Fairly new to steam heat...Burnham Series 4b boiler

lchmb

I would recommend having a certified tech come in and do an inspection of your system to include testing your safeties and replacing your thermocouple. The white debris could be residue from the gas or it could be a sign that thing's are not running properly. Easier to have it inspected now... You could also have him look into the screaming hot water loop while he's there..:)

brian_44

Burnham Series 4B Boiler

Greeting to all!

Thanks to all for your helpful insight! I'm fairly new to this steam heat thing. We bought our house a little under 2 yrs ago, and all I know is that as drafty as our house was (before we replaced OLD windows) our radiators CRANKED...that is after I replaced many of the air vents and learned a few other things the hard way!

We have a Burnham series 4b boiler. It looks to be setup fine (except for a hydronic loop running hot water for our basement baseboard heating that screams like heck when the boiler runs for a while...but that's another story). It seems to be about 20 yrs old. When lighting the pilot this winter, I noticed some white debris laying on the burners. It looked like dried up white caulking. Is this the beginning of the end of the boiler? I have no idea what this stuff is. If there is something I can do to prolong the life of the boiler, I certainly would like to know. I've done absolutely no maintenance to it other than to flush out the sludge and keep the water level midway in the sight glass. (I did buy the "We got steam heat" book and anxiously await the arrival in the mail!)

Thanks! Any info would be helpful...

brian_44

Burnham Series 4B Boiler

Thanks for the info. I guess the challenge will be finding someone who knows what they're talking about when it comes to steam systems. I envision somebody coming to my house saying; "you need a new boiler" like that car commercial where the guy says "you need new brakes"...

Thanks again...