Constant water feeding

PatD

Hello,

I'm feeding water into my Weil-mcclain at least twice a day. I've checked for leaks everywhere and see nothing. I've also went outside an looked at chimney multiple times and don't see anything. I was told that if the boiler had a hole in it this would be visible with some smoke coming out of chimney. I'm at a loss right now.

late last winter I did have an issue with the pressure going high and the unit shutting off. A pipe that led to an ARCO Multi-port Air Eliminator was clogged with years of sediment.  However once this was cleaned I noticed that I needed to add water more frequently. Is this a coincidence or could this be the issue? I do hear some air escaping out of the port but it doesn't seem to be too much. There's also zero pressure on the gauge now when the system runs. I'm getting plenty of heat in radiators but the constant feeding of water doesn't seem right.

Thoughts?

 

Charlie from wmass

are there

any under ground return pipes. Also unless it is quite cold you may not see the steam as it leaves the chimney. You are using way too much water you need your system looked at. You can heat all your radiators with a large hole in your boiler. I have seen it first hand many times.

PatD

constant water feeding

thanks for response. there is one return pipe that runs under the floor but there are no wet spots. has been in 30's here .do you know what the approx cost would be to replace the cast if there is a hole?  thanks

Charlie from wmass

If you are near me Pat

I could stop by and give you a quote. Other wise price is not discussed on the Wall as every area has their own costs and overheads. If the boiler is not leaking adding that much fresh water it will be leaking soon. That under ground pipe needs checked pronto!

Nova

Water feeding every other day

 I have the same issue for 2 boilers. One is for a small apartment.  The steam guy checked the systems and found zero leaks.  He thought the radiators might be too big since the boilers were installed just two years ago.  We've had all the valves repacked (there was some minor leakage) and installed new steam valves, but the issue persists.  We need to add water to them every other day.  Our next step is to install auto water feeders.



Any other expert opinions out there?  It doesn't make sense to me.

icesailor

Water feeding

I thought I understood that steam boilers were supposed to be sized to the radiation. Not like hydronic (water) where you can size the boiler to the load of the structure.

If there is return piping under a floor, you can put safe money down that that is where the leak is.

In my experience.

Nova

No leaks from what we can see

icesailor, you may very well be correct.  The original "snowmen" were replaced in 2007 with Peerless WBV/WV boilers, but there is no insulation in the basement, so seeing leaking pipes should be easy.   I really don't like the idea of installing automatic water feeders, but I may not have a choice.  This will be our first winter here, and running downstairs several times a day to run water into the boiler is not my idea of fun.

acl10

My solution

I snaked out my returns and installed a Hydroleval water feeder set at 10 min and all is fi

[u][color=#0000ff]http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/132647/IDd-the-problem-LWCO-Feeder-Problem-from-Lost-Art-book/success[/color][/u]

 

acl10

My solution

I snaked out my returns and installed a Hydroleval water feeder set at 10 min and all is fi

[u][color=#0000ff]http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/132647/IDd-the-problem-LWCO-Feeder-Problem-from-Lost-Art-book/success[/color][/u]

 

acl10

My solution

I snaked out my returns and installed a Hydroleval water feeder set at 10 min and all is fi

[u][color=#0000ff]http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/132647/IDd-the-problem-LWCO-Feeder-Problem-from-Lost-Art-book/success[/color][/u]