pigtail seems to get clogged a lot...

Hipape

I have a ptrol and 3psi gauge on the same pigtail. After cleaning pigtail before heating season, I can see pressure when call for heat during morning recovery - typically something like 0.25psi - needle sort of bouncing a bit. (On one super cold morning during recovery it got to ~1.6psi and the ptrol cut out - so, I guess the ptrol works!) Now, less than 3 months later, the gauge is stuck at zero - I suspect it's a clogged pigtail. Before removing the clogged pigtail for cleaning, I decided to get a replacement just in case...you know...
Does this look funny to you? like it was not formed properly - see how it becomes flat between the straight sections? If my existing pigtail clogs after a couple of months, this one would be so much worse. Thoughts?

ethicalpaul

Hard to tell exactly, but that's about how mine looked.

In my opinion there are two things that can help you here.

1. Add a moderate amount of treatment such as 8-Way in order to raise your PH to 10-11 so that corrosion is nearly eliminated from the boiler interior. This will greatly reduce the "mud" that gets formed (which I believe is almost completely rust)
2. Get rid of the pigtail altogether and instead use a water trap constructed from 1/2" (or even 3/4") pipes and fittings

The Steam Whisperer

It sounds like you have a very dirty boiler and may have lots of leaks in the system. Check for leaks and flush out the boiler with the blown doen valve regularly until the sludges thins out. Then clean with TSP and several flushing and then add the 8-way. It takes some work, but it is worth it to get he system in good shape.

Long Beach Ed

Replace it with a brass one. The steel ones clog much more often with rust.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Use a brass pigtail for sure. Make sure the pigtail is mounted well above the boiler water line. On some boilers they used to install them on top of the low water cutoffs which is not a good idea