Steam Boiler Keeps Cutting Off

wildrage

Hey Folks:

I turned my heating system on for the first time a few days ago, and it was working fine. It's a 1 pipe steam system. This morning I started getting a 'no power' message on my thermostat, meaning that the boiler wasn't sending a signal.

I did a bunch a troubleshooting, and found that if I open the drain valve for a few seconds when the thermostat is calling for heat, the boiler clicks on, runs for about 2 minutes, then turns off again. When the boiler shuts off, if I open the valve for a few more seconds again, and it runs for another 2 mins. I have an auto feed water system to the boiler, and haven't touched anything since I stopped using it. I only tried this twice, as I didnt' want to create an unsafe condition.

Looking at the water level glass, it is at half way when the boiler is off, and shoots up to where I can't see the line when the boiler clicks on.

A few weeks before the end of the cold season, SteamHead came up and replaced the pigtail, which was all clogged up, with a brass one. Besides that, I haven't touched anything on the unit.

Any ideas?


Thanks,

Jim

Jamie Hall

If @Steamhead came and worked on it once, he'll come again! So that would be plan A.

From the sound of it, it sounds as though one of your safeties - probably pressure -- is opening and killing power to the system. That may be what it's wired up to do -- without a wiring diagram I'd be an idiot to say. The question then is, which one, and why?

Is there by any chance a king valve on the system which somehow got closed?

wildrage

I wish it was that easy to have steamhead come over - he lives about 200 miles away in Baltimore . I had the company that installed it come in. They said it was filled about 6 gallons high. I have an autofeed, so they told me to monitor it, and if it continues to get high, I may need to swap out the autofeeder. Thanks for you help!

BobC

I assume you closed the valve that feeds the autofeed so it can't overfeed anymore. Did they verify the low water cutoff works?

Monitor the level of water in the sight glass a couple of times a day to see whats going on. If the level does not increase after a few days you may need a new autofeeder.

Bob

Steamhead

I'd say the water is dirty and that's making it shoot up like that. Drain some out and you'll probably find it dark brown or black. DO NOT add cold water to a hot boiler- let it cool for several hours before refilling, or you'll crack it.

For some reason, every single steamer we've serviced recently has had this issue. So we've been doing a LOT of flushing and skimming.

If dirty water isn't the problem, the feeder may be leaking. Shut off the water feed line and see if that helps. Or the condensate pump may be taking too long to come on and pump the water back- another reason to go back to gravity return.

Let us know how you make out. P.S.- did we win the draft gauge at the silent auction house?

Fred

Do you have a tankless coil in that boiler for hot water? If so, they sometimes will spring a leak (internal to the boiler and over fill the boiler. If you have a tankless coil, and you turn the water supply off to the auto feeder and the boiler still over fills, most likely a leak in the coil.

Steamhead

Fred said:

Do you have a tankless coil in that boiler for hot water? If so, they sometimes will spring a leak (internal to the boiler and over fill the boiler. If you have a tankless coil, and you turn the water supply off to the auto feeder and the boiler still over fills, most likely a leak in the coil.

No, he doesn't.