Where Did My Condensate Go?

ced48

For the last couple of months, I have been getting a good amount of condensate draining out of the trap. Now,I am seeing very little. Boiler is still operating in condensing temperature range almost all of the time. Outdoor temp is colder, and the air is dryer, otherwise no change. Why such a noticeable change? Lochinvar WH 55-

unclejohn

The

Dew point for nat. gas is 136*F I think or close to it. Is your return water temp above that?

Steamfitter66

Dry air will

If the outdoor air is cold and dry it will absorb a fair amount of water. Return water temp plays the biggest part in condensing.

ced48

Return Water Below 130 Degrees-

so where's the condensate?

hot_rod

how do you know

how much it is condensing? Is it draining into a bucket or some collection system?

Jean-David Beyer

where's the condensate?

For a typical mod-con, it just barely starts to condense when the return water is 130F. The colder, the more condensation. I get more condensation when the return temperature is about 78F than I do when it is 130F.



For example, when it is still above freezing outside, I put a bucket (2 1/2 gallons?) under where the condensate drains and it fills it to overflowing in 24 hours, so I do not really know how much I get. More than that, obviously. And when it is really cold, like last night when both zones ran all night, I do not know how much condensate it produced because I do not leave a bucket out there in freezing weather. Besides, I would need a bigger bucket, or to check it more often and I never bothered to do that.



In the summer, when all I do is run the boiler up to 175F for 10 minutes or so twice a day to heat the indirect water heater, I do get a little condensate each time as the boiler warms up from room temperature. So once in a while the condensate pump pumps it out. But by no means every time.



And even when it is condensing a lot, condensed steam ("white smoke") comes out the vent pipe, so it is clearly not condensing all the water out.

ced48

I Use To Be Able

to see a trickle, or better, every time the boiler was running. Now, just about nothing. Could it be that because the boiler is so active with the current cold weather, that it is starting from a warmer temperature than during the "shoulder seasons"? Just wondering if there is anything I could have screwed up?