How long should it take to cool down old steam boiler?

tomsloancamp

I plan to replace my boiler in a couple of weeks and was hoping not to have to fire it up. Unfortunately the family got cold and now the boiler is running. It’s an old American Standard Arcoliner and I believe it holds 55 gallons. How long would it take to cool down to as to not cause any harm to someone taking it apart?

Jamie Hall

A few hours to a day...

Leon82

I would imagine after a couple of hours it would be cool enough to drain into a bucket without a steam cloud being released.
Room temp may take longer if you have a floor drain you could drain it a little hotter I guess since you won't have to worry about melting a plastic bucket.

Once empty it will cool faster.

JUGHNE

If the old boiler is toast, you could let it cool a couple hours and then turn the fill valve on a little, watch the sight glass and raise the level slowly and open the boiler drain a little.
This would cool down the CI eventually. Don't hit the hot CI with a lot of cold water. Just a small flow into the fill which should be in the lower part of the boiler.

SeanBeans

I was at a house once where they must’ve ran it up to the moment we walked In The door

The floor was HOT for hours