Basic maintenance, and where do I drain/blow down from?

SethK

I read the manual but all it says about maintenance is I have to do it or the warranty will be void. Not exactly helpful. I read you should drain it, and did so until the water in the glass gauge was clear. Later I noticed another drain. Then another. Which drain am I supposed to use?

Drains 1 and 2:


Drain 3:


And do I do that when the boiler is firing?

Also what should I do during the summer months -- turn off the pilot? Drain it completely? Anything?

Thank you!

It's a Burnham PIN5SNC-ME2

Fred

The drains on the wet return pipes are to allow you to flush out the wet returns to get crud out of them. It's a good idea to do that once a year. Draining and flushing the boiler is a matter of personal choice, some drain and flush it out every year, so only do it every two or three years, depending on how dirty the water looks. You drain the boiler from the bottom drain on the front of the boiler.
Another annual maintenance item is to take the Pressuretrol off and clean out the pigtail (looped pipe) it is mounted on. They can get clogged and prevent the pressuretrol from actually seeing the boiler pressure. You have a probe type Low water cut-off on that boiler so you don't have to do any blow downs. Blow downs are done on float type Low water cut-offs. When/if you do drain the boiler, that's a good time to take the probe out of that LWCO and clean it with steel wool.
Leave the water in the boiler over the summer. Leave the pilot (if it is a standing pilot) on. That helps to keep moisture out of the burner section. I would do all the draining, wet returns and boiler with the boiler off. Boiling water can be dangerous! If you feel you need to back flush the wet returns, hook a hose up to one of the open drain valves and open another drain to allow the water to flush out.
During the summer, walk all of your mains and returns and make sure there are no leaks and that the pitch of the pipe is correct. Check your main vents and make sure they are operable.

JUGHNE

Also, if you drain and refill, to bring the boiler up to a boil. This will boil the oxygen out of the fresh water. Fresh/new water with its O2 will hasten the corrosion of the cast iron boiler, so boil it out.

ChrisJ

Curious,

What are those two AC plugs plugged into the boiler's power? A yellow cord and a black cord?

jumper

Nice to meter make up water. If you use a lot blow down/drain more often.

SethK

Thanks for all the great advice! Yeah, I forgot the water would be 212 if I drained it while it was on... I'm slow sometimes. Sounds like I've been doing things right. When I first moved in the water looked like mud and the boiler sounded angry so I've been trying to keep it clean and the radiators tuned and balanced, and I'm slowly insulating the pipes (so many joints... so much work...)

The cords from the outlet go to a central vacuum and to whatever power tool is currently connected to the yellow extension cord. I hope to rewire the basement soon and have dedicated outlets. Currently almost every light is on a different circuit and that's the only outlet on that side (the other side has one with a BX cable buried under ground, trips the GFCI a lot...) my house had very creative electricians.

Fred

jumper said:

Nice to meter make up water. If you use a lot blow down/drain more often.

I'm not following this train of thought @jumper ? I would try to find the source of the leak.

jumper

Fred said:

jumper said:

Nice to meter make up water. If you use a lot blow down/drain more often.

I'm not following this train of thought @jumper ? I would try to find the source of the leak.

Yes adding water should be minimized.But if it isn't,or you cannot,and the added water contains minerals....