Steam Boilers

Phil_17

I think your constant flushing of the system may actually be causing this problem.

As I understand it (just a homeowner here), once you have your boiler setup and properly skimmed you really never need to drain it or clean the water (I think you do need to blow-down the low-water-cutoff once a month if you have the float type), but only add water to replace what is lost during normal operation.

Every time you add water, you add new oxygen to the mix and that encourages the corrosion which can foul the water. Since the sight glass has such a tiny orifice it is the first place that that newly created goop will tend to accumulate.

With a good set of vents you shouldn't have to add water more than once a week (worst case, dead of winter) and for what it's worth my new MST513 only required topping off twice all last season.

Perhaps one of the pro's will chime in if I've gotten something wrong.

-Phil

Frank Como

glass gauge

Hi, Can someone help me ? I have a steam boiler, 1-pipe, gravity return ( as simple as it gets.) The steam system works fine. The problem is: about every 3 months the glass gauge ( lower angle valve gets clogged up and I can not tell if water level is high or low . My oil company services the boiler once a year, just before heating season begins. I let the dirty / rusty water out ( boiler drain ) about every 2 weeks and put back what I take out, I also use Squick once a year. I maintain the boiler and still this happens. I call my oil company, they remove the glass gauge and angle valves and it's always the same story, the lower gauge glass valve gets clogged right at the boiler tapping, it's like thick mud. They clean it out , clean the valves/ glass, put everything back and everything is fine for about another 3-4 months. Any ideas, solutions ? Thank you for your time, Frank

Frank Como

glass gauge

Hi, Can someone help me ? I have a steam boiler, 1-pipe, gravity return ( as simple as it gets.) The steam system works fine. The problem is: about every 3 months the glass gauge ( lower angle valve gets clogged up and I can not tell if water level is high or low . My oil company services the boiler once a year, just before heating season begins. I let the dirty / rusty water out ( boiler drain ) about every 2 weeks and put back what I take out, I also use Squick once a year. I maintain the boiler and still this happens. I call my oil company, they remove the glass gauge and angle valves and it's always the same story, the lower gauge glass valve gets clogged right at the boiler tapping, it's like thick mud. They clean it out , clean the valves/ glass, put everything back and everything is fine for about another 3-4 months. Any ideas, solutions ? Thank you for your time, Frank (Franklin3@verizon.net)

richard_27

steam boiler

how do i add a hot water loop to a steam boiler with baseboard heating for room size 16x12 with out sending steam up to the hot water loop and what is the proper piping procedure to make the hot water loop work with the steam boiler.

Brad White_194

I would start by

posting your question as a new thread. It is not related to the gauge glass question and will not get the attention it deserves.