70 yr old boiler. I think its time

steam-rookie

Hello everyone. Its been a long time since I have been here. I learned so much on this web site that I was able to maintain my circa 1945 American Standard, oil fired, boiler.
This morning I noticed that the water in the viewing tube was high.
I also saw the water in the tube was jumping up and down.
The pressure gauge was also jumping up and down.
I connected a hose and emptied the boiler down to where it is supposed to be.
The boiler is now back to working perfectly.
I am aware that a leaky coil could have caused the boiler to overfill like that
I can not think of anything else that could have caused this. The fill valve was closed tight.

I use the 70 year old coil to produce the hot water for this house.
The steam that the boiler produces is most likely under 50% efficient
The steam system that was installed in this house, all those years ago, still works beautifully.
If that coil is leaking, a replacement coil might not be possible.
It might be time to make some changes.
Mike

RJMCTAFO

If you have a gate valve on your make-up water I have found them bypassing slightly before. Having a ball valve installed after the old valve to verify shut off would be a cheap test. That would only leave the domestic coil as the culprit.

ChrisJ

Can you post pictures of this boiler and it's piping?

steam-rookie

here is a photo

Abracadabra

No equalizer...

Dave in QCA

No equalizer, but the main circles around and comes back as a dry return, dropping to the boiler. We can't do it this way today because of the way boilers are designed. But those old puppies, with their large steam chests were often piped this way and they seem to work just fine. Anyway, the long life of the boiler and the comfortable heat of the system attest to it.

The problem will be, if the boiler is replaced, it is likely that some novice will pipe the new one just like the old one.... and the problems start from there.

BobC

Just have to hope they look at the manual and MIL-T-FBP!

Bob

Dave0176

I replaced one about 10 years older a few years ago, and it too had no equilizer or no Hartford loop, and very minimal main venting. However it worked beautifully and quietly. It was replaced because of a change to natural gas. Let me tell ya those sections weighed as much as whole boilers today.

Jean-David Beyer

I had a 1950 General Electric oil fired boiler that was still working fine even though I lowered the supply temperature to 140F to reduce the rapid cycling. Not enough. In spite of that, it was not leaking. I just wanted to convert to natural gas before the 1000 gallon oil tank started leaking. It would run at a little less than 50% the last time it was tested. It still rapid cycled: 60 seconds on, 90 seconds off. And at 140F supply temperature, it probably condensed a lot in a non condensing boiler. GE made tough units, I guess.

Two mistakes: the oil tank was already leaking. I did not suspect it because I never had trouble with water in the oil. And I did not do it soon enough.

The new boiler is a mod-con with outdoor reset. I enlarged two baseboard units from three feet to 14 feet so as to run with lower supply temperatures, so it condenses all the way down to 14F outdoors (the design temperature). I should have put more in there, but it was impractical. But it condenses almost all the time. The radiant slab zone condenses all the time: maximum supply temperature is 130F and minimum supply temperature is 80F. According to the charts, I should get 92+% in the radiant zone and I can get that sometimes in the baseboard zone. I cannot tell how much my fuel bills went down because natural gas is cheaper than oil, and how much is due to the greater efficiency of the boiler, but it is about half what it was with oil. There are now two zones, so the upstairs baseboard zone is now warm enough. It never was before because the baseboard zone with undersized baseboard units were supplied with the same temperature water as the radiant zone, and that was just not enough.

steam-rookie

Hello Fellas,
I checked the water level today. So far, so good. The level in the view tube is right were its supposed to be. I guess it is possible that the fill valve was closed to tightly. It’s a fairly old valve, and I remember that I did turn it a bit tighter than I usually do, the last time I added some water. This boiler has never had an automatic feeder on it. I just have to remember to do it when the old girl is producing on a cold day or two.

Dave, that's an excellent reply. I would never think about replacing that "old puppy", for just that reason. Finding someone to correctly replace this boiler would be wonderful.
I am hoping that someone reading this thread will be the one for the job. Or perhaps someone can recommend the right man for the job.

This is a residential home located in Nassau County, Long Island, NY. The steam system currently works perfectly. I have lived with this boiler for 30 years. I would rather do this the correct way. I would rather replace this boiler now, rather than wait for it to finally give up, and getting a hastily done job.
Mike

steam-rookie

I have been checking the water level in this boiler ever since the overfilled incident that I originally starts this post with. The boiler is no longer in danger of having a leaky coil. It must have been the fill valve being turned to tight. I have never seen that happen before, but then again, I do not think I ever turned the valve that tight before.

Anyhow, I still think it might be a good idea to find someone in my area, that can correctly replace this boiler.
This is an oil fired boiler. I have gas on the street, and would consider a conversion.

My main goal would be to replace this boiler with one that works as well as the old one.
Can anyone point me in the right direction to find someone who can do this on Long Island, NY.

Bio

I had one of those, had a leak and needed to go, oh boy those casting were extremely hard to split and extremely heavy

If you must stay with oil, look for the Burnham Megasteam at 86% efficency, the highest on any steam boiler

steam-rookie

I need a suggestion on who to call on Long Island. There must be a good steam guy here somewhere. Please help
Mike