Ready for Heating Season, I Think. :)

Dave_154

JoeS (jstar) came late last year and fix a leaky riser pipe and worked on the boiler. He added a blowdown for the sight glass, new bottom valves and a skim port and a couple of cleanings and skims.

Getting ready for this heating season I thought I'd drain sediment from the bottom first. No water. Had to take the first valve off and run a nylon tie up to the boiler to bust loose the sediment to drain. Nice and red and chunky. Good thing the boiler water was cool. :) Fired up the boiler and lots of bubbling noises with some banging in the boiler itself, not the pipes. Figured a skim was in order.



Today was skimming day. Couldn't bust the skim port loose so back to HD for a 2nd 2 inch pipe wrench. I could not believe the black crud in the cap and skim port pipe. Not red (rust), it was black sludge. No wonder it was tough to remove. :) Fours hours later, maybe 1 gallon of skimmed water, closed the skim port and fired her up. Nice and quiet! YAYYY!

I'll do the skim again in a week or so when the temps drop again.



So nice to understand what I'm doing (kind of) and wanted to say thanks to JoeS for spending time explaining and you all on the Wall for the valuable information you willingly dispense.

Thank you.



Dave

JStar

Heat

Good news that just a skimming was needed.



The skim port always seems to collect a lot of sludge. I see that as a good thing. It's like an automatic skimmer. Keep us updated on the water quality. The first blow-down after sitting all summer can be really mucky.

ChrisJ

Sitting all summer

After sitting all summer my boiler water is still crystal clear purple.  Another reason I'll never run plain water again.



As for skimming, I tried it 6 times and gave up.  After that I found using a wand like Gerry Gill works far better and faster.  Please see this thread : http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/143078/Rinsing-the-boiler



I think that thread is also where Gerry Gill first told me about the steamaster tablets as well.  I swear by them now.  After using the wand one time my boiler has been spotless.  No more oil, no more gunk.

Dave_154

Update

Still going good. 3rd skimming completed today. Much more stable, quieter both in boiler & rads. I don't even know it's steaming until I hear expansion noises. (next thing to tackle )

I did notice a little 'knocking' in the boiler in the first couple of minutes. Way before steam is generated. I'm assuming that's gunk in the base of the boiler. Just a couple of 'knocks' that rattle the main vents (Gorton) a little bit. Doesn't get transmitted upstairs at all. Can't be water surface noises that soon, can it?

Wand cleaning is next on the agenda. I've got to winterize the outdoors first.



Started work on new rad covers with a buddy. Need to finish those soon. They'll be wood instead of metal. Cats won't be happy when the top of the rad is cool. I think them stretching out on the top is robbing a degree or two of heating from the rooms.

ChrisJ

Great news!

Glad to hear everything is working out.



Sounds like its time to cut up some plastic milk jugs eh? Only problem I've had is trying to keep the plastic shims in place, they like to work out of the gap between the floor and pipe.