steam boiler

nicholas bonham-carter

get your pressure way down--6-12 ounces, and see if that doesn't improve the operation.you need a vaporstat and,on the same pigtail, a 0-3 psi gauge[www.gaugestore.com].also you should have dan's excellent steam book for reference which is available on this site.in it read about boiler cleaning which has a big effect on operation as well-nbc

doug campbell

weil mclain boiler

QUESTION CONCERNING NEW BOILER INSTALL 550000 BTU BOILER SITE GLASS WATER LEVEL IS CONSTANTLY GOING UP AND DOWN DURING OPERATION. THE INSTALLERS RESOLVE WAS TO LOWER THE PRESURE FROM 2-5LBS (OLD BOILER SETTING) TO >1-3 THIS DID SOME GOOD BUT IT STILL IS GOING UP AND DOWN THEY HAVE INDICADED THAT IT WAS OK. ANY PROBLEMS WITH LEAVING IT LIKE THIS What would happen if they turn it back up

nicholas bonham-carter

mysterious tank

some pictures would be helpful. it may have held some extra water to compensate for the rate of steaming away vs. the speed of condensate return.is it mounted high or low on the ground?--nbc

Steve_168

not a steam pro, but i had the same issue with water movement in the sight glass.
Had the unit skimmed and drained, now it moves about 1/2 inch while unit is making steam.

nicholas bonham-carter

steam boiler

since it's a new install, check the supply piping against the boiler manual.the pipe sizes and arrangement is VERY important. often the low bidder will make some changes to reduce his cost.this could result in too much water blown out of the boiler into the piping .again pictures would be helpful, but you can compare the pipe layout and sizes yourself.doing this before the payment is made is a good idea!

so the list:

1.check the piping for correct layout-remember in case of disagreement,the mfgs information is usually more correct.there are deviations which are improvements, such as "drop-headers" but your installers may not know of them.


2.cleaning the boiler ["skimming" ]


3.keep the pressure under a pound.


4.check the main air vents first,then later the rad vents.


5.check the anticipation of the thermostat [dan's book goes into this].

nbc