Can't maintain water level

TLG

I have a steam boiler that until recently operated fine.  Now I can't maintain the sight glass water level.  I set the water level to the mark. After the furnace runs it uses just about all the water. If it runs twice in day, the LWCO will shut off the furnace.  I have to refill the the system every day, sometimes twice a day and it's not winter yet.  There's no automatic feeder.  There are no leaks anywhere in the system. 

Everything seems to be fine otherwise. Furnace runs ok. Radiators heat up.  No hammering. Not much surging in the sight glass during operation.  They water just seems to disappear.

Any ideas what's going on?  Where's the water going?

Steamhead

Up the chimney

you almost certainly have a hole in the boiler, above the waterline. If there are white plumes coming from the chimney when the boiler is on, that's a sure sign steam is escaping.



This would require a new boiler. Where are you located? Are you burning oil or gas?

Rod

Where is the Water?

Hi- It sounds like you have covered all the normal bases. How old is the boiler? Even after waiting a long period of time the water doesn't return to the boiler? (Just checking!)

Other leak possibilities - Do you have a return that is buried?  This is a common source of leaking. When the boiler is operating, go out side and check the chimney for white smoke which is steam and indicates you have an internal leak in the boiler.  Another way to check the boiler is to flood the boiler. Turn the burner off and fill the boiler to the top (Be careful not to over fill and flood the house!) with water and then let it sit for several hours and see if any puddles appear indicating a boiler leak.

- Rod

TLG

re: Up the chimney

That would really suck. The furnace isn't that old.  Maybe 6yrs.  It's an oil burner. I will have to check the chimney this evening.  I'm located in PA

TLG

re:

It's about 6yrs old. I've been in the home 4yrs. It was installed a couple years before that.

The water never returns to the system, even after an entire day.

Nothing is buried, all above the floor.

I will try flooding it this evening.

Rod

Check for "White Smoke"

I assume you're going to check for the "white smoke" first. Steamhead is a very experienced steam pro so his is the best advice to follow.

- Rod

nicholas bonham-carter

leak detection

another method of leak detection would be:

let boiler cool.

overfill, and look for water on the floor or in the firebox, after a while.

if the boiler is only 6 years old, then some investigation into the cause of failure is necessary. reasons for early failure could be:

bad piping, with leaks, and an auto-fill.

bad water, with various chemical contaminants.

chemicals in the air near the boiler.--nbc

deevo

problem with my boiler

Hi! I'm having a similar problem. My boiler empties out way too fast. After that, pressure builds in the boiler and loud hissing sounds come out of the top and my whole basement fills with steam. When i shut off the boiler, after a while some of the water comes back in. My boiler is quite old (50 years?) but has always worked well until recently when we replaced the main steam pipe and added baseboard heating  for the basement. The return pipe was not replaced and there is no automatic refill. I use to have to refill once a week , now every twenty minutes!!! Can you help?

Rod

You need a Steam Pro!

Hi- As you have probably observed, having your basement fill with steam isn't normal. It would suggest that either the safety valve is blowing off or you have a leak in the boiler/steam piping, both of which require the help of a steam pro. You might let us know where you are located and also take a look in the "Find a Contractor" section at the top of this page. Scroll down past the zip code section (it's not reliable ) until you get to the "States" section . Look under states and see if you have a steam pro located near you.

- Rod

TLG

Update

I checked the chimney. Nothing was coming out at all.

So I tried flooding the boiler. Lo and behold, about 2-3" above the sight glass, it started leaking water.

It's a Dunkirk oil boiler.   Supposedly Dunkirk has a 12yr warranty on the heat exchanger.  The boiler came with the house when I bought it, so I'll have to look into it.

bobby b

location

where are you located

TLG

re: location

I'm in PA

bobby b

location

where in pa