Is my boiler running properly?

targetman

How about a pic of the boiler itself.

kube_1989

Boiler running properly?

I have a HOMART 600. Looks like a 1960's or so.
Turned thermostat on wall to HEAT and burners kicked on. All radiators are now hot- but the pressure gauge on the boiler won't go above 5psi.

The glass tube is full of water when burner is off - about half full while it is ignited.

not far up one of the main lines is a smaller pipe off an elbow with what looks like a relief cylinder. It tends to hiss while burner is on- not awful or high pressured- but constant.

on other side of boiler, up line at eye level is a section that is more of a horiz. cylinder that looks like about 3 coffee cans end to end. THIS is noisy/gurgly when burner is on.

BUT I have heat in all radiators.... however the noise won't be tolerable all winter.

Suggestions/answers?

Thanks so much!

Brad White_200

Sounds like

a steam system to me, if you can confirm that. Do you have one pipe connecting to each radiator? Do you have air vents on each radiator? Can you post pictures?

If the gauge is reading correctly, 5 PSI is about five times the pressure you would need in a steam system.

The hissing you hear sounds like an air vent, which is a good thing -to a point. The fact that it is hissing says that it is working, but that it "hisses" says that it is either under-sized, clogged, or that the other vents are not helping by pulling their own weight.

You are strongly advised to get a pro in there and take a first-hand look at the system in all respects, pronto.

Where are you located?

kube_1989

In Toledo.

No vents on each radiator.

Have one pipe bottom left and one with a valve top right on EACH radiator.

The plate on the boiler has a steam and a water rating.

So it's my guess that if the pressure is too high- must not have enough water in the system to control boiling pt.

Don't know why that reservoir thing is noisy, though...


I'm renting and the owner is out of state so I'd have to pony up for the fix and get reimbursed- but I really don't have the available funds to cover a service call this month.
Especially if it's something I can do- I'm a handy person- just need to understand what the parameters are and what the few signs denote. Thanks again!

tim smith

That's a steamer

sounds like to me you have too much water in the boiler. The gauge glass should be about half full when cool and not running. The air vent will hiss. As Brad said, you could have some malfunctioning vents or not enough vents. You should get a pro in there to at least do a quick check over for safety and instruction on blowing down safety low water cutoff.

Steamhead (in transit)

Been a while since I've seen one of those

the cylinder in "clunk sound" pic is a separator that lets water drop out of the steam and routes it back to the boiler. It gurgles because the water level in the glass is too high, and some of the water is coming up with the steam. Start off with the glass tube about half full of water.

The green thing that hisses is a vent that lets air out of the system so steam can fill it.

As to the system itself- from your description, it's a Vapor system. These were generally designed to run at less than a pound of pressure. Look closely at any of the original radiator shutoffs, also at any device that might be at the bottom (return) connection of the radiator, also any odd-looking device that may be in the piping around the boiler. Post pics of these if you can. This will help ID your system.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

kube_1989

I think all is right, now...

I drained it at non operating temp til glass tube was just over half full. When it started up and got rolling- the water level dropped to about 1/4 and bounced up and down an inch or so- but still above the bottom marking on the tube. (lowest acceptable level, I assume.)

The clunking in the separator is gone and the hiss from the vent is almost non existent. Pressure gauge reads less than 1psi and all radiators get nice and hot.

The only control on any of the radiators is a valve at the TOP- which I'm going to assume is an on/off control for the radiator. no other shutoffs on the radiators. Also no devices in any of the piping except for the pictured vent and separator. (not really devices- so to say, but also aren't just piping, either.)

Thanks for all your inputs- will have a tech swing out to inspect over weekend, but all appears to be well.