Did I destroy my vents?

musicrc

I did something really boneheaded this morning. I added water to the boiler by opening the valve only part way. Then instead of closing the vent, I opened it all the way. I didn't realize that until maybe 10 minutes later when I was in the kitchen and heard water running. I went into the basement and discovered what I had done. Meanwhile there was water all over the floor. I shut the valve and turned the power off to the boiler. Then I started emptying buckets of water. At one point, it started raining on me as water started spraying out of the main vents. (Honestly, I'm not sure if the water was coming out of the vent or if it was coming out from around the threads.) After emptying maybe 25 gallons of water, the level in the sight tube was back to normal. I flipped the power back on, and all seemed normal. My question: could the water pressure in the vents have damaged them? Do I need to replace all my vents?

Thanks,

Bob

Fred

The vents are probably OK. If they start to stick open or closed, take them off and soak them in vinegar for a hour or two and shake the out. It is possible that you washed some crud up into them but that can be washed out. They probably were still closed from a heat cycle and when the water hit them they opened up and rained on you.

BobC

Many years ago I did something similar when I added water to the boiler. Like you I had to drain buckets of water but once I got the level back to normal all was well.

I think your vents will be fine, just follow Fred's advice if one of them does not seem to be working.

Bob