\"Hot\" vs \"Cold\" Skimming

David Nadle

Tall is good. Leave them alone, just move the takeoff to the proper spot.

NShak

Greetings to all.

I'm still unclear about the proper "temp" for skimming my boiler. I've read some folks here recommend a cold (boiler off for hours prior to skim), slow skimming over a number of hours. But others have mentioned running the boiler to full steam, then turning it off and letting it cool down for a few minutes, then skimming over a number of hours.

Which one should I use? I've got wet steam (since I can't change my bad near-boiler piping at this time- see pics); I thought I'd do a skimming soon.

David Nadle

Depends

If you want to stand there with one finger on the kill switch and make sure the water doesn't boil and mix all the oil up with the water, go ahead and "hot" skim.

If you want to keep your boiler turned off all day long while it dribbles into a pail and your house drops to 58 degrees, go ahead and "cold" skim.

In either case you'll probably have to repeat it a few times.

If you could at least get a plumber to chop out the takeoff and move it between the second riser and the equalizer, you might see a big improvement in steam quality. An experienced person with the parts on hand could probably do that in an hour or so.

Unknown

Cold skim on a hot boiler

Actually , it shouldn't take too long to cool off a hot boiler if you do a fast skim through that port . Meaning , you open the skim port and fill valve full throttle and dump hot water out the port till the boiler is cool . Maybe 5 to 10 pails worth of water on a residential boiler .

I've been cleaning steamers with a hot skim and mild cleaner for years . Whether this method is faster or more thorough than a cold skim , I really couldn't say . Our method seems to work just fine for us though .

I agree with David . Repiping that header would help alot more with your steam problems if the skim don't do it . If you stick with copper , repiping the incorrect part of the system isn't too hard for an experienced pipefitter .

NShak

Thanks to both of you for the input.

Great idea, Ron Jr!

I always thought I had to completely switch out the near piping to steel... but keeping the copper and moving the piping might work for now, until a need a new boiler (and get the piping done w/ steel, once a for all).

David Nadle

I think if you make that change your piping will actaully be really good, despite the copper. Those risers are really tall. It's definitely worth it.

walnuts

great idea to repair the piping, but you should also flush your boiler by the looks of the water. keep filling and draining your boiler until all of the rust is gone from the gauge glass, may take a few hours and patience.

NShak

"Those risers are really tall."

David- Besides moving the take-off to the main, should I also shorten the risers? Maybe create a drop header? I'm assume I could create a drop header with copper, but is this worth it. I've seen pics of some nice drop headers posted here. If the risers are shortened, then wouldn't the new/moved final take-off to the main be higher? Is this a problem? Thanks in advance for th input.

Unknown

Piping issues aside,

I seem to recall Ken Secor mentioning he made-up a simple hi-limit aquastat, through a tee at the skim tapping, wired it temporarily in place of the stat, then set-it just below steaming.When finished, he just removed it.
He could skim for hours (if needed) and maintain a hi boiler temp.

Dave

Steamhead (in transit)

Sort of like

This:

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Unknown

I`ll assume so Gordo,

although Ken never posted a pic, yourself and Frank are obviously aware of this procedure.
Kudos for you old friends, but I do miss Ken`s input here too.
I`ll have to shoot him an Email.

Dave