Steam Boiler questions

LouB

I just bought a house a month ago and the heating is steam, natural gas. I don't think it is working right now due to low water light indicator being on. The thermostat is set to 72 while the current house temperature is 67. The radiators and baseboard are not heating up currently. Enclosed are some pics to help on my questions.

1) Is the blue switch for the gas line to the burner?
2) Is the yellow lever on top of the pic on 20201030_123007 the water lever for releasing water onto the boiler?
3) PSI is currently zero which means the boiler is off, I assume.
4) The water level of the glass gauge/sight is below the marker which i assume means it is low
5) I assume i need to clean the glass gauge.
6) I also assume that i need to turn off the boiler (red switch) in orderfeed to drain water onto the bucket.

Any feedback would be helpful

Regards,
LouB

LouB

Also, the heat was working a couple of weeks ago when the temps went low. The forecast mentioned it will go low this weekend

STEAM DOCTOR

Yellow lever adds water. Open and see if water in glass rises. Don't be surprised if water in glass does not move. Valves leading to glass might be clogged. Stop adding water once red light goes out. Or once glass is 50%-75% full. if glass fills and red light remains lit, get a professional to change the low water cutoff. 

Dave0176

Looks like a lack of maintenance. You have to get someone out who reputable with steam and knows how to do a cleaning. What area are you in because most of the guys who advertise on here will know Steam well.

motoguy128

You will be money ahead to have a professional come out. If you like doing things yourself and are handing with wrenches, start studying by reading articles and posts on this site and increase your knowledge. But if it involves a safety circuit or your not sure what you are doing, get a pro. Cleaning a gauge glass And clearing a blocked line is one thing. Wiring up safety circuits and adjusting burners is completely different.

JUGHNE

For instance, your compression nut on the top of the sight glass looks cross threaded. You are lucky that it is not leaking.
A pro could fix that for you as you may have to replace the upper valve on the sight glass.

It is one of those 10 minute jobs that can go south on you quickly if you try to clean the sight glass and the top nut will not seal.

motoguy128

... or you clean the sight glass and it gets dropped and breaks or cracks while you tighten the nut. Now you have no heat until you order a replacement. A pro that works on steam regularly will have the glass and cutter in stock.

BobC

Don't touch a sight glass unless you have a spare on the shelf, after getting my boiler replaced 7 years ago the first thing I bought was a spare sight glass.

Bob

ethicalpaul

Not taking away what was said, but if you do break your sight glass, you can always close the sight glass valves to get some emergency heat, right?

BobC

You can close the valves but if they have tot been operated for a decade or more they may not want to turn.

JUGHNE

Or if 1 pipe valves do not close tightly you will still get steam squeaking in....and condensate will not get out.
You could end up with a water logged radiator.

You can tell by closing tightly and if rad still heats up a few sections then your valve may be leaking.

At the end of a few cycles you could open the valve and listen for water returning as part of the test.

dopey27177

You stare there may be a problem with the low water cutoff, get it checked out professionally.

Looking at the gauge glass water level it appears to be ok. (see what the plate on the boiler says.)

Your gauge glass shows your boiler is full of crud and is in need of a good cleaning. Do not use a rust remover as that may cause you problems.

Flush the boiler several times to remove the dirty water. Additionally your wet return piping must be flushed out when you flush the boiler.

Have a pro change the gauge glass as a replacement may not come in the size you need and the new one may need to be cut to size. New gauge glass gaskets must be installed.

As to wiring problems a boiler tech needs to check and repair if needed. When all the water is clean and clear in the boiler treat the boiler with a rust inhibitor, Sentinel X 100 in 1 gallon size is relatively cheap and easy to install. Follow the directions, it is non toxic.

Jake