how to fill weil mclain gold oil boiler with water

dankmasterfrank

i removed one of my hydronic baseboards in my basement zone. i need to refill my boiler and purge the zones. please anyone who can help im a very good listener lol

meplumber

I am going to say this as nicely as possible.

The pictures you have posted indicate that your boiler does not have a low water cutoff.  Unless I missed it.  As a result, it is possible for your boiler to fire under low water conditions which can be catastrophic to say the least.



I feel that if you have to ask the question, then it would probably be best to have an experienced technician fill and purge the boiler and new zone.  No offense intended.  The consequences of filling a hot boiler with cold water or firing on an empty vessel are too great for me to give DIY advice on this one.  You did the baseboard removal, call a pro for this.

dankmasterfrank

located fill valve

well i located the auto fill valve. i manually lifted the valve until the gauge read 12 psi. i heard air escaping from taco air release valve and hot water heater air release valve. then i turned on the zone where work was done and pipes are heating nicely. im wondering if i have bleed off each zone or will it automatically purge the air out of the system?

Mac_R

Purging

No.  Your system will not self purge.  Because your contractor put the circulators on the return line.  what you need to do is close the ball valve on each return line and hook up a hose to the hose bib and open your auto fill valve.  when the return pipe is as hot as the supply chances are you got the large amount of air out.  anything else should be let out by the air vent.   But because they did not give the air purger the 16" after the elbow it will take a wile.  do be careful.  If it is not done right you can be like a dog chasing its tail.  Any time you introduce fresh water into a system you bring in air.  when you heat the water it lets go of its air.  That air finds a nice place to lay and block water from passing through and now you purge again.  letting more air and other dirt and grime that is in the water into the system.  next thing you know the system is leaking and no one knows why.  could not be the 150,000 times it was purged because of a no heat call?  the entire problem can be solved by putting the circulators on the supply line pumping away from the exspantion tank.