Adding Water

wildrage

I was certain I'd find the answer to this question in a search, but I read through like 25 threads, and couldn't find anyone who had asked it this same way.

I have a 250,000 BTU Wells-McLane boiler, 1 pipe system. Some of my vents leak, some of my packing nuts need to be repacked, etc. It's on my list of things to do. I know adding water causes more corrosion, and I make sure I boil the water immediately after adding. As it is, every 1.5 weeks are so, my sight glass goes from 1/2 full to 1/3 full, and I add a few gallons of water, after the blow down of the cut off.

Question is - when is it safe to add water to a boiler? As it is now, I turn my thermostat down (or when the weather isn't crazy, just wait for a cycle to end), and then wait 60-90 mins to add water. At that point, the water from the blow down is still smokey, and the header is still hot to the touch, but isn't super hot - like I can grab it for 10 seconds comfortably. Is that okay? Am I too paranoid and waiting too long? I have a auto water feed, which i disabled - and that bad boy doesn't care how hot the boiler is when adding water, so I guess it isn't too catatrophic? I mean by definition, it's triggered by the low water cut off, so it's always going to be adding water mid cycle. Again, I have this disabled, because I think it's for the lazy, and I'm afraid it will flood my house. A hydrolevel VXT will be an addition in the spring.

I'm guessing the majority of the answers will be "Get the boiler as cool as you possibly can", but I'd also like more pragmatic, realistic answers .

Thanks,

Jim

wildrage

Yikes, and after looking at threads posted today, I think I found my answer. Wish there was a way to delete. Sorry for the "Forum Foul" :-(

EBEBRATT-Ed

@wildrage it's safe to add water any time. It's best if the city water is teed into the returns or the Hartford loop so the cold water mixes with the hot returns rather than putting cold water directly into the boiler itself although a lot of old jobs were piped that way.

Either way, just add the cold water slowly and you will be fine

wildrage

EBEBRATT-Ed said:

@wildrage it's safe to add water any time. It's best if the city water is teed into the returns or the Hartford loop so the cold water mixes with the hot returns rather than putting cold water directly into the boiler itself although a lot of old jobs were piped that way.

Either way, just add the cold water slowly and you will be fine

Thanks! The autofeed is teed into the return, but I have the water cut off via a ball valve. I've just been opening the valve and hitting the manual feed button whenever I need to add water.