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Black stuff in sight glass

bostonbean
bostonbean Member Posts: 5
edited October 2014 in THE MAIN WALL
My wife and I just purchased a house and had the old oil boiler converted to a new natural gas boiler. We did the conversion over the summer, but it just got cool enough that we tried the boiler today. It seemed to work fine, but after it ran, I checked the water level in the sight glass and noticed that it seems to be full of oil / sludge / something black. I've attached a photo of it. A few questions:

1. Is this normal sludge that just needs to be skimmed? Or something else?
2. I'm assuming the company that installed it will skim it. Is skimming it part of the installation cost that I already paid? Or should I expect to pay them to skim it?
3. Is the boiler safe to use until Monday, or whenever they can come out? It's not too cold, so probably don't need to run it, but want to make sure I won't damage it somehow if I do.

Thanks so much!

Comments

  • BobC
    BobC Member Posts: 5,502
    Companies used to include skimming in the price when installing a new boiler but unless it's in writing you will have to do it yourself or perhaps pay them to do it.

    Did they install a skim port? If you look at the boiler manual they usually indicate where the skim port should be.

    The boiler is safe to use but it does have to be skimmed to get rid of the oils introduced during the installation. i would call them and tell them the boiler has to be skimmed and see what they will do for you.

    Bob
    Smith G8-3 with EZ Gas @ 90,000 BTU, Single pipe steam
    Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
    3PSI gauge
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
    Some brand new boilers have a bunch of metal shavings left over from manufacturing, too. Looks like you have a little bit of oil and metal. I would have the company skim and flush the boiler as many times as it takes to get it clean(er).

    Any pictures of the entire installation? We're always curious to see other peoples' work.
  • bostonbean
    bostonbean Member Posts: 5
    Thanks so much for the helpful comments. I've attached a few more pictures -- not quite sure what angle / perspective you are looking for, but hopefully this gives you an idea. Let me know if you have any feedback or suggestions!

    I'm still reading about skimming on this site -- I can't quite tell if there's a skim port -- still need to find the manual for this boiler.
  • bostonbean
    bostonbean Member Posts: 5
    PS sorry the photos are rotated. They look vertical on my computer, but for some reason came through horizontally on this forum.
  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
    Looks like a decent installation. The skim port is hidden behind the jacket on the right side of the boiler. There is a plug in the tapping from the factory that needs to be removed in order to install a skim pipe.
  • bostonbean
    bostonbean Member Posts: 5
    Thanks. I'll get the installer to come out to install the skim pipe and maybe show me how to skim it.

    In looking at the manual, it seems like there's space for two steam pipes out but only one is being used. Is there any advantage to using both?
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,878
    Not necessarily on the two pipes. That is a relatively small boiler, and so long as the single riser is the size specified in the installation manual it should work fine. Looks like a good installation.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
    We frequently geek out over drop headers, minimizing riser velocities, or building the perfect skim port setup.

    This is a by the book install, but it's well done and is really BY THE BOOK. The tall riser should have no trouble keeping water out of the header.

    If only half of the boilers we see here looked that good...
  • bostonbean
    bostonbean Member Posts: 5
    Thanks so much for all your feedback -- glad to hear it looks good!

    I talked to the installer -- he suggested trying to drain some water out and refill rather than skimming. Is that a good option? Or should I try to get him out to set up a skim port and skim? If I do drain, what's the process? I found a number of articles on skimming, but couldn't find much on draining / flushing. Is it just as simple as draining water out and refilling? Do I need to do anything with the radiators like in a hot water system?

    Thanks so much for all your help!
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
    Draining water from below the waterline will not remove oil or floating debris, at least without adding a floculant.
  • Abracadabra
    Abracadabra Member Posts: 1,948
    Just draining and refilling will allow oils to cling to the sides of the boiler. When you refill, the oils will just float back up to the top again. The boiler needs to be properly skimmed.

    Here's some info on skimming:

    http://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/148210/skimming-weil-mclain-eg-55-steam-boiler

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