Oil fired Burnham KV83

HenryT

hi everyone, I am posting for a buddy of mine who had an issue with his oil fired boiler.

He uses this boiler for hot water and steam heat. yesterday his site glass cracked which caused a flood in his basement.

my question is, what will cause the site glass to crack? does it have to do with age? or high pressure which may lead me to believe its the malfunction pressuretrol?

is it still safe to operate assuming he replaces the site glass?

Thanks in advnace.

BobC

Cheack and replace

The pressure relief valve should go off a long time before a sight glass reaches it's limits and i suspect the noise of a boiler operating at that pressure would scare one silly. A sight glass is very tough but there is always a chance there was a defect in that one or perhaps it was over tightened.



Remove the pressuretrol and make sure the pigtail is clean just to be safe, also make sure the ports that feed the sight glass are not blocked. Replace the sight glass and the gauge glass rubber washers and fire it up.



I would monitor it to make sure the pressuretrol can shut it down if pressure does rise, you may have to raise the thermostat by a good bit on a mild day to build pressure if the system is well sized.



Bob

HenryT

question

How do one know if he has hot water heating or steam heating?

Do all the controls work the same? a few things im trying to verify for my buddy:

-what pressure do they operate on (same as steam,

ChrisJ

Gauge glass

If it has a gauge glass its steam.  Hot water boilers to my knowledge don't have or need one.



I don't see that gauge glass breaking without a LOT of pressure.  In fact I beleive they are tested for 125PSI.  The pressure relief should pop at 15PSI and even if it didn't I have to think other things would blow before 125PSI.



Perhaps whoever installed the gauge had the gauge cocks slightly crooked causing a strain on the glass which over time finally cracked it.  Maybe thermal shock or simply a defect in the glass?



If it was mine, I would replace it and move on.

Jamie Hall

Controls and pressure

The control for a hot water system are completely different from those for a steam system; there isn't much question here that since you mention a gauge glass (steam only) and a pressuretrol (steam only) you have steam.



The maximum operating pressure for a residential steam system should be 2 psi; that should be the cutout pressure for the pressuretrol.  Anything over that will make the system malfunction and may create failures.  If for some reason you feel you have to raise the pressure over that, there are other things wrong with the system which need to be fixed.



Hot water systems typically operate in the 10 to 20 psi range, depending on how tall the house is.  12 psi is a commonly cited figure.

HenryT

Last question

He is operating at 12PSI, which is strange because thats how how water is operated.

his boiler is full with water the entire time (not halfway) as indicated by the site glass.

This is where its confusing.  If this is a hot water boiler, are they normally filled with water?  and as for the site glass, could it be a knucklehead installation?

ChrisJ

Pictures

Can you take pictures of the system for us?  Boiler, piping and even radiators?



Are the radiators connected with one or two pipes? 

billtwocase

possible

steam boiler converted to forced hot water? Is there a circulator on it? As others say, pics are worth a thousand words

Farrah

Burnham Hydronics model kv83

I have a Burnham Hydronics model kv83 with serial number 64696794 and I'm trying to replace the old thermostat can someone help me in getting the correct one from lowes store. I had purchased 2 already and both don't work. I don't have central air in my home. I only have heating and we use oil heating.



Need HELP please!

ChrisJ

Almost

Almost any thermostat should work for your system.

I had my neighbor buy this thermostat and I recommend it to anyone who has steam and doesn't need a programmable thermostat.



http://www.pexsupply.com/Honeywell-TH5110D1022-The-FocusPRO-Large-Screen-Non-Programmable-Digital-Thermostat-Premier-White-4088000-p



This is a slightly more expensive version that has a larger display than the standard version.



Make sure you set it to 1 CPH for steam.

JStar

T-stat

Why didn't they work? Did they do anything? How did you replace them? Did you turn the power off first?