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Can I repipe this low water cutoff?

bruce_21
bruce_21 Member Posts: 241
in Strictly Steam
As you can see in the first photo the low water cut-off is raised up a couple inches by being piped with two 45's and a short nipple between them. I think this was done to insure that the tankless coil (also visible in the pictures) would always be submerged in the boiler water for good heat transfer and high domestic hot water output.



Now the client has an 80 gallon electric HWH and it seems that the tankless is no longer used though it is still piped as a preheater for the electric, but all the various valves are closed so it is out of the loop and these are not the sort of folks to be fussing with HWH valves twice a year.



The problem is that with the low water cut-off piped this way the boiler water line is very close to the location of the pigtail for the pressuretrol and the gauge. I recently found the pigtail clogged and the system roaring up to 10+ psi and I think when the water line fluctuates water and boiler crud is going into the pigtail.



What is the best thing to do here?

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,531
    The first, and most obvious question

    is: where is the feed point/low water cutoff point on the LWCO relative to the boiler's design water line (which should be in the manual for the boiler)?  If the thing is where it is supposed to be in that regard then I'd leave it alone.  If not, then I would adjust it so that it was where it is supposed to be, whatever that took.



    I've got to admit that I'm not really happy with piping the gauge and LWCO that way, though -- if the water line was better with it straight, I'd do it.



    Now as to the pigtail... regardless of whether you change the water line, is there, by any chance, a handy dandy tapping on the top of the boiler you could use instead?  There might be.  That would be a better choice anyway.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,261
    low water

    Don't know about other States but in MA that wouldn't pass inspection. You cant have any elbows in the nipples before the gage glass. The Y fittings furnished with the M/M 47 feeder/cutoff are ok but the nipples have to come straight out of the boiler into the gage glass with no turns.

    Too easy to plug up with crud. Not only that looks like you have galvanized ?? fittings their. They have to be all brass fittings.

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