New steam boiler blowing water out condensate return line valve

underpressure

Good afternoon,

I have recently replaced a 20 year old steam boiler with a new Weil-McLain PEG-55 series 4 boiler. None of the main piping was altered and the new unit was fitted to the old piping.



The first run of the new unit went fine and things appeared to be running as they should. I was a little uneasy about the new unit so I would only run it when I was home. One evening I heard some hammering in the lines. Never before had this happened. I went down in the basement to find water on the floor and the unit was over filled with water. I shut down the system immediately.



I drained the water down to the proper level and fired it back up again, sitting next to it as it ran. I heard a hissing from the condensate line. I found 2 Gorton air eliminators causing the hissing. I monitored the water level and and in an instant the level dropped and water came rushing out the Gorton vents.

It appeared after much reading that the close nipple on the condensate line was a little too low so I had it raised to 2 inches below working water level of the boiler as per the manuals specs. This increased the volume of the hartford loop and I thought it would retard any backflowing of the system. The system again ran fine on initial run.

After a few days I came home to water on the floor again and an over filled boiler. I was told to remove the Gorton vents on the condensate line and that would solve the problem. Did that and again the water is draining out of the boiler into the pipes and causing the low water guard to shut down the boiler. I'm stuck and need some help here.

Anyone that has any ideas I would appreciate the help.....Thank you

BobC

Dirrty water or plugged pipe

When the boiler is making steam does the waterline in the gauge glass bounce around a lot before it leaves? If it's moving up and down a lot and the water in the sight glass does not look to clean it probably needs to be skimmed. One way to confirm this is to drain all the water out and then refill the boiler and turn it on and make some steam. The temporary clean water may behave normally for a while but as the oil and dirt mixes in with the water in the boiler it will probably go nuts again.



Another problem could be a blockage in the condensate line that is backing the water up the return line far enough for steam to force it out the vents. Did the return lines get flushed out when the boiler was removed?



Bob

underpressure

Thanks Bob

Thank you Bob for your response.



I cleared the old water out of the boiler and refilled from scratch. Fired up the boiler and it appeared to be working fine. The water level was fluctuating throughout the cycling. The radiators were churning out the heat, but I do believe that the problem isn't solved.



I skimmed the boiler as per manufacturers instructions. Do you have any hints on how to skim the boiler in a better way?



Thank you ......Ken

BobC

Do it again

Sometimes it takes a few skimmings because it takes a while for everything to work it's way into the boiler water. As long as you did a long slow skim there isn't a better way I know of. Some folks use a "wand" to clean out the inside of the boiler and they are amazed at the crud they get out of what they thought was a clean boiler that had been skimmed.

 http://72.3.142.104/forum-thread/143078/Rinsing-the-boiler



If you do another skimming and things seem better it points to the boiler water being the culprit.



Bob

underpressure

I'll do it 10 times

The system was making steam this morning with a little fluctuation in the water level. I will skim the system 10 times over if it makes it run properly. You have given me a glimpse of hope here Bob. Thank you so much. I will check out that link you included tonight when I get home from work.



Thank you again!!! Ken

BobC

You will get there

I just skimmed my boiler for the 4th time last weekend, I work at my bench while it's skimming and empty out the 2 gallon bucket as it gets close to the top. it takes time to get everything out of the boiler and piping and I'm not one to spend a whole day at it. I am lucky in that the boiler never misbehaved badly, I just had a pretty unstable waterline.



good luck,



Bob