New Boiler Maintenance Schedule?

SwedishPimple

Hi All...

My wife and I are proud owners of a new steam boiler... Burnham IN6.

Is there a maintenance schedule that should be followed with these new Boilers?

Is there anything that homeowners like myself can take on or check as a part of this?

The old boiler had a blow down valve that was theoretically used to flush out the crud every so often. I assume that this routine service is no longer needed since this valve is gone?

FYI... We do have a skim port, boiler drain valve, and a drain on the bottom of the return. There is also a large plug on the base of the equalizer than looks like it could be used to hose out the interior of the boiler if that is ever needed.

S.P.

nicholas bonham-carter

Surely there must be a drain valve at the bottom of the boiler, or on the wet return. This valve can serve that purpose of bottom flushing the boiler. When adding back the water thus released, make the boiler fire to drive out the oxygen in the fresh water.
Since you say there is a skimming port, do you know that the new boiler has been skimmed? Do a search here for skimming instructions.
If there is an auto-feed on the boiler, valve it off, so you can see if there is any excessive water use, so corrective action can be taken.
Make sure there are no cleaning chemicals (containing sodium), or water softener salt stored nearby,the fumes of which could be inhaled by the burner, and cause graphitic corrosion. You could also check with your water supplier to see if chlorides are present in your supply.--NBC

SwedishPimple

Yes. There are valves for draining on the boiler and the return line. The boiler has been skimmed.

I'm just curious what the ongoing maintenance routine should look like for our steam boiler? What should be done and when... annual? seasonal? weekly? etc.

Also... how much of this routine maintenance can we do ourselves. Some things are better left to the pros, but I'd still like to know what maintenance to expect and what to look out for.

Thanks!
S.P.

gerry gill

Should be serviced by a pro once a year, A steam boiler seldom can go over a year without attention.