weekly maintenance - water not clear

Janet_3

I have a Weil-McLain EG75 that is about 18 months old for a small apartment building. I was recently told by my plumber to empty a bucket of water from it on a weekly basis during the cold months, and to do this while the machine is running so that the rust particles will more likely exit, as opposed to when the machine is not running and they settle at the bottom. Before I knew this, I used to empty the water when the machine was off, and the water came out practically clear. Now that I am doing it when it is running, the water comes out a darkish, red-brown. But no matter how many times I've emptied the water now when the boiler is running, it never comes out clear, even though I've done this now about 5 or 6 times. Does the fact that the water is always murky with rust a bad sign? Should I be thinking about having the wet return cleaned out? I noticed that along the wet return line there are water release valves at different points. Should I be releasing any water from those points as well? I don't know how often the water was released before the new unit was installed.

don_52

maintaining your boiler...

Janet asked,

Should I be thinking about having the wet return cleaned out?

A: Good idea.

I noticed that along the wet return line there are water release valves at different points.Should I be releasing any water from those points as well?

A: These valves are there exactly for that reason.

I don't know how often the water was released before the new unit was installed.

A: Well, nobody does, that's okay.

Janet, owning / maintaining a steam boiler is a "hands on"
thing, you've made some good observations there, congrat's.

Perhaps it may be better to have that individual come by so
you may pose those questions to them.

I'm certain they will be happy to "walk you through" the
procedure for doing the things you mention.

Difficult to give a "step by step" over the net without
seeing the system, how it's piped, where the valves are
(exactly) and how it runs, etc.

Posting some pics of the system may also help.

Hope that helps and happy steaming, db

Janet_3

Thanks for responding, I really appreciate it. I will take some pictures over the weekend and post them. But my main question is whether or not the water released from an active boiler should run clear at some point? I'm new to this so I am trying to get educated.