glass gauge wont empty

bennythepitbull

glass gauge wont empty but my heat works how do i get the glass gauge to empty ? i should note the low water cut off is working the everything fires up and everything is normal but this

nicholas bonham-carter

sight glass question

i'm not sure i understand the question. the sight [or gauge] glass always has water in it up to about half full, showing the waterline of the boiler. if you want to clean the glass, then, turn off the boiler, close the valves [gauge cocks] at the top and bottom, undo the nuts at the top and bottom of the glass tube, and use a small brush to clean it. 

if the tube is completely full, then the boiler has too much water in it. do you have an auto fill?--nbc 

bennythepitbull

thats just me being dumb

I should have said i drained the boiler 2wice still stays full

BobC

Plugged

Make sure the valves above and below the sight glass are fully open (CCW). Does that glass ever show any evidence of movement in the water column?



You could have a plugged up connection into the boiler that feeds the glass gauge. Maybe you'll get lucky and be able to fish a narrow piece of wire through the valve but usually you have to remove everything to clean them out.

nicholas bonham-carter

full sight glass

don't drain the boiler unnecessarily, and when you refill, then run it as soon as you can to drive the excess oxygen out of the water. to remove sediment from the bottom of the boiler, a little bit of water can be drained off while hot [blowing down the boiler].

you will probably be able to poke a bit of wire through the gauge cocks when the tube is removed.--nbc

bennythepitbull

the bottem valve was blocked with sludge --

thanks all 

Gordo

And This is Why

Every sight-glass on a steam boiler should get a proper sight-glass blowdown valve.



It helps to keep the sight-glass clean so you don't have to take it apart and risk breaking it and it verifies that the sight-glass is telling you the truth.

Abracadabra

what kind of a stop cock is that?

I don't think I've seen a stop cock like that.

Hap_Hazzard

Just a ball valve

That's a 1/4" ball valve mounted on a nipple screwed into the petcock tapping. This is a big improvement over the petcock because you can open it instantly and, if it's a full-port valve, the opening is the ID of the pipe, and, unlike a petcock, it won't be seized shut the first time you go to open it, or get clogged with sediment and refuse to reseat when you go to close it. I use full-port ball valves for all my draining, flushing and skimming valves. Petcocks and globe valves are practically designed to allow water to drain slowly, without carrying any sediment with it.

Abracadabra

mistyped

sorry, typed stopcock, meant gauge cock.  I don't think i've seen a gauge cock with a tapping in it to mount a valve like that.

Gordo

Almost All

sight-glass fitting sets have a little so-called "valve" tapped into the bottom fitting.



They are easy to overlook.  They are Combraco's little joke. Most folks don't even know it's there.



I'd remove it.  The sight-glass fitting is tapped  for 1/4" npt. Use it to thread in a proper full port ball valve.