low water

Paul S_3

Hey guys.....I have a question is it possible for a steam boiler to be so grossly oversized or over fired that it will cause the water to steam so fast that it will cause the boiler to trip the low water cutoff? Thanks Paul S

Jamie Hall

Oversized wouldn't do it

by itself, but really truly gross overfiring could I suppose -- but it would have to be really truly out of line.



However, there are any number of other reasons why a hard firing boiler could have its water level drop to the point where it tripped the LWCO -- starting with a whole raft of possible problems with near boiler piping, ranging to improper installation (too low), improper pressure (too high -- very common), problems with returns...



And on and on and on.

Hydronicz

do you have

Any info on the size pipeing, pressure settings, sq ft steam for building? you can also get this problem with an under sized boiler as well. Also you may have slow returns. Does the boiler flood after the heating cycle is complete?

Paul S_3

low water

Boiler is 80000 btus oversized... building has 450 Sq ft of radiation and boiler is 200,000 btus... pressure settings are at .5psi to 1.5psi.... And yes the boiler floods eventually. ...a new wet return was installed a few years ago by another company, I guess the buried wet return was either leaking or clogged. ... customer stated that this problem started after boiler was installed so months ago. ..." A" dimension is fine I have exactly 28".... boiler is piped properly both tappings were used no drop header though boiler piping looks fine.... Paul S

JStar

Steam

Is the water very dirty? And not just in the glass? Is the glass clean? Maybe giving a false water level.