Low water cutoff and water feed Suggestions

drew1942

I have an old Weil McClain steam boiler Mode E3 ( Model EG currently is similar).
The water feed and the low water cutoff combo stopped working years ago due to leaks, so I started to fill the water manually with no problem. However I plan to leave in the winter coming up for an extended period and I want to add the cutoff and the water feed back.

I just bought the Model 67 Mcdonnell Miller LWCO as I got a good deal on it and now I am looking for a compatible water feed unit to work with it. I have seen several advertised
WFE24 Unimatch
WFE 120 Unimatch
101A-120
101A-24

I believe I need the 24 volt versions in each case. I am leaning towards the WFE24 Unimatch unless someone knows of a better part to use. The others are more expensive. I have heard the 101 A-24 gasket leaks
Any ideas?

JStar

We use the Hydrolevel VXT models. Big benefit is that they have a built in water usage meter.

Jamie Hall

I'd prefer the Hydrolevel -- I have one, and the built in water meter is very handy indeed.

nicholas bonham-carter

Does the Hydro level VXT measure the actual gallons of water fed, or merely the time the valve is open?

I have resisted an auto feeder up to now, but now have a very small leak in one of the rubber gaskets between sections of my 2007 installed PB 211A-1,050,000 BTU, (confirmed by an overfill test).

Maybe I just should bite the bullet, and have the end section taken off for examination as soon as the heating season is over. However, if one has developed a leak, I wonder about the others.-NB-C

EBEBRATT-Ed

@nicholas bonham-carter

If it has not been leaking long you can probably just rejacket that section

ethicalpaul

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/155076/low-water-cutoff-and-water-feed-suggestions

My idea is leave it like it is and have a friend check your house once per week.

Big Ed_4

Hydrolevel measures by the gallon…

STEAM DOCTOR

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1890958#Comment_1890958

Not really. They measure by the assumed gallon. It has no mechanism to measure how much water actually passes through. It just measures how many minutes, it's supposedly feeding. It assumes that it's one gallon per minute. Let's say for example you shut the ball valve upstream of the feeder. It will feed nothing, but it will still register the minutes that it thinks it's feeding.

Steamhead

Even so, the VXT is by far the best choice.

Big Ed_4

That's good to know ..

nicholas bonham-carter

Thanks -that’s what I needed to know.

I will probably leave it valved off, and just top it off from time to time, as needed, but I will have an idea about how much water loss occurs in the future. -NBC

exqheat

i HAVE SEEN MORE BOILER FAIL BECAUSE THE FOLKS WHO WERE ASSIGNED TO CHECK IT, QUIT, MOVED, WENT ON VACATION. BAD MOVE. Get the feeder and leave the feed valve partialy open, if you don't want the water to rush in.

I cut back my feed valves quite often. Boilers are not receiving condensate fast enough and can often add too much water.

ethicalpaul

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1891119#Comment_1891119

Your story rings false.

A boiler is going to fail if it fires without water. We all understand this.

The LWCO triggers the boiler to stop, and it also triggers the auto-feed to feed.

If you don't have an auto-feed, the boiler will simply stop firing. It will not fail.

Unless the LWCO has failed first.

But if the LWCO has failed, it won't call for water either.

So you cannot blame the failure of a boiler simply on the lack of an auto feed.

exqheat

If the mc d miller is full of mud due to lack of blow down practice to clear it, the ball will be stuck on top of the mud. The water fill will not be triggered. Combine that with the secondary lwco failure, which is seldom cleaned, the boiler will cook down and fail. Seen it too many times.

ethicalpaul

Yes, if you don't blow down a float LWCO it can get stuck. But that problem isn't solved by an auto-feeder. If the float is stuck the auto-feeder won't be called upon.

My suggestion that you disagreed with to have a friend check their boiler weekly is compatible with proper weekly flushing of a float-style LWCO (which itself is getting very rare today in single and double residential situations).

exqheat

When the friend doesn't show up is when you have a problem. I have seen it often enough, that this method should not be an option.

ethicalpaul

I agree! But you are the one who warned of float LWCOs not getting flushed…so I guess you agree with me too! If having a friend check on your property isn't an option, who is flushing the LWCO?

exqheat

MC Mil flushing is not necessary that often. Depends on how dirty your system water is. I have seen them flushed once every six months and they still operate well in between. You will know when you flush it. If the water is clean you can do it less frequestly. Its like soup , taste and adjust. If there is a lot of dirt when you flush, clean the boiler.

ethicalpaul

I agree with that too, but the manufacturers say weekly. But anyway those are finally going the way of the do-do, at least in residential it seems.