Nw boiler rusting up

V8toilet

OK I have a new boiler (EG 40) that is two months old now. I’ve skimmed this thing countless times and I finally have got all the oil out. The only problem I have now is that the water quality still goes south as the cast iron sections inside the boiler rust and contaminate the water until it is almost dark brown. I’ll skim it right after it has steamed until the water runs cold and after a few weeks I’m right back where I’ve started. As long as the water quality is good this boiler works mint. My PH is about 7.0-7.2 when I test it.

What can I do to stop the inside of the boiler from corroding so fast and contaminating the boiler water so bad? Should I be adding some kind of anti rust agent to the water? I know there is oxygen in that fresh water and I know I could add a chemical to the water to rid the water of it but is there another way? What do you professionals do when you install a new boiler and don’t want it to get so rusty inside?

Unknown

Have you cleaned the return pipes ?

I bet that's the cause of all that gooky mess in the boiler . If the new boiler replaced a old beasty , that new one steams up much faster and will bring back anything loose in the system .

V8toilet

Yeah I kind of figured that! I guess I'm going to have to keep skimming this thing and changing the water until it slows down. I guess I could always try cleaning it too but I wanted to avoid adding chemicals if I could.

Unknown

Eventually

it will come clean , believe me . There ain't a new steamer out there that we left with dirty water in the boiler or returns . Some of em take an hour , some take 8 hours . It'll be a much longer job if there's no isolation and purge valve on the return pipe because you could clean the system out without introducing that crap back into the new boiler . Skimming really won't help this problem much . Won't the contractor come back to clean the system out ? That is standard practice for our installs .

Good luck with the boiler , V8 .

V8toilet

Trisodium Phosphate is what I’m going to have to try I guess. I think I’ll consult Weil-McLain first though. My installer was a knuckle head! He installed the wrong size riser and header for the near boiler piping and I had to fight with him to make him come back and change it. Luckily he did. If he read the boiler manual he would have caught it.

Steve Garson_2

I wouldn't worry too much about the dirty water. If the system makes steam without surging, you're OK. I have the same issue and simply live with it. Remember, there is rust in all the radiators and pipes and all that comes back. If you really want to be compulsive, power flush your returns or replace them.

Unknown

If you have,,,

> OK I have a new boiler (EG 40) that is two months

> old now. I’ve skimmed this thing countless times

> and I finally have got all the oil out. The only

> problem I have now is that the water quality

> still goes south as the cast iron sections inside

> the boiler rust and contaminate the water until

> it is almost dark brown. I’ll skim it right after

> it has steamed until the water runs cold and

> after a few weeks I’m right back where I’ve

> started. As long as the water quality is good

> this boiler works mint. My PH is about 7.0-7.2

> when I test it.

>

> What can I do to stop the

> inside of the boiler from corroding so fast and

> contaminating the boiler water so bad? Should I

> be adding some kind of anti rust agent to the

> water? I know there is oxygen in that fresh water

> and I know I could add a chemical to the water to

> rid the water of it but is there another way?

> What do you professionals do when you install a

> new boiler and don’t want it to get so rusty

> inside?



Dave

Unknown

If you have,,,

> OK I have a new boiler (EG 40) that is two months

> old now. I’ve skimmed this thing countless times

> and I finally have got all the oil out. The only

> problem I have now is that the water quality

> still goes south as the cast iron sections inside

> the boiler rust and contaminate the water until

> it is almost dark brown. I’ll skim it right after

> it has steamed until the water runs cold and

> after a few weeks I’m right back where I’ve

> started. As long as the water quality is good

> this boiler works mint. My PH is about 7.0-7.2

> when I test it.

>

> What can I do to stop the

> inside of the boiler from corroding so fast and

> contaminating the boiler water so bad? Should I

> be adding some kind of anti rust agent to the

> water? I know there is oxygen in that fresh water

> and I know I could add a chemical to the water to

> rid the water of it but is there another way?

> What do you professionals do when you install a

> new boiler and don’t want it to get so rusty

> inside?



Dave

Unknown

If you have,,,,,,,

An EG 40 then the system can`t be very big. I had a large system once that was really stubborn. They are "multiples", and I skimmed those a dozen times or more, still wound-up dirty after a week or so. As I have a service contract with the owner, I just "blew them down" every 3-5 days(watching my PH), and eventually it did stay clean, but these took almost the whole 1st heating season! Anyway,,,,that was 10 years ago, and I still do the service, but I only BD about every 3-4 weeks now, and the water is always clean!

Dave

Dwight (Rhomar Water Mgt.)

New boiler rusting up

New and used systems should be thoroughly cleaned before putting them in service. This is usually not done at the residential level though. Older cast iron or steel will be especially dirty. Always use a cleaner designed for this purpose. A system that is properly cleaned and treated will have clean looking water. The black smelly water is due to iron oxides,(corrosion).

Continually doing blowdowns without adding treatment will aggrevate the corrosion (and scaling) problem by bringing in additional oxygen (and calcium). Cold water contains lots of oxygen, when the water is heated the oxygen comes out of solution and attacks the metals.

Iron and steel like high pH, 11-12 range. Use a steam boiler treatment with oxygen scavenger, scale inhibitor, alkalinity builder for pH, and steam line amine to neutralize carbonic acid.

Only blowdown when conductiviy reaches 4000 mmuhos and add treatment at that time to treat the new makeup water. If you can't monitor conductivity, only blowdown monthly or when water becomes dirty looking or foamy.