Boiler Cleaning Concerns

Unknown

mean Jon, and I would cool it also, to a point.<BR>Ken Secor had a great posting a few weeks back describing keeping the boiler just <i>hot enough</i> while skimming,,I`ll see if I can find-it.<BR><BR>Dave

Jon Held

Hot boiler, cold water

Please let me preface my question with some background information:

I have a WM SGO3 steamer that was installed by the knuckleheads last May. My favorite brother-in-law Alex (Wire Nut) and I re-installed this unit correctly around Thanksgiving (that was a great day BTW) and it has been giving great steam since. I installed permanent skim fittings to make it easier to keep clean and I have skimmed this unit about 4 times so far. I drain a bit of water from each blow down valve during a steam cycle about once a week or so and clean out the sight glass and associated fittings when needed.

The mains are now fully insulated with 1” fiberglass wrap and the majority of near boiler piping is as well. The system breathes through a #2 Gorton on each main and I just got all new Gorton valves for the rest of the house that will be installed over the coming holidays. Oh, and PexSupply had the Honeywell VisionPro 8000 on sale with free shipping so I got one of those too;)

All convectors are pitched properly when the system is cold, but I have to re-check each one as the system comes up to temperature to make sure no one is changing pitch on me.

My question is in reference to the many threads on cleaning new steamers using TSP. The water in my town is quite hard, the sight glass needs to be cleaned once a week, and the water I drain periodically from the unit is always very dirty. I thought that the addition of some TSP as a cleaning agent might be beneficial in the long run. I read Steamhead’s procedure in an earlier post and understand it, but my concern is in regards to the draining and filling of a hot boiler. This seems like a recipe for a cracked unit IMO. Heating the unit up to just before steam enters the mains, draining the water and re-filling with cold will put a good amount of stress on it. Would it be safer to wait until the unit has come down in temperature or can these boilers deal with it?

Thanks for taking the time to read all this and happy holidaze to all.

Steverino

Manuals

the manuals from Weil-McLain:
http://www.weil-mclain.com/downloads/literature/gold/sgoboilermanual.pdf

http://www.weil-mclain.com/professionals/services/Bulletins/SB0102.pdf

of course, professional experience from the contributors of this fine website should be adhered to.

Jon Held

Yes, I read the manuals and service bulletins. This doesn't answer my question. Is it OK to drain and fill a hot boiler with cold water?

Unknown

Found-it,

See if anything here helps Jon! Ken describes a great way to keep the temp-up while skimming!

http://forums.invision.net/Thread.cfm?CFApp=2&&Message_ID=366155&_#Message366155

Dave

Jon Held

Thanks Dave. I remember these threads and made hardcopies of most of Steamheads posts regarding cleaning and skimming. I have a tankless domestic hot water loop in the unit with easy aquastat access that makes skimming a breeze.

Like you mentioned, I think I'll let it cool for a while before refilling just to be sure. Might have to wait till spring though. Folks tend to fret a bit in my house with no heat or hot water. Bunch of babies if you ask me

Unknown

Jon

If you have that control, then setting the cold feed to a "trickle" while it`s firing on HW coil temp.(not steaming), shouldn`t be a prob.
But I agree,,fear is the issue, remember all the warnings we got about adding cold water to our first cars radiator? LOL!

Jon Held

Yes, I have an auto feeder bypass with ball valve that I plumbed in for skimming purposes. I set it to a trickle and the aquastat to around 180 or so and that's how I skim the unit. But the whole time I'm skimming I'm hoping the cast iron won't split in 2 from the temperature differential of the incoming water. I realize that with a trickle and the unit firing periodically there really is no severe temp difference, but I'm paranoid. That's what prompted my original question.

Unknown

Again Jon,

I agree, I had a system once that took 2 seasons of weekly skimmings & blowdowns before it finally came clean.
Wish I could help you with the paranoia issue but,,,,,