Is there an automatic water feeder with an alarm for steam boilers?

TeachMeSteam

Do they make an automatic water feeder for a steam boiler that also sounds an alarm if there is too much makeup water that the steam boiler is taking in?

I am guessing that this would be too specific a product but hoping there is something like this.

Jamie Hall

Some automatic feeders have a meter on them, which is very handy. Or you could put a water meter on the feed line. It's a little difficult to define "too much" -- what is fine for a big commercial boiler is way too much for a small residential unit.

TeachMeSteam

Jamie Hall said:

Some automatic feeders have a meter on them, which is very handy. Or you could put a water meter on the feed line. It's a little difficult to define "too much" -- what is fine for a big commercial boiler is way too much for a small residential unit.

Do you know if they have alarms for these things. With just a water meter, it's very likely that no one will check it for ages.

Danny Scully

I (along with the help of a few others) created this on a recent install:

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/169147/high-water-cut-off#latest

Jamie Hall

Just an alarm would actually be almost trivial. Most feeders operate off a signal -- usually but not always 24 volt -- from the low water cutoff. All you need to do is to put a relay in parallel with that signal, and have the contacts trigger an alarm -- light or what have you. Since the duration of the signal is short (usually!) the alarm should latch, but that's not really a problem electrically, although another relay would be involved.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@TeachMeSteam
You don't want an alarm. Adding water to a steam system isn't an alarm condition.

The easiest way would be a water meter. A water meter connected to a properly operating system will give you a baseline of how much water that is being added.

Then if you see an increase you know you have an issue