Seasonal Boiler Maintenance?

pbennett45

Hello,



I was wondering if anyone would be so kind as to provide a list of what should be done at the end of the heating season, and then at the beginning of the heating season, for a modern (only a year old, electronic LWCO) gas fired steam boiler? It is a standing pilot, so I'm also wondering if it is advised to kill the pilot and shut off the gas for the summer or not. It's in the NY-metro area, so non-heating season is from sometime in may until probably sometime in october - maybe 5 months.



Thanks!

Charlie from wmass

What brand of boiler do you have?

the maintenance is usually outlined in the owners manual. If I know the brand and model I can give you a link to it on line

pbennett45

Instructions but no schedule

Thanks for the reply. It is a Utica Boiler and I have the manual:

http://www.ecrinternational.com/secure/upload/document/2310.pdf



However, it gives instructions for skimming and blowing down the boiler. But is has nothing about what should be done at the beginning and the end of the season. Only comment is:



"Before seasonal start up it is advisable to have

a competent service agency check the boiler for

soot and scale in the flues, clean the burners,

and check the gas input rate to maintain high

operating efficiency."



So at the end of the season I just turn it off? And at the beginning of the season I have someone do the above and turn it on? Seems like there should be some regular interval to skim or blow it down to clean it, no? Or is that only as-needed depending how much oil and corrosion is in the system?



Thanks

Al Letellier_21

seasonal maintenance

I have always been a believer of doing any maintenance when the boiler is shut down and "parked" for the summer. More so with an oil fired unit but I would do the maintenance, skim it and pull and clean the probe, them shut down the gas. Have a qualified tech prep it and fire it in the fall.

Joe V_2

Is leaving

the boiler untouched over summer a bad idea?  I feel that the O2 content of the water would be low from heating season and will not corrode boiler while it sit idle over the ssummer months.  Then, prior to the new heating season have the system cleaned and PM'd...