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Yeah a quart is about 8 times more than you'd ever want to think about putting in that boiler.

8 way by itself doesn't cause surging, even too much (I have proven it) but if you add it to dirty water or a boiler with a lot of sediment/scale, it can most definitely cause it as I also experienced.

You can keep it out but in my experience, here's the best way:

1. Add 4-6 ounces of 8-way.
2. Let the boiler run and watch the water level
3. If the water level dives, that is surging due to the 8-way freeing up rust and "mud" (which is also rust, but more like silty rust).
4. Drain a decent amount of water, possibly all of it (as you said, your boiler is quite small and it's not hard to drain).
5. Refill it and go back to step one.

Now these steps might take several days, or they might happen immediately. Soon though, less and less "stuff" will get freed by the 8-way and the boiler won't be surging anymore and you will have a nice maintenance amount of 8-way in the boiler. The water will be clear with a purple tint. The corrosion under the water line will nearly cease and "mud"/brown water production will stop.

At this point, don't drain any more, and minimize leaks in order to minimize the introduction of fresh water. Once per year you can drain a little bit until clear but it will probably be less than 1/2 gallon, and that's a Good Thing

Edit: and yes if it needs skimming due to oils on the water, that needs to happen before all of these steps

@clammy

Unfortunately everyone goes on line looks at a steam boiler price and figures that there contractor is ripping them off and are usually just price or sucker shopping .No matter what math or mark up method one uses as always told to me by a respected plumber was every job is like rolling craps its lucky seven or snake eyes . The other Biggy is are ya getting a complete job ? Any fool can toss in a steamer and roll away but the truth be told as many may know there's a lot more then just replacing the boiler especially when dealing w old systems . Yeah guys prices are high but if ya include doing the rest of the work to put it back to the way it should work then your replacing radiator vents and either adding or replacing main vents

Well, since it is Sunday morning and I'm just chilling out, I figure you deserve a response to this since it is eating you alive.

You are perpetually fixed on human nature itself. Only about 5% of the population has the brainpower to understand a complicated system like a steam boiler and make an EDUCATED decision what to purchase. Consider that sentence for awhile.

Now, consider how much of that 5% have the DESIRE to learn and understand the details of what you are trying to explain to them so they can make a truly educated decision? Maybe 20% of that group?

So, you face the prospect of educating and convincing, with the technical facts, of roughly 1% of the people you encounter who might need a new steam boiler. The remainder will have their eyes glaze over within 10 minutes of your spiel. They only want "heat".

It really isn't any different than people who need to get their vehicles repaired. How many of them can be educated to the finer points of vehicle repair? They only want the vehicle to move. The only difference with car repair is that they MUST HAVE IT NOW so the cost basically becomes irrelevant in their mind. They are not going to shop for the cheapest mechanic because the vehicle cannot move!

So, suffice it to say that your approach to selling a steam boiler is incorrect. Appealing to their intellect with regard to what you will provide, all the vents, the valves, the piping sizes, etc. is a non-starter…………because, effectively, they don't have any. These people operate on EMOTION. The most successful salesmen in the USA figure out a way to put the fear of god into the potential customer and cause him to go ahead with the project immediately.

Let me tell you a story about a company that sells the covers that go on top of a gutter to prevent leaves from getting into the gutter. They sell this $3.00 item (for three feet) for about $50.00. A typical house costs over $5,000. So, you would think that NOBODY would EVER buy from them and they would be out of business. But, they're not! You see them on the TV every day. The first part of their name is "LEAF". How can that be? The company is a master in sales and the representative will NOT come to the house unless both the husband and wife are present. He carefully scares the sht out of the wife with the potential harm that will come to the building without this product. They sign. The workmanship is terrible and they have no employees that do the install. It's all contracted out to others. Remember what I said about EMOTION.

So, in conclusion of my rant……………..the technical facts of the boiler installation don't matter one whit…………….it's putting the fear of NO HEAT into their heart that gets the sale.

BTW, most tradesmen are ILL-SUITED to be a proper salesman. They would be well ahead of the game if they utilized a good salesman to get the job. You would find that the 2% success rate would climb to at least 15%…………….AND, realize that the salesman knows almost nothing about a steam boiler!

And, I tell you with all due respect…………..you are a terrible salesman……………….because your expectations that the customer won't go forward due to price……………will spill over in your responses and the potential customer will feel it. Remember what I said about EMOTION.

Why are you replacing your recent work? If your header is the required distance from the water line, your piping follows the manufacturer's recommendations and the system is working well, you'll be spending much time and money and adding additional supply pipe friction quite unnecessarily.

A drop header is generally used when you lack the overhead clearance to place the header the required height from the water line.

You can certainly pipe a 3" or 4" header, but you may not achieve any added benefit from it. Again, how is the system operating and what improvement do you seek?

Why not post a photo here and see what recommendations you get? And do tell us more about the system.

The lack of ethics in the quest for financial reward is the point I was attempting to make. Such behavior is commonplace today if you simply turn on the news. It is so prevalent that it basically convinces good people that it is normal behavior. So, their supposed ethics evaporate with various defenses.

How many people need to pass you on the highway doing 85 (in a 65) before your own behavior is modified to reflect this normalcy?

There is most definitely the possibility of taking EMOTION too far and causing a backlash by the customer. This is what separates the poor salesman from a good one. Threats of immediate death rarely work but I assume he figured it might be effective with an 80 year old.

Every day I seem to hear how a scammer cons an older person out of a huge amount of money. Latest case was close to $100K.

Ethical considerations…………….did I hear that right…………..???