What"s wrong with these pictures

exqheat

Steamhead

Well, let's see-

1- cleanout cover not sealed- not sure if the soot is new or old

2- gauge not working (unless the boiler was at pressure when you took the pic)

3- two pressure controls on one pigtail

Where is this?

nicholas bonham-carter

Pressuretrols not level could be a problem as well.--NBC

exqheat

The operating pressuretrol is level. rotating until arrow is lined up. as pigtail rotates, pressuretrol will remain level.

exqheat

Good comments, but not the problem. Keep trying. I was amazed. how did I find out.

EBEBRATT-Ed

No question, no information

exqheat

Common ED. You can handle this one.
Hint. Look at installation instructions.

Fred

No sight glass for water level????

JUGHNE

No sight glass shown.....could be a bad steam to water conversion.
Not enough pictures to give a good diagnosis.

JUGHNE

The only install instructions shown refer to the pop off valve.
It looks like one on the rear right top of the boiler.

The steam piping being wrong is just a given for something this old.
Might not be a problem given the steam chest of the boiler.

Fred

I don't see a water supply either but it could be anywhere.

JUGHNE

Hello, we are hanging by our fingertips with baited breath.....what is the next clue ????

exqheat

Well, I was testing for pressure with no results. So I took the tree apart. The Siphon (pig Tail) was clean. I changed it anyway. I put a test blow off on the tree. Struck up the fire and nothing came out of the blow off valve. I took it all apart once more. Thought the boiler path was clogged. I put a 24 inch 1/4 drill down the hole about 8 inches, and I could swirl it around. I said to my self, this hole is to the fire chamber. So where do I get steam to feed the tree. My only thought was to put a tree in where the pressure dial is located. Now I have the problem of removing the gauge body without breaking it off. Now what do you think.

Jolly Bodger

Tee off the blow off port?

EBEBRATT-Ed

@exqheat

I have a hard time figuring out what your talking about but the tapping your in for the pressure controls goes to the boiler water, it does not go to the fire box.

You could use the gauge tapping in the front where the square gauge is.

If you have a 1" pipe tree for a low water cutoff on the right hand side you could put it on top of that.

You could also drill and tap one of the steam lines coming off the boiler I think they are 3" ips drill and tap a 1/4" hole in it on the boiler side of any valves.

You could take the safety valve off and put a tee underneath it for the controls, put the safety valve back on top

mattmia2

Maybe its leaking somewhere like at the joint without the tape

Fred

If that steam riser, on that end of the boiler is water side of the of the boiler, that control tapping should be as well.

exqheat

the gauge on the front registers pressure, but nothing out of the open valve on the tree. ??

Grallert

Are you sure the gauge in the picture is working? Is the new gauge on the control manifold reading the same?

Fred

How do you know you had any pressure in the system? The gauge, on the front could be bad and just bouncing loosely around. How long did you wait after firing the boiler? I wouldn't expect you to see measurable pressure until fairly late in the heating cycle.

B_Sloane

pressure tree should be 3/4" with clean out plugs
the controls each need a pigtail
no pass inspection in new york !!

exqheat

So where is the 4/3 port?

exqheat

The front gauge registers, the top no, when I open the blow off on the tree, nothing comes out. So where do I get a port to the tree that was built with the boiler?

exqheat

No tapping on that side.

exqheat

Could it be that this boiler was built before pressuretrols were required??

Fred

exqheat said:

Could it be that this boiler was built before pressuretrols were required??

, I suppose, if it is a converted coal boiler but there are still tappings that should allow you to add controls. When you put that 18" drill bit down that hole, did it come out wet? If so, you hit water and the Tree should work.
Where is the sight glass? How much water is in the boiler?
How long did you let the boiler run before you decided that tree isn't working? That's a big system. I would think it has to run a good while to build measurable pressure, if it ever does.

mattmia2

I assume you are seeing the gauge on the front go to 0 when the boiler cools?

JUGHNE

Could this have been shipped as a water boiler without steam trim. Only the gauge got changed out.
There could be tapping under the jacket for steam trim.

exqheat

Not a conversion from coal. I would like instructions to tap in front. Cannot get jacket off without removing front pressure gauge, which works just fine. The drill bit came up dry. The McD water fill system is fine. Tested and blown down weekly. At full cycle nothing from current port. I'm getting the feeling, I've got to rip the front pressure gauge Off. It is quite cemented. If I rip the gauge off, I can them heat the fitting to remove from the boiler and place a tree there. Of course I'll have to rewire the cables installed originally. I have no idea how many years this has been running like this. Fortunately my Exqheat control has kept it within safety range.

mattmia2

Could you tap in to the piping for the lwco or auto fill to connect the pressuretroll to that tapping?

JUGHNE

Could the LWCO have had the controls installed there with the sight glass?

retiredguy

If you are looking for a larger tap than the 1/4" that is shown in the pictures you posted, remove the existing tree with the single pig tail and then remove the reducer/bushing that are below that 1/4" tree pipe. Also, look on the jacket, anywhere there is a "knock out" plug there is a tapping. Try removing the jacket to find other taps. Or as @EBEBRATT-ED wrote , drill and tap a pipe of fitting. And, if you are worrying about those front doors not sealing well enough, remove the doors, look to see if the "asbestos gaskets are still in place. If they are, soak the doors to soften the asbestos gasket and re-install the doors while the gasket is soft or just replace the gasket.

exqheat

I like the comment that a well balanced system never shows much pressure anyway. Exquisite Heat provides just the BTUs needed. As most equipment is over sized in an age of 10 cents a gallon, the pressure seldom becomes an issue.

retiredguy

One more comment; these 2500 Mills boilers were made to fire nat gas or fuel oil however you could fire these boilers with any type of fuel, if you so desired. There is no difference between the steam or hot water boiler except for the trim that was supplied and/or installed. In my 35+ years of servicing, installing and building these boilers I never had to replace a section that was cracked or failed due to any use. They were not an efficient boiler but they were dependable and lasted a long time. There are probably unused taps somewhere on the front or rear section. you just have to look. I never liked this boiler because the jacket is almost impossible to remove without using a sawzall or cutting torch. Show a picture of both sides of the boiler to see if there are any other ways to install pressure controls.

mikeg2015

There are probably a couple hex plugs that you can drill and cut out carefully to not damage the threads. My GB300 had several.