We’ve come to the end of this year’s ISH North America event, but not without a morning filled with housekeeping business, specifically the Annual Business Meeting of the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors―National Association. After some announcements and well-deserved recognition (congrats to Ben Harris for his 30 years of service to PHCC), President Jim Finley performed his final duties of his years in executive office by hitting the gavel and calling the meeting to order.

First of all, I’d like to say I personally enjoy the way President Finley says, “bidness” with his Cajun accent instead of the more-commonly pronounced “bizness.” It makes the tasks at-hand seem a heckuva lot more fun. Next year’s PHCC meeting will be held in his home state of Louisiana (New Orleans, to be exact), and he warmly invited the entire room to experience NOLA’s hospitality. I can’t wait; I’ve got a bit of Creole blood from my grandmother’s side, and it sometimes calls me home.

The group of more than 193 registered voting delegates got down to “bidness” by electing a new Secretary (Ron Newman), and Zone Directors:

Zone 1 – Hunter Botto
Zone 2 – Kirk Vail
Zone 3 – Brad Isley
Zone 4 – Steve Rivers

The group passed two bylaw amendments (pertaining to clarifying duties of the nominating committee), and shelved one amendment for further study (it pertained to zone directors). Finally, a new vice president was chosen ― unopposed. It’s Frank Maddalon, Hamilton, N.J. He said a few words to the group, and looks forward to the next few years leading PHCC (good luck, Frank). The gavel rapped again, and the meeting was finished. The room dispersed, ready for a morning filled with seminars and other educational opportunities.

Dave Yates and Mark Eatherton at Mark's Carlson-Holohan award ceremony this year.

Rock, paper, scissors, it was decided editor Steve Smith would remain at the Marriott Marquis to sit in on PHCC speaker events, while I would shuttlebus-it over to GWCC. See, I promised Dave Yates and his wife Lois I would make it to the last ISH seminar of the show, which was his presentation, along with fellow radiant heating contractor Mark Eatherton. These two were “Two Real Sharp Peas in a Bright Green Pod” (the actual name of their presentation, which I thought was kinda cute). Dave and Mark are great guys, and as winners of the PM-sponsored Carlson-Holohan Award for Excellence, they truly are inspirational advocates and educators in the hydronics world. Mark, the current recipient of Gil Carson’s System Syzer, cleverly photocopied the rather large (but delicate) instrument, and passed it around the room for all to see.

But with only one hour to share their knowledge from the field, Dave and Mark got right down to it. As a contractor, Dave welcomes this “perfect storm” of rising costs and push to increase efficiencies ― it makes the pros’ jobs of upselling appliances and smarter systems much easier. However, he said, “homeowners are looking at their appliance’s sticker on efficiency and think that’s what they got.” But not true, according to Dave. “Many contractors in the field are not paying attention to distribution and proper sizing to make the systems reach their potential.”

Mark touched on his experience with geothermal heat pumps and borrowing from Mother Nature to supply his projects with a cost-effective fuel source. He explained the two most common systems, Open and Closed, and reiterated that digging into the earth is far from a clean job. Mark also cautioned that floor-heating applications may not always benefit from geothermal-only fuel sources, since the ground temperatures may not be enough to meet the system demand. “Do the math,” he told the room, and many were taking notes. Some other tips and tricks for geo-newbies:

• Understand your limitations.
• It’s harder to extract useable heat uphill than it is downhill.
• Always use solid-state temp controls on your buffer tank. (Don’t rely on sloppy surface-mount, bimetal switch-type controls.)
• Get certified as a ground source heat pump installer/designer.
• And join the proper groups, such as the Radiant Panel Association and the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association.

Enlarge this picture Webstone's newest valves on display.

The ISH tradeshow floor opened at 11 a.m. and I was hitting the ground running. After three days, I’ve become a show pro, and even was able to offer directions to a fellow attendee. And like I promised yesterday, I focused my attention on the heating booths. Beginning with Webstone and Bill Colglazier, who put the company’s newest valves in my hands and told me all I wanted to know. New this year is Webstone’s Isolator EXP E3 tankless water heater service valves. The E3 is a compact version of its original EXP, but also with an adjustable pressure relieve valve outlet. “This makes it a perfect fit for installations in recessed boxes or other tight quarters,” Bill said. Plus, with over 90 SKUs of valve configurations, Webstone is able to provide a system for “whatever contractors can dream up.” Including an Isolator uni-flange ball valve with rotating flange and drain. He also showed me the new ProConnect Push, which works with copper, PEX and CPVC. These connections require no soldering, and have a lifetime warranty. Another cool feature: the design makes it easy to repair or replace damaged fittings (darn that pesky o-ring!), making service much easier for contractors.

Clean, protect, and reduce the noise of all types of residential central heating systems.

On to more heating products, I next visited Marathon International, maker of the BAXI line of boilers. But what caught my attention were some tubes on display. No, not tubes as in piping. These were “caulk-shaped” bottles that were filled with a range of solutions for cleaning, protecting and reducing the noise of all types of residential central heating systems ― open and closed. The products were from Sentinel, which is distributed by Marathon. I asked Larry Griffin to tell me what he knows. We started with the X400 bottle. “It cleans out the garbage and sludge in an existing system,” Larry said. Inject it directly at the rad and it clears out corrosion debris, where it could be experiencing cold areas. Next, X100: “This is the inhibitor. You can inject this on a newer system to prevent build-up, or use it as a follow-up to the X400 treatment.” What about X200? “Sometimes central heating systems make noise,” Larry said, and he gave me that knowing look. “This one is a noise reducer. Like the others, it’s non-acidic, non-staining, and suitable for all indirect systems, including those with aluminum.” He explained that these fixes were a great way to provide increased efficiency without a huge cost. Great for those on-the-fence service calls about system replacement, or as an add-on for other plumbing/heating tickets.

Who would hide this in a cabinet? Homeowners just don't understand ...

I walked around a bit more, past a slew of booths for contractor software (ISH had a great Technology Pavilion this year). I stopped to see good friend Jan Andersen with Mr. PEX Plumbing Systems. Besides the company’s new PEX-Al-PEX offering, he showed me its stainless-steel manifolds in 2- to 10-loop preassembled configurations. In the booth it was presented in a very nice cabinet (also available through Mr. PEX). So not only is the manifold made of less costly material, it can be contained within a paneled unit to be more appealing to homeowners. Though I have to admit, I wouldn’t hide that stainless-steel component in a box ― it was way sharp! I would be proud to put it on display.

Above, a UV-penlight reveals Hercules' Un-Purple Primer. Below, Sta-Put Ultra won't bleed and ruin porous materials.

One of my duties as editor-at-large at ISH North America is “booth detail” at my own company’s exhibit. BNPMedia Inc. had all of its plumbing industry magazines represented, so there was a little for everyone to enjoy if they needed something to read. And my job was to replenish the supply of magazines as attendees grabbed them up. As the day wore on, and traffic inevitably slowed, a gentleman wandered over from one of the neighboring booths to make use of the many chairs standing empty in my stall. We talked niceties for a while, until I realized who I was talking to ― David Siegal, the president of Hercules. Then things got interesting.

He asked how the show was going for me and I told him my whole adventure could be found online within these blogs. He pulled out his Blackberry and looked up PM’s site (what a treat!) But I couldn’t leave it at that. “Show me what you got, sir,” I said, and we headed over to the Oatey/Hercules booth where I was introduced to Wayne Merrifield and a few of the company’s latest. The big draw this year was its Un-Purple Primer, a great improvement on traditional purple-dyed primer that stains and ruins things on the job. Everyone with a purple finger, raise it high if a clear pipe primer appeals to you and your customers. And when it comes to inspections, a UV-light makes it glow and become visible. Improved product No. 2 is Hercules’ Sta-Put Ultra. This product is made from synthetics, so it won’t be absorbed and bleed into porous countertops and materials, including granite, marble, concrete and some shower enclosures. Where has it been all our lives?