servicing a steam boiler annually

clammy

You should contact them and find out what they will do and what they won't .A real steam annual would include checking and cleaning float or probe type low water cut off ,pressuretrol pig tail ,brushing out water passes on boiler ,check and clean burner **** ,flue collector and chimmey also check your main and raditor vents to ensure they are working correctly ,cycle unit checking all safeties and finally do a combustion test.I believe they don't touch anything that has to do with water but you would have to check .I am a firm believer in flushing the bottom water side of steam boilerevery few years depending on age of the system and the condition of the returns and if the steam mains are insulated or not peace and good luck clammy

Eddie M

I recently had a new steam boiler installed. Beginning next year i want to start having it serviced annually. I was told to let PSEG do it but im a bit skeptical about them. Are they schooled or trained by PSEG to service steam systems? Also what exactly should a service include?

Eddie M

Thanks for the detailed answer clammy. I know my neighbors use PSEG for their annual service and they all have steam. When should it be done?late fall?
I will also look into a private plumber and see what their service provides.

clammy

Fall

Fall before your system has to go to work for 5 or 6 months .Cleaning the return water passes on the boiler can only be done easily if the boilers extra return tappes where set up to remove in the future some times thoses plugs can be quite tough to remove but in some cases where the system lacks insulation you can end up with alot of rust and mud in the boiler and all that stuff acts just like insulation and slow down heat transfer some times cause longer cycle times to produce the same amount of steam a cleaner would produce in the same alotted time .Plus blocked water passes can lead to permature section failure from dry firing i have seen this happen .I think for the water side cleaning you most likly have to contact a plumber or strick steam service co alot of the plumber i know do not offer this service and would most likely just drain some water from the boiler lowest boiler drain till she runs clean that is not a real water side cleaning in my opion .The only way you will know is to open a return tapping on the boiler and get a look see from that you will be able to gauge how often it should be done from the inside condition accumalation mud rust ect .Doing these cleaning prolongs your boiler life keeps your boiler clean and producing steam as it did when first installed but as all things it is not cheap and it does take some time but in the long run the money you save on operating the boiler and or replacing it .Peace and good luck and hey by the way not all will do this some may think it totally un neccessary at best and a waste of money .I have done this many times and seen slow to make steam boiler come back to life after flushing buckets of mud from the boiler .good luck

JohnNY

An annual steam boiler service should include removal of the low-water cut off probe (if applicable) for inspection, if it's good it gets cleaned and reinstalled, if it's bad it must be replaced.

PSE&G does not do that.

In addition, all the burner tubes should be removed and cleaned. This could greatly affect the CO reading in the flue.

The pigtail MUST be cleaned or replaced.

The returns MUST be flushed.

The boiler MUST be skimmed if new.

If there is no skim assembly, one MUST be added.

The flue MUST be tested.

...there's a lot to it and it's all important.




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pseg

yes they do this .ive just had them out here and they did a wonderful job

bob young

prodgical son returns

Glad to see you back aboard , Clamster. you were missed & hope all is well with you & yours. bob nyc

Bruce M

Go to PSE&G Website.

If you go here:

http://www.pseg.com/customer/home/install/about/boiler.jsp#anchor3

it states that: "We rely upon independent heating professionals in your area to install, maintain and troubleshoot Weil-McLain products." You might want to check with PSE&G and see if that applies to you. Sometimes you can have more clout when a large company like PSE&G is hiring people to do the work. If there is a problem PSE&G will lean on them to do it right. As you know, PSE&G is a huge company that also owns two nuclear energy plants in New Jersey. They have plants in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvanian and Indiana. They have won awards for reliability. They treat their customers well.