Boiler Puked Black Steam

ChrisR

I purchased my first home (a two family) in 2007 and after dealing with an oil gulping ancient boiler/hotwater heater (one unit did both) for the first year, I converted to a conventional tank hot water heater and natural gas boiler. When it was installed I was told all I had to do was drain about a gallon of water a month from a valve. The boiler has a digital automatic water feeder and electric low water cut off box, along with a honeywell pressure controller. I was also told to make sure there is water in the viewing glass, the owners manual says their is a plate that indicates the proper level but I don't see it.



I don't use the boiler much because I have 3 high performance computers and a 180gal aquarium (85F) that keep my home at a relative constant temperature of 72-80F. Last time I used the boiler was early November during a cold snap. I drain it as I do each month and checked the viewing glass. The glass was half full and clean as a whistle. Everything worked fine.



Yesterday I drained the boiler and turned the system on and about an hour later I heard a loud hissing sound coming from the basement. I asked my wife if she heard it and she said she started wash 45min ago and it sounding like the spin cycle. A few minutes later the fire/carbon monoxide  detector in the boiler room went off. The room was full of steam so thick, visibility was about 3 feet and the room is fairly large. The floor was covered in black liquid and I ran upstairs to turn the system off. The viewing glass now has black gunk at the 50% mark and I figured out that the valve located at the top rear of the boiler is what spewed steam and black stuff.



Just now I drained a gallon of water and turned the system on and sat down there to watch it. The viewing glass just has some gunk at the 50% mark (not a blockage, just dirty glass) the water level  in the glass is about 38% full. as the boiler was warming up I was reading the owners manual sitting next to it. the viewing glass water level dropped to about 7% after about 15 min so I panicked and pressed the feed button for 10 sec and got it to about 15%. a few minutes later the water feeder kicked in by itself and raised the water level to 20% but the boiler sounded like it shut off. About 3 min later the boiler sounded like it turned back on. I read the the boiler should not be operated at or above 15psi and when it reached 14psi (an hour or so from start) the valve in the rear started slowly letting out steam, it was going to fill the room up again IMO. Please advise. Thank you! 

ChrisR

PS

P.S- I have 1 Pipe steam if that matters.

Rod

DO NOT OPERATE ! Get a Pro!

Do NOT operate the system until it is fixed! You need to get a pro into look at it!

It sounds as though your pigtail is plugged up. (The "pigtail" is the piping with th loop in it that connects your Honeywell pressure controller to the boiler. The valve on the back that blows off the water is your safety valve and is set to open when the pressure reaches 15 PSI

You need to get a pro in and have them clean the pigtail and piping. The boiler should be serviced annually by a pro who does cleaning and checks the equipment. The low water probe is one of the things that should be cleaned and inspected annually.



From what I can see in the pictures there are other shortcomings in your installation. There should be a pipe attached to the safety valve that leads down to near the floor and safely away so that when the valve does open the escaping steam doesn’t burn someone.

If you would take some more pictures of your boiler and the attached piping we can then tell more about it.  Take the pictures from farther back and include the attached piping as we need to be able to trace it out.  Also let us know the make and model of the boiler so we can check the manual.   I’ll add a second post later on maintenance etc.

- Rod

Sil

I am not a pro... but

The system should not run more than 2 pounds of pressure... NOT 15.



The 9th picture is a pressure relief valve that probably tripped when 15 pounds was reached (its a safety mechanism). But its the second line of defense.



The pressuretrol (which you have taken a picture of.. the first picture) is the first line of defense and is supposed to cut power to the systems when it reached around 3 pounds (see the "MAIN" line on your pictures).  This clearly failed... could be a bad Honeywell unit or the pigtail pipe may be bad. 



Water surges could be due to alot of issues... but take a picture of the boiler further back (so we can see all the piping around it).



The pros on this board will get u headed in the right direction.



But I think u really need a steam pro... you have a dangersous situation on your hands.

Sil

Looks like...

a Burnham Independence series boiler to me (I just had one installed and it looks similar)

ChrisR

Thank you

Thank you for all the help so far I took a pic in every angleI could as far away as I could. My friend who is an unlicensed general contractor told me I overpaid for the job and it wasn't done all too well (mainly pointing out the lack of a dielectric union where the copper meets the nickle of the water heater, as show in the last photo)and the lack of a clean out port for the exhaust. The other poster is correct it is a Burnham Independence, I can't find a model number. I will open up the service door if requested.

ChrisR

honeywell

Is there anyway of telling if the honeywell is working with a multimeter? I assume the pigtail is the curled pipe coming from the honeywell?

JStar

Steam

PLEASE DON'T USE THE BOILER



Have it checked by a professional immediately.

Rod

Controller

The Honeywell controller is switch that shuts off when the set pressure is reached. The pigtail is the curly pipe that goes between the boiler and the controller. Chances are the pipe and/ or the port from the boiler and or the controller fitting is plugged up with crud and stopping the steam pressure from reaching the controller so that it shuts off. A multi meter really won't help in this case but since you know what a multimeter is you may be handy enough to remove and clean the piping, boiler port etc.  If you don't feel comfortable with this I would recommend you get pro to look it over. Be sure to shut off the power before working on the boiler.

Edit: I'm a homeowner and JSTAR is a pro and after reading his post, I really think it would be better that at this point you get a pro to look over the system for you. Later on after you have some experience with your system, you will be able to determine what is practical for you to do and what should be left to a pro.

- Rod

BobC

Yes

The pigtail isolates the honeywell pressuretrol from the steam, as presssure builds the pressuretrol is supposed to sense it and in your case would shut the boiler down between 2 and 3 PSI. If the pigtail or base of the prssuretrol get gunk in them it blocks the pressuretrols ability to see the pressure inside the boiler.



When the boiler is working you can take the front cover off the pressuretrol and move the silver lever that runs from the diaphragm and the switch, if you move the lever up it should actuate the switch and shut down the boiler. I think your problem is that pigtail is plugged so your pressuretrol can't actuate. If it did sense the pressure the switch should operate and the switch would open and shut the boiler down.



You can unwire the pressuretrol (make sure the circuit breaker is OFF) and remove it to see if that pigtail is clean by trying to blow air into the open pipe, if you can't blow air through the pigtail it is blocked and has to be cleaned out. If the pigtail seems clear the base of the pressuretrol might have some gunk in it.



If your not comfortable working on something like this, call someone in to do it for you. I would not operate the boiler until this is repaired. When it is repaired you will probably have to replace the pressure relief valve as well and it should have a pipe that directs any discharge near the floor of your boiler room.



Bob

Rod

Boiler Normal Waterline

Hi- I looked in the Burnham Independence I&O manual and the NWL (Normal Water Line) is 28 5/8  inches measured perpendicular off the floor. (Figure 24, Page 17 in the manual)  Use a magic marker and make a mark on the sight glass. This is the water level when the boiler is cold and not operating.  It is normal for it to drop some when the boiler is operating but will return to the original level after the burner shuts off an the boiler cools a little.



There are some really good books on steam heating in the Shop section of this website. I would really recommend you get a book called “We Got Steam Heat!”  Here is a link to it:

http://www.heatinghelp.com/products/Steam-Heating-Books/25/61/We-Got-Steam-Heat-A-Homeowners-Guide-to-Peaceful-Coexistence

It’s easy humorous reading and written so homeowner new to steam heating can understand it. In a few evenings of reading your knowledge of steam heating will be light years ahead. This book pays for itself many many times over!



Looking over you boiler piping there are a few things that need to be looked like the equalizer sizing but that can wait till warmer weather and after you learn a bit more about steam.

I just read Bob's post about replacing the safety valve. This is a good idea as once used, they generally leak due to tiny pieces of crud getting into them.

- Rod

ChrisR

Think it's fixed

OK so I cut power to the boiler. Then I removed the 2 flat head screws holding the pressuretrol to it's base. Then I removed the base of the pressuretrol from the pig tail with a wrench. I cleaned the base of the pressuretrol  with Q tips and isopropyl alcohol. I used my air compressor to clear the pigtail, It was definitely clogged. I could hear when the clog cleared. I used a brush I had to clean aquarium filter pipes/hoses to get some more gunk out. I drained the boiler and a lot of black came out. I reinstalled everything. I turned the power back on and fed the boiler water until the glass vile was full to clean that black stuff out (OCD). I measured 28 5/8 inches from the floor (my owners manual only has 10 pages) and made a mark on some painters tape. I drained the boiler to said mark. I will order a new safety valve and install it with pipe dope and add a section of pvc pipe so it blows at the floor. I included a picture of the old safety valve, it's 3/4". What exactly do I order or ask for? It has no nut at the bottom to grab with a wrench so I guess I just use a pipe wrench at any part I can grab to turn it. Thanks for all the help I'm going to test it out in a few!      

Jean-David Beyer

add a section of pvc pipe so it blows at the floor.

I read somewhere (I am not a pro) that you should use copper, not PVC for relief valve discharge line because PVC can melt shut and reduce safety.

Rod

Boiler Problems

It sounds like you are on the right track.  Here’s a link where you can get an Independence I&O manual.  http://www.usboiler.net/products/boilers/independence/assets/Independence.pdf  

If you are sure of what model you have look at the cabinet measurements for an indicator. Each model has a different length cabinet to accommodate the number of boiler sections on that model.



For a safety valve - Try Pex Supply   http://www.pexsupply.com/  on the internet The SKU # for the one you want is  81660530     Description: “Safety Relief Valve, 15 PSI” Burnham

Safety valves required on all residential steam boilers are 15 PSI and they also require a pressure gauge of twice the safety valve’s rating which is why you have a 0-30 PSI gauge.  If you use Teflon tape make sure you start the tape back a thread or two from the end of the pipe/fitting as otherwise pieces of tape can be cut off the end and then may clog the valve.



Blow off piping - As another post mentioned, this should be done in copper rather than PVC.



Adding water to the boiler- Any fresh water that is added to the boiler should immediately brought to the boil so as to drive off dissolved oxygen. Having dissolved in the water causes excessive corrosion and will significantly shorten the life of your boiler.

 I’m not sure where the instruction of having to drain a gallon a month came from. With a float type LWCO (Low Water Cut Off) you need to regularly blow off the unit so crud doesn’t collect around the float but since you have a probe unit, draining off boiler water isn’t necessary and because of the dissolved oxygen problem, can be considered possibly detrimental/  I only drain my boiler about once a year.



Are you familiar with “skimming”?  Do you have a skim port?   You might want to take a look at this thread.   http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/143361/Steamaster-tablets-water-treatment

Others are using the Steamaster tablets and have been very happy with them. They might help keep the crud build up under control.

- Rod

ChrisR

Valve Shot

Thanks Rod. I will take a trip to the plumbing supply shop tomorrow morning to see if they have the valve in stock, if not I will order one. The valve is definitely broken and leaks a small amount steam. I don't think I have a skim tapping.  

Sil

0-3 psi gauge

Since these steam boilers should not run above 2 psi (and that is what the P-trol should be monitoring) lots of folks will add a 0-3 psi gauge to their boiler (use the same pigtail you just cleaned and buy some brass tee's and put the 0-3 on one side of the tee and the p-trol on the other. Monitoring the boiler on the 0-3 will tell you if the p-trol is working better than a 0-30 gauge will (though 0-30 is required by code).



I think what you did will prevent the 15psi valve from tripping... thank goodness there is redundancy built into these boilers or it could've really gotten ugly

Rod

Safety Valve Replacement

It's pretty normal for safety valves to leak after they've been used/opened. They should be tested yearly though a lot of pros don't like to do this as the valves then invariably leak and the homeowner is ticked off "as it didn't leak before you tested it!! "  It's better to just consider replacing the valve yearly.

- Rod

SWEI

relief valve exhaust pipe

Plumb it in copper if you want it to look nice or if it's exposed to the weather.



Pipe in CPVC if you want safety at the lowest cost.

Hap_Hazzard

Type "M" copper

I assume everybody knows this, but type "M" copper (red stripe) is cheaper than the "L" you use for water lines.