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Since I replaced the return piping below the witer line with copper, I'm just not seeing a lot of dirt and sediment in my boiler. I see a little when I drain it for the summer, but in the heating season I only add a little water. I never need to drain it. I haven't used my handy-dandy gauge glass blow-down valve in a couple of years.

Does dirty water make it harder to boil? I think sedimentation might impede heat transfer to some exteent, sending more heat up the flue, but I don't think it raises the boiling point. Dissolved solids (e.g. minerals) can elevate the boiling point, but not suspended particles or colloids if I remember my chemistry.

Since this thread got reanimated, I will take this opportunity to share a video I made the other day about this topic. It shows my current practice to keep my boiler water clean and to minimize corrosion

Adding in some questions here as it ties in to a situation I have. Appears I've finally located most if not all leaks in my one pipe system. Make up water has been reduced to very little (about a quart over 2 weeks of pretty cold weather here). So I'm in the situation where my boiler water is pretty dirty, likely from the make up water added in the past. Is there any option on getting the water cleaner without draining and flushing the system? Doesn't appear so, my plan once the heating season is over was to flush out the entire system including the inside of the boiler and return lines.

Would adding 8 Way be something done at the same time I replenish the system after flushing it down? BTW Peerless boiler replaced in late 2011.

Reddit can be good, but moderation is always a challenge everywhere on the internet. Here we are lucky to have Erin.

the Burnham Independence line seems to not be lasting as long as it once did decades ago and lots of people around here including me would be hesitant to install or recommend one today. I haven't seen a conclusive reason but my favorite theory is that they have changed the boiler castings perhaps to make them better at transferring heat in the name of increased efficiency, and their lifetime has been greatly shortened.

They also make what I think is called a "three-pass" design called the MegaSteam that is highly regarded (but is sold only as an oil-burning boiler). I have no direct experience with either product.

Yes! Mikey Pipes! I was a little uneasy with his advice on draining once a month to the point the low water shut off activates. He argues it cleans the water and you get a safety check all-in-one. What's the deal with Burnham steam boilers. I've seen people say they were trash on the message boards. Yet, I have also seen people say they were the best residential boilers?! Go figure. Do they make a great ones and crap ones depending on the model? Again… anyone can post anything. Hard to discern good from bad. Thank you for taking the time to reply.

You saw Mikey Pipes. He is not too bad but one strong disagreement I have with him is that he is constantly draining all the water out of boilers and replacing it. He sees muddy water as the enemy without understanding that he is creating that enemy.

I currently believe that the idea that you can remove the damage of fresh water in a boiler by boiling the water quickly after adding it, is a myth.

Of course you are going to boil all the new water in a boiler, it is a boiler. In fact I would say that almost all the new water added to a boiler is pretty much immediately boiled (think about an auto-feed—it activates when a boiler is getting a call for heat and so it gets boiled right away).

But regardless of when that fresh water is boiled, the oxygen within it is released into the boiler cavity and I think the damage is done. The evidence of this is shown by production of rusty water.

That's why for all of last year as described in the video above I pre-boiled all my replacement water or used distilled water (along with my increased pH level). The video is there for all to judge.

@ethicalpaul

I heard about the dirty water part from a YouTuber. He runs a plumbing and HVAC business. He does the occasional informational video. I think his name was Tony (or Tommy) Pipes?? I've also heard that the heating process actually "burns away" the oxygen in the water. I actually read that on this message board. The wonderful thing about the internet is anyone can post and give info. The worst part of the internet is that anyone can post and give info :) Thank you for the replies.

The best advice for residential boilers is to put in as little water as possible. Float type low water cutoffs do need to be blown down perhaps twice a month to once a week. Ideally, other than that, you add no water at all. That said, most systems do require a little makeup water now and then — perhaps a gallon a month.

There is something to be said for blowing down the boiler itself from the mud leg/bottom drains once a year, to get any accumulated goop out — but if you are not adding much water, there won't be all that much (though it may be remarkably hard!).

Some people advocate adding a small amount of buffer to drive the pH up into the alkaline range; others don't feel it is necessary.

That said on an initial install or if significant work has been done on piping, it is absolutely necessary to thoroughly skim the boiler to get rid of any oil. This is time consuming, but critical. It doesn't use much water, though.

It's a bit of a catch-22

Normally you'd have to constantly be draining and replacing the muddy water, but that action itself creates more muddy water.

the solution is to use a boiler treatment product such as 8-Way to raise the pH of your boiler water to around 10. This will dramatically DRAMATICALLY reduce corrosion and creation of brown water. Use less than the product instructions recommend, like 1/4 of what they call for.

Then drain as little as possible as rarely as possible. You are posting in Strictly Steam so I am assuming this is a steam boiler. So you must also stay vigilant about any steam or liquid water leaks in your system. You should aim for a maximum of like 1 gallon of replacement water every month during the heating season.

Here is my video about this topic:

Finally I'm not sure about your statement that clean water is easier to boil. Is this just your belief or are there facts behind it?