Proper Annual Boiler Service

Big-Al_2

Being in a small semi-rural Midwestern town, my options are limited, and I'm not sure anybody local understands steam anymore.  I have the factory manual on my boiler. (Burnham IN-6)  It has a lot of info on installation, and some nice schematics, but not a lot on maintenance.   If I hire a heating guy to do annual maintenance on my natural gas steam boiler, what kind of things should I ask him to do?  Here's what I can think of. 



1) Flush out the sediment.

2) Clean the pigtail and test the Pressuretrol.

3) Clean and test the LWCO.

4) Clean the sight glass if necessary.

5) Clean the ribbon burners and burner area.

6) Manually test the relief valve

7) Visually inspect the chimney flue.

8) New thermostat batteries.

9) Test fire the boiler.



My boiler doesn't have an automatic water feeder, so that's not on the list.  It is a 1-pipe system, so no steam traps.  Is there anything else I should expect?  Is a burner set-up using flue gas analysis necessary every year, or is a visual flame inspection good enough for most years?   On a natural gas boiler that is running OK, how often is it necessary to open up the top of the boiler and clean out any soot, etc. from the flame-side of the unit.  Ever?

Tim McElwain

Hi Big Al

Everything you listed is a very thorough run through, that is if you can get someone to do all of that.

A combustion test is a must every year insist on it. That test will tell if anything is out of order in the combustion area. A blue flame is not necessarily in indicator of a good combustion condition. You can have a blue flame on natural gas and propane and still make CO.

I would also expect the tech to look for any areas of deterioration on your system especially signs of steam leaks.

Big-Al_2

Thanks!

Thanks for the reply.  I'm an office guy these days, but spent my youth doing industrial maintenance in the Chicago area before I decided to go off to school.   I'm a pretty good mechanic, a careful worker, and can fix most things, if I have the right tools.   I'm thinking that I'll continue to do the grunt work myself, taking stuff apart and cleaning it, etc.  . . . and get a tech in to do the more technical stuff and check my work  



There IS one outfit in the area that does industrial and commercial boiler work, but they generally won't touch anything residential.    They do most of work on the process boilers where I work, and I've worked with them quite a bit on our office HVAC systems, so I was able to ask them to have one of their fitters pipe in a radiator for me last summer.  He's an older guy, near retirement, and really knew his stuff. He even let me work with him, lending another set of hands when he needed them.  It still wasn't cheap . . . but good craftsmanship seldom is.  Maybe I can talk them into making an exception and take on another residential job.  At least they're not knuckleheads.  

Steamhead

Which

semi-rural Midwestern town are you in? 

Big-Al_2

Bratwurstville

Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin . . . about 50 miles north of Milwaukee.