Rust Rust Rust!

ChrisJ

So now my boiler appears to be rust free since I started using the steamaster tablets we decided to go help a friend out with her boiler.



Its a Burnham IN5 that was installed around a year ago.  I skimmed it for her a while back and from what I could tell oil is not a problem.  However rusty water certainly is.



I drained and filled it three times and of course no rust shows up until it starts boiling every time.  We had to leave and I left it with the steamaster treatment, but there was still a fair amount of rusty cloudyness in it.  My main problem was I could not use my wand to wash it out as the chimney is too close to the skim port.  I also did not want to take the return apart as I didn't really have the tools I needed.



Typically how many times do you have to drain and fill a boiler to get all of the rust out of it that I assume is sitting in the bottom?  This was a piece of cake using Gerry Gill's wand idea, but without it it seems like a pain.



Also, when a boiler was just steaming and you shut it down and drain it, how long do you wait and how fast can you refill with cold water?  When I refilled it took at least 30 minutes as I was very nervous about going too fast with that hot block.

Steve Nichols

the world may never know

how many....

Chris, I have the same situation over here.  2 month old IN5.  I have not done the steammaster treatment yet, but I have drained numerous times and sure enough, all the rust accumulates on the bottom of the sections.  I am fairly confident that numerous skims have removed the majority of the oil.

I have NOT used the magic wand either....

I find the best way to get rid of the rust is to let the boiler cool and then really give it a good inflow of fresh water.  I have a drain valve on the other side down low (safety valve side).  The rate at which I get the rust out off of the bottom is related to how aggresively I introduce the infeed water.

If I do feed the boiler while hot it is VERY SLOWLY as you indicated.  I guess I'd rather wait for a warm day and maybe shut boiler down and let it cool than risk cracking a section.

Perhaps we are both suffering from dirt/rust being introduced via the condensate return and this just takes time?

Sorry I can't provide more direct help, aside from saying you're not alone.



Steve

Mark N

Rust

Neil Young said it best "rust never sleeps". You're always going to have a certain amount of rust in steam system. The system is open to the atmosphere so I don't think you can completely eliminate it. There is rust in the rads and in the pipes and it all eventually ends up back at the boiler. Just flush it out every once in a while. The best way to keep your boiler from rotting out is to limit the amount of feed water. As to how long to wait to refill a hot boiler, I would wait at least a few hours to make sure it has cooled enough not to crack it.

Hap_Hazzard

It never sleeps.

I think Gerry said there would be a lot of rust in the water after you initially add the tablets, so you have to flush that out and then add them gradually to the new water until it turns purple. This is just from memory though, so I could be all wet (but no rusty, I hope).



I think people worry too much about thermal shock. Once the burner is off for a few minutes, no part of the boiler should be hotter than 212°F. The presence of liquid water won't allow it to go higher than that, and cast iron conducts heat pretty well, so there shouldn't be any hot spots after a minute or two. Adding water that's warm enough to be liquid shouldn't hurt anything.



If you want to minimize stress--yours and the boiler's--you might consider draining the boiler to about the middle of the Hartford, then turning on the water supply while leaving the drain open, and let it run until the water looks clean. This insures a gradual temperature transition and also helps to churn up any rust that may have settled since the burner shut off. Then fill it up, fire it up and add your tablets .

ChrisJ

Not my boiler

Just want to make sure it is clear, this boiler, the IN5 ,is not mine. Its a friends.



Mine has been rust free since I added the steamaster tablets after washing out with the wand. I can go down and crack a drain and get water out while its off, or boiling and all that comes out is violet water. now this isn't to say I won't get rust out of the wet return, I probably will. As others said the radiators and piping is all exposed to air but I have a feeling the mostly distilled water they are exposed to is very neutral and probably doesn't cause much corrosion.



Sadly, I'm spoiled I guess as I can't figure out how to get it that clean without the wand.



I'm going to go back in January and try to clean our friends IN5 more.. I've considered building a second wand, this one with three small unions and all 1/4" tubing so I can try and fit it into the boiler in a tight space such as this.





Here is a picture of my boiler water which has not been touched for over a month after adding 2 Rectorseal Steamaster tablets. I just pulled this from the boiler drain to check the PH which was still a solid 9.