McDonnell & Miller Electric Water Feeder

PittsfieldPete

Hello:

This is my first post. Our home has an oil-fired steam boiler with a McDonnell & Miller Model 67 Low Water Cut-Off & a Series 101-A Electric Water Feeder. We recently bought our home & I could tell by the service tags on the furnace that it had been cleaned regularly. However, I didn’t know if maintenance had ever been done on the low-water cut-off or water feeder, so a couple of days ago I decided to check them out.

I found maintenance instructions for both components on McDonald & Miller’s website. I learned that the basket strainer & cartridge inside the water feeder (see photo) are supposed to be checked & cleaned annually. The basket strainer is supposed to be replaced every 10 years, too.

The basket strainer was so filthy that I replaced it, but the cartridge (inside the red box in the photo) is gone!

What does the cartridge actually do? Should I install one? The automatic fill system seems to work fine without, but would it perform better with a cartridge in place? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much,
Pete

JUGHNE

You may have a newer fill valve mounted on the supply pipe.
Pictures of piping would show us.

Fred

@PittsfieldPete, is the water feeder actually powered by electric or are you using it as a manual feed by opening the water valve on the water pipe each time the boiler needs water? That cartridge is actually a part of the valve that controls water flow and I can't imagine the auto feeder working without it. I would think it would flood your boiler.

PittsfieldPete

Hello:

The water feeder is an electric solenoid type that’s controlled by the low water cut-off. The cut-off has a float inside that closes a switch when the boiler water level drops. When the switch closes, the water feeder opens to allow water to enter the boiler. This raises the float which opens the switch & shut the feeder off. Water can also be added manually if needed by pressing the red button on top of the valve (see photos).

As I said before, the system is working fine without a cartridge. I’m just wondering if it would work better with a cartridge installed in the feeder. I’m also wondering if there would be any reason whatsoever why the cartridge would be removed. The cartridge is just a hollow plastic bolt with holes & slots around it for water to flow through after it goes through the basket strainer.

JUGHNE

How about pictures of the entire boiler showing the cold water supply line?
Back up for pictures to get wide angle.

Fred

@PittsfieldPete , Yes, I'm familiar with that Feeder. I have one on the shelf, that's why I ask if you are actually using it as intended (powered and auto feed) because that cartridge is part of the flow valve and I would have expected the unit to have a continuous flow without it.

PittsfieldPete

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a decent photo of our boiler setup, but the attached photo shows just how the feeder is piped. The drawing in the photo is a screenshot from the feeder installation instructions available on McDonnell & Miller’s website.

Not that it makes any difference, but all of the piping used on our setup is 1/2” copper, not the threaded pipe & fittings shown on the drawing. It also has ball valves instead of the gate valves shown.

PittsfieldPete

Here’s the photo I forgot to include.

BDR529

Auto feeds will void the warranty, it is not a maintaining control. Minimum safe water level. And those words are used very loosely.

It is steam boiler, no such thing as set it and forget it.