Junk in sight glass

Msil1955

Gentlemen,

We have a new replacement boiler which repeatedly shuts down from low water and bangs at the moment of shutdown. The noise is coming from the Hartford loop. The attached photos show what I think is Squick , which needs to be removed. The contractor has returned 3 times to flush and skim, with very little improvement. Any suggestions?

Thank you all for your speedy response. Photos of the boiler are attached. The installer is coming tomorrow for a fourth 2 hour skimming session. I asked about possible chemical treatments to clean it out, no answer. The skimming seems to make a small improvement, but the junk reappears in a couple of days, along with the low level shutdowns and noise.

ethicalpaul

hmm wow I wonder what his skimming procedure is

acwagner

Can you post some photos of your boiler from different angles?

KC_Jones

You mention skimming, but also mention Squick. The ones I see pop up on here think Squick replaces skimming.

Skimming takes hours of slowly taking water off the top of the boiler, has the contractor been down there for hours doing this? If not they are not skimming. Your description sounds like classic surging caused by oils on the surface of the water, but out of curiosity can you post pictures of the install? If the boiler isn't piped correctly that can exacerbate the surging issues.

nicholas bonham-carter

The installation manual for the boiler probably gives clear instructions on how the boiler should be cleaned.
Peerless for instance suggests adding Arm&Hammer washing soda and simmering for a while, followed by draining, and skimming through the port installed specifically for that purpose. Skimming will take several sessions of several hours each, and adding Squick is no substitute.
Is there such a port on the boiler now? If not theN check the instructions to see what else may have been left out.—NBC

EdwinD

I had a boiler section replaced in 2017 for a Weil McLain-55 boiler. The installer said he skimmed the boiler, However, what he called skimming was actually running water thru the bottom drain port for several minutes. That is not skimming. Skimming involves hours of skimming oil off the top of boiler water...which must occur thru a skim port mounted on the side of the boiler slighty above the sight glass.

tkos115

Looks like there is some kind of oil still in there too. The round looking stuff in one of your pics looks like oil clumping together. Like everyone else was saying looks like you need to start with a good skimming.

Hap_Hazzard

Look up Squick in the Urban Dictionary. That's what it does to your boiler.

I don't know what's in it—the MSDS is pretty vague—but the label says, "with silicone SK-24," whatever that is. I've tried other products with silicone, when I was young and foolish, and let's just say the results were not all that I'd hoped for. Also, I really have to question the wisdom of making a product intended for cleaning boilers that's almost the same color as rust. It just makes your boiler water immediately look like it needs to be flushed.

Oh, but the label says "no draining" and "no blowoff." So let's make the water look like raw sewage and tell the customer they never need to drain their boiler. And what the heck is a "blowoff" anyway? I know what a blow-down is—it's what you do when your water looks like it does in those pictures, and then you fill with fresh water and washing soda and skim it for a couple of hours, then drain and refill. Maybe add a couple of SteamMaster tabs for good meaure if your water supply is less than ideal.

But that's just my opinion.

KC_Jones

Skimming isn't hard, actually probably the easiest part of doing a steam boiler install, if the boiler is installed properly to allow for the skimming.

ethicalpaul

KC_Jones said:

Skimming isn't hard, actually probably the easiest part of doing a steam boiler install, if the boiler is installed properly to allow for the skimming.

I like doing it so much I should offer my services to steam professionals in my area!

Hap_Hazzard

I'd gladly let you come and skim mine next time. My skim port is only ¾", so it's pretty boring. Bring something to read.

ChrisJ

I fell asleep skimming mine once..........
It sucked.........

If I remember right, it took 6 attempts at around 15 gallons each to get all of the oils etc out after I installed the boiler several weeks apart and they were all done very slow.

I'm not totally sold on the "slow skim" anymore and a wand still did the job far better.

KC_Jones

I used a wand and skimmed, still took a long time. The speed skim that Hatterasguy made would significantly speed things up, I might use it just for fun some time.

SeanBeans

@KC_Jones i made one of those skimmer caps that the mad hatter showed us. It worked pretty well. You just have to make sure you notch it wide enough. My first attempt was too thing and the oils would get caught on the top lip

Hap_Hazzard

Just out of curiosity, do any of you guys use washing soda when you skim? Peerless recommends it, so I did it, and it seemed to work pretty well.

nicholas bonham-carter

I certainly did it, and used the whole box!—NBC

EBEBRATT-Ed

I use TSP and it seems to wok well

Hap_Hazzard

Washing soda is less caustic, and better for the environment, but you can use TSP for soldering.

acwagner

Your recently posted photos of the boiler show a good install. I would be surprised if that installer didn't know how to properly skim it given they set up a proper skim port.

It generally takes multiple skim sessions to remove the oils and sediment from a new install. The boiler casting, in particular, takes some time to leach out all the oils and foundry junk. My own experience is it took several skims every few days for the first week, then about once a week for a month, and then every month until the end of the season.

You probably just need to skim some more. It will clean up over time.

Msil1955

Thanks. I had to request the skim port as our last boiler didn't have one and it hampered the boiler cleanup. With this install we had to beg them to start skimming as they would not acknowledge the problem.

Hap_Hazzard

Amazing. You have to wonder if some of these guys even read the IOM manual.

Gordo

Ah, skimming a steam boiler...like watching paint dry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUr7fMIg3bI

Hap_Hazzard

How come you're not getting the water hot? Aren't you supposed to cook it while you skim?

Gordo

It doesn't seem to make that much difference with Force boilers, hot or cold. One can skim for hours and seemingly get nothing in the bucket. It is only after weeks of run time does the goo show up. I think that each manufacturer has different formulations with their oils (and some vary their formulas with different models...I'm looking at You, Weil Mclain!) , but they all of them seem to consist of two broadly different parts (1) A water soluble series of compounds which appear to be largely made up of surfactants... they cause the most problems initially in causing wet steam... lots of bubbles! But these compounds are also the easiest to remove, i.e. drain and refill a few times. (2) The second group appears to be insoluble or partly soluble oils. These oils appear to form a colloidal suspension with the rust particles. The various traps and drains we add aids in capturing this goo. Columbia boilers had at one time seemingly the most tenacious goop in their oil formulation (which is what this boiler above replaced). As I understand it, many of the formulations needed to change due to EPA regulations.

Hap_Hazzard

Good to know. Thanks, Gordo!