Cleaning Boiler (question from homeowner)

Chris_83

My home has two-pipe steam heat and domestic hot water provided by a Peerless JOT boiler (from reading this board, I know that it wasn't a very good boiler even when new back in the 80s).

What is the best way to clean out the boiler? Should I add some cleaning product to it and then drain and refill it? I do drain small amounts of water weekly through the low-water cutoff (under pressure to test the c/o switch). Is there also a need to clean/drain any of the steam pipes?

Taylor_4

Romhar Water

I had a devil of a time getting my 80 yo boiler clean. Rhomar Water eventually did the trick. Worked a lot better than the stuff at the local plumbing supply store. They were also very helpful. I found them through this board.

You will have to do monthly blow-downs on your boiler. Dan H describes it as the equivalent of putting a pressure hose in your boiler to get the crud out. Just draining water out is a waste of time as far as I can tell.

Chris_83

I'll look for that product. The boiler recently had a pressuretrol problem caused by the pigtail being totally plugged by crud. That's why I want to properly clean everything out. The alternative is to have a service person from my local oil company "flush it out" for $300.