VXT-24 installed! Proper amount of make up water?

bipbap

So on the advice of this board, we replaced our malfunctioning water feeder with a
VXT-24.

Im very interested to be able to track how much water it is adding on its screen.

How much makeup water would be normal for a steam system? Or do you need to know the size of the boiler?
I just want to be able to know if the amounts are within the normal range or not.
If helpful, it is a single pipe steam system serving a 4-family building.

Thank you for any advice or tips on the VXT

ethicalpaul

I would strive to keep it below 1 gallon per month during the heating season

KC_Jones

ethicalpaul said:

I would strive to keep it below 1 gallon per month during the heating season

Agreed, but I would ask, what size boiler are we talking about here? Depending on size a bit more could be perfectly normal.

What I can say is the amount Hydrolevel mentions in their manual is too high IMHO. I'd say divide their number by 3 and that would be much more reasonable as a max number.

JUGHNE

Also if you have LWCO's that require weekly blow down, they could easily use more than 1 gallon per month just for that purpose.

bipbap

It is a 450k btu boiler if that helps 

SteamingatMohawk

Just record the VXT readings and dates and post the data. In this really cold weather (near Albany, NY) my 134K boiler uses 2 gallons by VXT reading in about 2 weeks. When it's warmer, it's a lot less.

I tend to agree the numbers in the VXT manual seem high, especially for the larger boilers. HOw much escapes through venting depends on the condition of the vents. Leaks are a different story.

SteamingatMohawk

Blowdown of float LWCOs is required periodically. I don't think that applies to probe type LWCOs like the CycleGard.

Jamie Hall

SteamingatMohawk said:

Blowdown of float LWCOs is required periodically. I don't think that applies to probe type LWCOs like the CycleGard.

Agreed. And make sure that it triggers the feeder. However... I have a routine which let's me know if I have an actual loss. There is a time delay on my feeder. Therefore, I can operate the blowdown and see if there is a call to the feeder (a light shows on the feeder). If yes, OK -- but then I immediately, before the feeder itself can have a fit, add water back up to where it was when I started manually. This does two things. First, the call indicator light on the feeder should go out again (floats have been known to hang up down, as well as up!) and, second, because of the delay, the feeder never actually calls. Thus, if the feeder has called -- the number has changed -- I know that that's real; a real loss of water from the system, and if that is more than a gallon or so per month (this is a five section Weil-McLain) I begin looking.