American Standard Arcoliner Hot Water Boiler Maintenance

Alex_19

Hey Guys!

I have recently been tasked with taking care of my uncle's house, which is approximately 700 sq. ft. He has been hospitalized and is now not living in his home.



There is an American Standard Arcoliner Oil-fired Hot Water Boiler with a tankless coil. Over the years he did not convey much information to me when discussing the heating system there, except for regular cleanings of the oil burner and furnace. Otherwise, the system seems to maintain itself. He did not discuss adding water to the system, and sure enough when I examined the plant, I do not see a feeder valve or sight tube.



As I am more familiar with steam boilers (since I've had two of them), I am not very familiar with the one such as is at my uncle's house. I want to keep everything running correctly, and do not want to neglect it. Yet, I also want to conserve on oil which, as everyone knows, is extremely expensive. So I am keeping the thermostat set to about 60 degrees.



When I checked on it today, the boiler was not running. Understandable because the temperature here was nearly 60 degrees. However, it sounded as if the circulator pump (which I believe is the red cylindrical device) was running. Concerned that this was not correct, I shut off power to the furnace.



Everything seems to be okay, but I would please appreciate knowing if I did the right thing or if the pump running without the boiler in operation is normal.



And also should I keep the boiler running regardless on warmer days?



Thank you for your guidance.

heatpro02920

If no one is

occupying the building and the outside temps are not below 32* I would shut the system down, why heat the house when no one is there?

Jamie Hall

Keep in mind

that hot water systems are a little different from steam!  There won't be a sight glass at all, for instance, since the whole thing is supposed to be full of water all the time.  Expansion is taken care of in several different ways, but most commonly there will be an expansion tank somewhere on the piping -- usually quite near the boiler.



May not find a feeder valve, either -- although there has to be some way to get water into the system in the first place.



Further, the system is controlled very differently.  When the thermostat calls for heat, the circulator pump will run.  When the circulating water is too cool, a different thermostat -- an aquastat -- on the boiler or on the piping right near by will ask the burner to run, to warm up the water.  So having the circulator running when the burner isn't running really isn't that surprising.  All depends on how the controls are set.



That said, heatpro's comment is good: if the outside air temp is above freezing at night, and no one is in the building, why run it at all?

Chris117

Bleeding an Arcoliner

My Arcoliner is just like this and the water system makes all sorts of noise in the pipes.



Can you tell me how to bleed it?



I can't figure it out...there is an overflow pipe coming out of the top, which has a spring-loaded value on it that I can open. But otherwise I don't see and straightforward valves of pipes to bleed the system. The expansion tank was replaced recently, but I can't see any way to get water flowing through there.... Thank you in advance for your advice! Chris

Jamie Hall

That spring loaded valve

is a safety valve -- and keeps the whole thing from blowing up.  It's good if it works.  It shouldn't drip.



As far as bleeding, there may be bleeder valves on the radiators which can be used.  There may also be bleeder valves at high points in the piping.  Otherwise, there may be an air eliminator device somewhere near the pressure tank.  It can be difficult to get all the air out of a system; a very small amount of Dawn dishwashing liquid has been used with success -- but find the regular bleeders first, and get as much air as you can that way.

billtwocase

Arcoliner

Unfortunately this boiler will maintain temperature for the side arm coil. You can go down to 50 degrees for the house thermostat, and that will keep the green pump behind the boiler from running more often. The big red thingy is the side arm tankless water heater. I have seen a lot of different burners on this boiler, never a non flame retention Wayne. If this boiler is still in operation come next heating season, or maybe sooner, I would update the burner, chamber, and baffle the passage ways. They are a tough old bird, but not economical. Also, there should be an auto feed somewhere.