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water level phenomena

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ddog777
ddog777 Member Posts: 10
in Strictly Steam
I have a ten year old Weil Mclain EG40 steam boiler and a one pipe system. The boiler fires great, gets steam to all radiators, is extremely quiet and satisfies the thermostat in approx 20 minutes. The water make-up is by manual fill. Recently I've noticed that the water in the sight glass seems to increase from the original set point after several firings. This is contrary to how it reacted in past years, when I had to add make-up water every 3-4 days. This seems to defy logic , is there any logical reason why this would be happening??

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  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 5,704
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    Every 3-4 days is too often and indicates a leak of steam or water. Did you fix any leaks or close any valves?
    NJ Steam Homeowner. See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
  • KC_Jones
    KC_Jones Member Posts: 5,739
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    If there isn’t a hot water coil in the boiler that’s leaking, then the most likely culprit is a bad fill valve that isn’t sealing properly. If that’s the case a new valve is the fix.
    2014 Weil Mclain EG-40
    EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
    Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
    Hap_Hazzard
  • ddog777
    ddog777 Member Posts: 10
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    The only leaks I can attest to are thru the vent valves, and the fill valve is a ball type valve which usually provide a positive shutoff, no internal heating coil.
  • SeanBeans
    SeanBeans Member Posts: 520
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    Just to clarify, @ddog777 , you are now having the problem of too much water? You used to have to add water but now you have to take some out?

    If that’s the case then what @KC_Jones said is your answer
  • Hap_Hazzard
    Hap_Hazzard Member Posts: 2,846
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    Ball valves can go bad; they just do so less often than some other types. There's really nothing else it could be, unless there's another source of water connected to your boiler, or somebody's messing with you (i.e. adding water when you're not looking). It's easy enough to diagnose. Just disconnect the manual feed valve from the boiler and see if any water comes out.
    Just another DIYer | King of Prussia, PA
    1983(?) Peerless G-561-W-S | 3" drop header, CG400-1090, VXT-24
  • SeanBeans
    SeanBeans Member Posts: 520
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    Be sure to install a union downstream of the new ball valve, if that, indeed, is the problem.
  • ddog777
    ddog777 Member Posts: 10
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    Thanks all, I will test the ball valve and advise
  • BobC
    BobC Member Posts: 5,478
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    Feel the pipe above and below the fill shutoff valve, if it's cold (it sb room temp.) you have water flowing through that pipe.

    Bob
    Smith G8-3 with EZ Gas @ 90,000 BTU, Single pipe steam
    Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
    3PSI gauge
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,700
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    If there's no other water supply besides the fill valve there's no reason to test it. Replace it.
    Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
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    How much past the water line is it rising? How long and how many wet returns do you have? If the ball valve isn't leaking, I suppose a wet return could have been very slow, due to crud or clogged and water was stacking in the vertical drop and now it is seeping past the blockage. When was the last time the wet returns were flushed?

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