Heat exchanger fitting direction

[ikessky]

First off, yes, I am an idiot.

I upgraded the heat exchangers in my old barn/shop as they were old, noisy, and inefficient. I was in a bit of a time crunch and let someone talk me into installing them as shown in the picture, with the fittings on the side. They worked fine, but clearly I lost the ability to direct the heat downward. I'm using an outdoor wood boiler that has two pumps. One feeds the house and one feeds two of these exchangers in the shop.

If I rotate these so I can direct the heat, the fittings are on the top or bottom. Will that affect the needed pressure I'm getting from my boiler pump or does that not matter? My other option is to simply reconfigure the louvers to work in this position.

And if you are wondering why the heat exchanger is sitting on 6" of 2x's...... It's because after it was all installed, I realized that this, the last heater on the run, was lower than the other and I thought it needed to be higher to help with the return.

 

[TurnipTruck]

Do the exchangers have bleeders?

 

[ikessky]

They do not, but I could always put them in. The old system didn't have them either. I ran new pex and turned on the pump and you can hear the air bubbles gurgle in the boiler jacket. It's an open system OWB.

 

[ikessky]

Also, from the vendor's website......

"New style makes your installation look much cleaner as both inlet and return pipes(The inlet/outlet ports are the same no matter which one you choose for hot or cold)come out next to each other on the top of the unit. This also makes the units much more efficient because no air becomes trapped in the unit."

I should just bite the bullet and rotate them before the weather gets cold.

 

[American Locomotive]

The height of the units dose not matter, but you do need generally need the fittings on top so air can escape. The highest point in your system should have an air purge/hy-vent bleed device.

Are all outdoor wood boilers "open systems"? Can't imagine that's great for boiler jacket life.

 

[fitter30]

Brand and model number of the unit. There wasn't any labels on the piping and on the cabinet? Piping the hottest water ( entering) with the hottest air ( exiting).

 

[ikessky]

Purchased from Badger Insulated Pipe. I believe the model is BP-150. The link is below. Their website says they can be installed in any direction.

150k Top Port Hydronic hanging heater, w/CORD, RHEOSTAT & THERMOSTAT

150,000 BTUs / 100 PSI Hanging unit heater for garages, warehouses, greenhouses, ect. Hangs from ceiling and uses hot water to heat your dwelling. New style makes your installation look much cleaner as both inlet and return pipes(The inlet/outlet ports are the same no matter which one you...

badger-pipe.com

 

[fitter30]

Purchased from Badger Insulated Pipe. I believe the model is BP-150. The link is below. Their website says they can be installed in any direction.

150k Top Port Hydronic hanging heater, w/CORD, RHEOSTAT & THERMOSTAT

150,000 BTUs / 100 PSI Hanging unit heater for garages, warehouses, greenhouses, ect. Hangs from ceiling and uses hot water to heat your dwelling. New style makes your installation look much cleaner as both inlet and return pipes(The inlet/outlet ports are the same no matter which one you...

badger-pipe.com

Piped wrong piping has to come out the top or else it will trap air. Read your post 4

 

[ikessky]

Agreed, but this line from their website was what gave me pause..... "These units can be mounted in any direction and are complete with adjustable front louvers. All units have 1 inch copper inlet and outlets for high flow."

I'm going to replumb them once it cools off a little here and get those ports on the top!

 

[ikessky]

Following back up on this one.....

I got both heat exchangers flipped the correct way and re-plumbed. I installed a spirovent at the highest point, which is at the top of heat exchanger #2. Flipped the pump on and I did have to open that valve on the return to get some air purged and flowing, but it seems to be running good now and I'm just listening to things gurgle away as the air is pushed out of the pex and heat exchangers. I don't remember this much air coming out before, so I wonder how air locked my system was?????