completely? How much should I drain?

[@archiekarayan6175]

Nice system. probably a new home.what about the 100 year old homes? But you do hell of a cleaning

[@thehvachacker]

Lots of videos where I’m working in old homes, steam systems and asbestos on the piping

[@gtfg3800]

Beautiful system but it would really help us novices if you explain what you are doing. Thanks.

[@johnal4560]

hi i want to replace mine so if you want to replace one do you have to find the exact one since i could not find mine thx

[@shawn3968]

I changed out my Taco hyvent that was leaking and replaced it with a Watts automatic float vent. I had shut off the electricity to the furnace and shut of all the water supply and drained the furnace as you did. After installation of the new Hyvent and turning on the electricity to the furnace and opening the water supply my pressure is now around 24 psi. Is that ok if not how can I drop the pressure to be where it needs to be? Thank you

[@supremedictator.]

Your pump will operate a bit more efficiently (and lower risk of cavitation) if you run the pressure up a bit, to 30-40 psi.

[@kvkv1762]

Thanks for posting this . Just curious what was the sanding scubbung going on around 5:30 ?

[@thehvachacker]

Removing rust before painting

[@canlib]

@@thehvachackerwhy paint it? Impress for customer, no one is going to see it or care anyhow.

[@thehvachacker]

@@canlib the boiler is in a space the homeowner uses often. Mabey not many will see it. Yet customers do like their equipment taken care of.

[@JohnStAmour-vj7eg]

I was waiting for the wax to come out

[@Samlol23_drrich]

I like to leave the pressure and see how high it can shoot when I unscrew it. Like a rocket.

[@thehvachacker]

I had the Honeywell where the black plastic and brass threaded together blow apart. Solid expansion tank sitting right on top of gauge. I was there replacing an induced on a Utica power vented boiler. First water started spraying out the pump flanges.

[@PaulyV56]

do you keep the cap vent open..or close (tighten ) it.

[@thehvachacker]

The cap has to remain open on most systems. Only time it would be kept closed is if the system has glycol in it. ( such as systems the do driveway melt or have potential to freeze. )The valve lets any air in the system escape. If air becomes trapped water stops flowing through the zone.

[@HVACRNorth]

👍

[@kenyonhairstylingprofessio6018]

What is the stuff your applying to the thread part at 2:45 ?

[@Rubenleon2]

Is there any particular reason why you would use liquid sealant over Teflon tape on hyvent valve?

[@thehvachacker]

I think i didn't have any teflon and they both work. I have used neversieze and it never leaked. just needs little something to complete the seal. Just never get any sealant into the opening or it may hang up the rubber float and leak

[@captainbob8001]

All the scraping before installing the new valve probably introduced grit into the system. Not ideal

[@mikerama4724]

I usually wire brush the area after installing new bleader valve however I’m sure he did this for the video, lol

[@boomer9900]

What kind of zone control valves are those in the rectangular boxes?

[@anthonyl5505]

Honeywell makes some nice zone valves easy to install

[@thehvachacker]

Those are Honeywell as Anthony mentioned. Honeywell zone valves are the most common to run into, followed by Erie, then the misunderstood taco zone valve

[@jonathanalves59]

So turn off system, drain from the bottom, replace and refill?

[@jcaleca60]

Yes you got it

[@watermanone7567]

Can't see why you painted the air scoop? It looked pretty good on the video. Air vent did need to be changed though.

[@thehvachacker]

It had a little rust on it from the air vent leaking. I painted it two years ago when swapping the last vent. Things I I do for good customers, that most likely, they never will know.

[@watermanone7567]

Very good reason and many thanks for the reply's

[@wexamundo]

Can you tell me about what that valve replacement cost your customer? I have a very similar setup and the same exact leaky air eliminator valve. My heating contractor came for yearly maintenance and said if it needs replacing, it's like a $3000 job! He said they would have to flush the whole system, replace that, probably that black part underneath the valve, and a black Grunfos pump (although everything seems to be working well other than that leaky valve. Do you think they're being fair and on-the-level with me?

[@chashandsome2021]

thats just ridiculous in my opinion . But I cant imagine somone would need 2 weeks salary for that job.

[@thehvachacker]

Why would anything other than the leaky valve need to be replaced? Very rare do I need to bleed after swapping one of these. I think $150 labor and valve.

[@wexamundo]

@@chashandsome2021 Agreed! I was confused by what he said was the scope of the job, etc just to replace that one vent.

[@wexamundo]

@@thehvachacker interesting, I think I have all the right shutoffs as you showed in your video to allow the same sort of simple replacement. I do appreciate your video!

[@wexamundo]

(and your input!) - Merry Christmas!

[@mattrose5313]

What is the brand of paint that you used?

[@dansev91]

Looks like just a standard high heat caliper paint you can get at any autoparts store or the usual home depot/lowes

[@caru3257]

I went on a call and the system was operating properly but I did find the pressure at 30 PSI and went back the next day and replaced the expansion tank and two auto vents.

[@royamberg9177]

One other trick is to remove the air out of tank replace air bleeder then re air up tank. Youl need to see what the pressure is in tank first

[@thehvachacker]

That bladder i find is delicate. even purging air from a loop can rupture the diaphragm in the tank. Yet I always thought the tank needed to be charged with air with no pressure against from the water side.

[@royamberg9177]

@@thehvachacker your right it's supposed to be empty but unless you take it off how do you know it's empty. So what I was saying was to check air pressure before you release air so you know how much was in it. If it's way to low ajust accordingly. Never had an issue doing it that way. Removing all the water can break the bladder to

[@royamberg9177]

Just how I've done it. Works for me a guess.

[@frankcrisafi4810]

What terminals did you jump out to fire the boiler tt ?

[@thehvachacker]

If I put the red wires together that’s the end switch which activates the tt. If I jumped inside the zone control it would be were the end switch lands.

[@frankcrisafi4810]

Thank you

[@robpowell7599]

What kind of blue thread sealant is on the water heater gas line

[@thehvachacker]

I would guess it’s blue monster from the color.which blue monster Teflon is rated for gas.

[@robpowell7599]

@@thehvachacker is that the stuff that you can't remove

[@thehvachacker]

That stuff comes off the blue block thread sealant is a bear to remove. I have had to hit fittings with a touch in order to get some fittings apart.

[@MrDmadness]

Or gasolia, my personal favorite

[@chashandsome2021]

These videos would be so much more helpful for common joes if you stated the whys and the what-for's unless these are for some other hvac guy to watch

[@thehvachacker]

The why is because the air vent leaks water. I’m not sure what you mean by the what-for’s. Please explain so I can understand. Always like to know ways I may make my videos better. Most my videos is me sharing different experiences I run into working as an hvac tech. Yet lots of useful info also ends up in the vids.

[@garycasper2929]

@@thehvachacker I think he means, as in what that part does / what is it’s specific roll in the boiler system. Great job. Thanks for the upload. Maybe start carrying around a small regular can of rust oleum along with some little ( disposable) paint brushes.

[@BELINC7]

May have gotten grit in the threads.

[@jspinosa50]

When installing an expansion tank. I don't understand why no one puts a valve between the tank and the system. So you shut the valve and remove the tank without draining the system.

[@thehvachacker]

When it’s our install depending on town we put a ball valve and remove the handle. Some town inspectors will fail an install if a valve is between the tank.

[@uwuloluwu]

vent exhaust water is leaking down to water boileris that because roofer did a terrible job?

[@23Skadoosh]

Must be nice to have a maid

[@thehvachacker]

Yes one day we will have the maid along with heated driveways

[@r.i.promance7467]

Omg I found u totally by mistake and noticed u sound alot like me my ex thought I was talking to my self its creepy I never heard anyone sound like me before my name is John it would be funny if that was your name to brn eyes Nd hair Italian mix with polish and English just wanna see if theres a chance ur my future self lol

[@thehvachacker]

Hi John my name is Bill, hazelish brown and brown hair, Italian Irish with a polish wife.

[@lobo7792]

This was a great video if a man was deaf. Trying to be polite but you didn’t explain that well.

[@irishkevin4307]

Are you a plumber or a painter...?! 🤪

[@FrozenHaxor]

Maid's room? bruh, they must have some money to burn.

[@thehvachacker]

Nice Franklin Lakes NJ home. Very nice customers, or else I wouldn’t go out of my way to paint the air scoop

[@Samlol23_drrich]

Did you see all those zones?

[@timjr6675]

1/4” copper tube ran to the floor connected with a compression nut and furrel takes the place of the cap. Then the water leaks won’t drip on the boiler or air scoop...

[@thehvachacker]

True yet this vent wasn’t leaking from the top. Instead the seam that opens allowing the float to be cleaned. Even though ever time I tried to clean they leak.

[@riverunner9978]

What the hell is he wiping

[@kenyonhairstylingprofessio6018]

I wanna know 2!

[@damoos3.]

Rust

[@charger440]

Got a headache watching the screen moving!

[@morrisdaft8]

Why make video if you can't explain it

[@TrojanStarryNight]

You need to discuss what you are doing and why or this is useless.

[@michaelcaron5756]

Speak up my guy

[@user-zk9dt1tf7t]

You don't know who your audiance is... I assume you "opened the tiny valve cap" and left it open so air could escape .... Without water comming out ??? I also "ASSUME" you check "amperage"... not voltage.... alot going on but very minimal instructions! Try to talk and explain details instead of assuming everyone will understand what and IMPORTANTLY WHY you perform each step!!

[@drodriguez394]

In my opinion the paint is unnecessary and tacky. Wastes time. I get your trying to shine it up possibly make the perception that you’re taking care to do a good job. But a shiny freshly painted scoop doesn’t make a nice boiler. A boiler that heats makes a nice boiler. Shiny turds are still turds ! Not saying that boilers a turd just saying you could spend that time on something more productive.

[@blakewill1933]

My only thought for the grey paint would be to detect future leakage easier with a clean air eliminator vs a rusty one.

[@Katana_00]

Hi hater. It looks great.

[@kenyonhairstylingprofessio6018]

What is the blue stuff you apply to the thread part at 2:45 ?

[@damoos3.]

Pipe dope

[@user-zk9dt1tf7t]

Do you need a particular type? Can you use teflon tape? @@damoos3.

[@WallaceLee-rm4vb]

@@user-zk9dt1tf7t read the instructions for the valve you are installing. they will tell you tape or dope

[@thehvachacker]

Any sealant can be used on the air vent.