Burnham Water level Full

smokes

Hey,

I have a Burnham boiler from 2004 and the try cock (water level ) indicator is filled past the top. Ive exhausted lots of brown water until it was clearish but the indicator's water level dosent change its still full. And as soon as i start exhausting the water, i hear water pumping back in to the system automatically.

Since the indicator's water level is usually supposed to be about half way as the manual also tells me, is this high water level going to cause a problem?, is there a way to change the level of it or keep it from refilling to that high level?

BobC

too full

Make sure the valves at the top and bottom of the sight class are fully open (CCW).



The automatic water feeder might need more flushing or it might be shot. Can you turn the auto feeder off and use a manual feed?



Bob 

Jamie Hall

Something

is seriously amiss.  You really shouldn't run the boiler until you find out what it is.  One possibility is that the lower connection for the sight glass is clogged and that the level you are seeing isn't real.  The other is that the auto feeder is not operating correctly.



The point is, you have what appears to be an overfilled boiler -- it may not be -- and you have no way of visually confirming how much water, if any, is in it since the sight glass doesn't change when you drain water.



This is a very dangerous situation, in my humble opinion, and should be corrected before you turn the boiler back on.

jpf321

LWCO stuck open

if you sit the and do NOTHING does it start to fill with water?  your LWCO may be stuck open (float type) or is very dirty (probe type).



are there any indicator lights lit on your auto-fill? or anywhere else?



can you close your auto-fill valve and drain water? or turn off system power switch and drain water.



keep in mind that you may have a great deal of water to drain .. and it could take a long while. each foot of 2" pipe holds 0.1632gals ..

smokes

Burnham Water level Full

wow thanks for the responses,



the valves are fully open on the top and bottom of the valves.

yeah the gauge is defenitely full and i cant see the top of it.

there is an indicator light that starts flashing when i dump water and it auto refills it.

so i will turn off the power switch and keep dumping water? Is that the best suggestion.

if i dont do anything it dosent auto fill untill i start dumping water.

i have to check the Low water cut off i havent checked that yet

thanks alot i will update you guys

jpf321

either...or

either turn off power and dump water .. or better yet, turn off the value upstream of the auto-fill valve .. you should have one .. then even if it calls for water, none will flow ..



what kind of LWCO do you have? a float? or a probe?



pictures may help.

smokes

LWCO

It looks like a BLack electronic box by ITT

Im gonna take pics now and try that

thanks again

smokes

still not sure

hey,

 I shut off the power switch so the feeder and LWCO where off and i dumped some more water until it just trickled out and there no change on the gauge.

(if it where just barely trickling does that mean its not full at all?)

Is it possible that the gauge itself is somehow faulty  and not showing the proper water level? or that its actually empty?

check out hese pics the first shows the gauge, the LWCO and the spout which i dumped lots of water from (not sure if thats the right spout)

the 2nd pic shows another sout i found behing the boiler which i also dumped water from.

and lastly the other pic is the water feeder on the other side of the boiler.

hope those help

jpf321

if you are ...

fairly confident that you're pretty empty ..



If you are not comfortable doing what is detailed below.. HIRE A PLUMBER



+lift the 2 rods besides the gauge glass.

+gently unscrew the nuts that are holding the gauge glass in and slide them toward the middle of the glass.

+gently, very gently, lift the glass up towards the top and you should be able to remove it from the bottom .. gently, try not to force anything .. it is glass

+ok now your glass is removed, hopefully in 1-piece .. wrap your lips around the opening on the top where the glass was and blow really hard .. same on the bottom .. both should blow freely.

+if you can't blow or can't blow freely, try a can of compressed air with the "straw" extension inserted into the openings.. or try a wire coat hanger (or similar, I've heard people use plastic cable ties) ... to dislodge the blockage which seems to be somewhere between the hole where the glass was and the pipe which enters the boiler.



while you're at it, you may want to clean your LWCO probe .. to do this ..

(here is the manual: http://www.bellgossett.com/literature/files/1428.pdf)

+shut off boiler AT THE BREAKER BOX (hopefully you still have light)

+open up the ITT box attached to boiler ..

+remove wire from wingnut...

+loosen two screws on brass hex located in rear of box... which has/had the wingnut attached

+turn the entire ITT circuit board and such counterclockwise20degrees and pull over the heads of the loosened screws .. set that aside but don't disconnect any wiring

+now get a big wrench and see about looseing the brass hex probe with the wingnut and 2-screws which is going into your boiler .. it might be difficult .. use only constant force, not hitting the wrench with a hammer or such ..

+remove the brass hex which has the probe inserted into boiler...

+inspect and clean probe.. take pictures if you like to share with us.

+DO NOT USE TEFLON to reinstall probe.

+reassemble by reading up from here.



if you are crudded up so much inside that you blocked your glass gauge ports, you are going to also want to clean your pigtail, and NOT FIRE UNTIL YOUR PIGTAIL IS CLEAN .. but let's get the water straightened out first.



If you are not comfortable doing what is detailed above .. HIRE A PLUMBER

smokes

Giving it a shot

It couldnt be explained better, i think i can handle that. I hope it works out and i will let you know tomorrow, thank alot

smokes

Poblem Solved and Fixed...

Hey JPF

I followed your intructions and removed the glass gauge and there was alot of muck in the openings , i then went a little further and removed the valves on top and bottom, and the opening to the boiler on the bottom valve was completely blocked up, i cleaned it all out , applied pipe sealant and screwed them back on. I also inspected  and cleaned the probe like you said, it wasnt in bad shape. Once everything was back in place i turned the power on and the water level rose up the gauge perfectly to about half way. Thanks alot , this was my first time serviceing a boiler in any way and it was great learning  how to here.

Nick

jpf321

hey that's great!

fantastic to hear it smokes! i'm glad it worked out.



but, when you reinstalled the LWCO probe....you didn't use Teflon tape did you? I'm not sure if pipe-dope is OK or not .. because the LWCO probe needs to make good metal-metal thread contact with the boiler to work properly. i guess if it's not registering Low Water, then you should be OK.



now that you have your Water line all set right .. i promised that we should clean that pigtail ...



+ turn your boiler off AT THE BREAKER

+ open up your pressureTrol face and remove 2 wires

+ pull wires out of pressuretrol so that it is free to rotate 360degrees

+ unscrew pressuretrol from the pigtail

+ unscrew pigtail from the boiler

+ clean the inside by whatever means necessary (or buy a new one BRASS)

+ reassemble by reversing above steps.

+ you may want to install a union (1/4" BRASS) between pressuretrol and pigtail that way you don't have to remove wires next year when you should be cleaning it again :-) see my pic here: http://is.gd/hBTmi (FYI, my gauge and pressuretrol tree is all done in 1/4" brass)

smokes

next step

NO i definetely didnt use teflon, It was some greenish colored pipe sealant that i brushed onto the male threads.

Pigtails huh? looks like I got my work cut out for me, Thanks again ...

ill keep the updated coming