Empting the Dirty water weekly

ksd99

When I purchased my home on October I was told to fill the turkey pan, see attached with the dirty / rusty water, stop once the water is clear or clean. Sometimes it 1 pain other times it’s 2 pans worth, which often causes the auto refill to go on. I read somewhere that fresh water is not good for a boiler. I am doing harm to the boiler?

JUGHNE

One thing to remember is if fresh water must be added is to be sure to fire the boiler and boil the oxygen out of the fresh water.

Could you post more pictures showing the piping around the boiler, stand back and show floor to ceiling, all 4 sides?

ksd99

ksd99

ChrisJ

I would stop doing that.

With a probe style LWCO there is no need to drain water from a steam system except during your annual maintenance.

ChrisJ

Out of curiosity, who told you to do this?

JUGHNE

The worst of sludge would collect in the tee to the right of your drain pan. If you could remove the plug in the bottom of the tee and drain that maybe once a year, you would keep the debris from going into the boiler.....again boil off oxygen after refilling.

We seldom see that brand of boiler piped this well with both full sized outlet used with skim plugs.
How well does it heat? Any problems? Does the water level in the sight glass stay pretty steady while running?

ksd99

ChrisJ. The former owner and the Hvac that has been doing the maintenance. I am in search of a steam pro in sw Michigan, I was also told by the hvac I had to live with the banging of radiators which I am pitching and correcting. I need someone that knows Steam.

ksd99

Jughne it runs ok, this is new to me I was born and raised on forced air. The water level flexuates a bit when running. When I increase the temp, the radiator vents become louder / I am thinking it might need a additional main vent. It only has 1. But then again I am a novice.

ChrisJ

There's two types of "banging".

One is hammering from water mixing with steam. This happens if a pipe isn't pitched good or sometimes a radiator isn't pitched good. Or, if too small of a valve was used on a single pipe system because the water trying to drain back mingles with the steam going in the other direction.

The more common type of "banging" is from thermal expansion. This causes things, such as pipes to make a popping noise against metal hangers, or wood floors etc as it expands and contracts.

The first thing you need to do is figure out what the noises you have are. Is it making a loud popping noise every time the system first heats up? If pipes are rubbing on flooring, pieces of plastic milk jug stuck between the pipe and the wood can act as a bushing and quiet it down. Same with hangers if they're rubbing against the main as it expands. In my experience, these usually make a loud "THUNK" rather than a "pop, pop, pop popopopopop".

Hammering, literally sounds like someone hitting a pipe or a radiator with a metal hammer. It's very distinct.

nicholas bonham-carter

I am sure that Hoffman main vent is too small, and a Big Mouth vent could be added on a tee.
Was it ever skimmed, subsequent to installation? The gauge glass looks mucky. Peerless has a cleaning procedure in the manuals, using “Arm&Hammer” washing soda for initial cleaning, followed by skimming. Now would be the time to remove the plug on the outlet, put in a street elbow, and a full size ball valve, pointing down into the bucket. If you have a nearby floor drain, you could put on some temporary piping over to the drain. Make sure you have a good reading light, and a long Russian (our new best friends) novel, for the hours you will have to watch the trickle into the bucket!
Try a steady setting on the thermostat, and listen for any hammering. You could check each run of pipe with a magnetic level to find any sections which may be back pitched, causing condensate to pool.
When all done with that, insulate the pipes with an inch of fiberglass pipe insulation, or even with regular fiberglass insulation, as it is better than nothing.—NBC