Keeping boiler at 180 for cleaning

Bob_Engelhardt

My boiler's mfg (Weil-McCl...) says to hold the boiler at 180 degrees while cleaning it.  How would I do that?  I have an digital thermometer with 3' lead that I can use to measure the water temp, but I don't  want to sit there for 2 hours watching it.

An hydronic boiler would be easy, but how do you set the temperature on a steam boiler?

Bob

MDNLansing

Relay

Not sure what your skill set includes, but you could rig up a temp probe and relay to switch the burner on and off.

Bob_Engelhardt

Like a remote bulb Aquastat?

I could do tthat readily.  I don't like spending $100 for the Aquastat that I'd use once a year (if I actually cleaned the boiler yearly).  I made a thermistor based remote thermostat for controlling a heating pad for starting seeds.  I think that I'll add an option to that for a 180 degree range.



This has made me curious, though.  There are thousands (?) of Weil-Mc steam boilers out there.  Do they get cleaned?  If so, is the factory procedure of holding at 180 used?  If so, how do they do it?  Professionals aren't going to sit there watching it.  I suppose for them, having a remote bulb Aquastat dedicated to the task would not be a big deal.

Thanks,

Bob