Theories

Grallert

Discovered while opening to clean one of the floats for a feeder valve. I have my theories. Anyone else?

ChrisJ

You have a hypothesis....

JUGHNE

Water hammer......was it located in the correct place?

Grallert

ChrisJ said:

You have a hypothesis....

Right!

Grallert

JUGHNE said:

Water hammer......was it located in the correct place?

Could be. Thought I haven't had any hammer in the eight years I've been running there.
Here's my th... hypothesis. Is this possible? It was a vacuum in the float. It's an old float, could have developed a very small leak. enough to allow a little water in. That water steamed and was then cooled enough to create a vacuum? Is that far fetched?

Steamhead

Grallert said:

JUGHNE said:

Water hammer......was it located in the correct place?

Could be. Thought I haven't had any hammer in the eight years I've been running there.
Here's my th... hypothesis. Is this possible? It was a vacuum in the float. It's an old float, could have developed a very small leak. enough to allow a little water in. That water steamed and was then cooled enough to create a vacuum? Is that far fetched?

Possibly. Regardless, it needs a new float.

Mad Dog_2

Crushed via vacuum . Mad Dog 🐕 

DanHolohan

Absolutely water hammer. Brings me back to my McDonnell Miller days. 

ScottSecor

I'm in for $100 on water hammer. Highly doubt it was vacuum that caused this.

DanHolohan

I saw this a lot. The factory alway analyzed it as water hammer. Goes back many years. It really gets your attention. Such incredible power. 

Grallert

Pretty amazing. I'm wracking my memory to see if there was a time I might have heard something. But I'm not here all of the time and the boilers are not under any residential spaces or dormitory spaces so I'm not surprised it when unnoticed. Thank you all for the feel back.

JUGHNE

Can you show us where it is attached to the boiler?

I can easily see how an F&T would get hit, but perhaps this was boiler over fill with hammer inside the boiler?

mattmia2

leaked, filled with steam, steam collapsed

Grallert

mattmia2 said:

leaked, filled with steam, steam collapsed

This is my thought. but I'll go down a nd take a picture.

Grallert

retiredguy

This doesn't happen often but I have seen it happen on a multiple boiler job where an off boiler flooded and some novice blew that column down to lower the water level. The resulting water hammer can sometimes be extreme enough to collapse a float. I have seen instances on H B Smith cast iron sectional boilers where the water hammer cracked sections and once I was in the boiler room when the result was that the boiler lifted itself off the boiler's base. That day, I was scared and told everyone to leave the boiler room to make sure that no one caused another stupid problem. WOW, that sure is an old relic. Is it a Fitzgibbons?

Grallert

Pacific Steel. There are two. Installed 1956 and 58.Pretty trouble free and well cared for. Thanks for this it answers a few questions.

mattmia2

Is that fraying stuff asbestos or canvas or canvas soaked in asbestos or what?

RayWohlfarth

I believe its water hammer I think that's why McDonnell Miller started recommending this way to pipe the blowdown to avoid the steam hitting the cooler water

Grallert

mattmia2 said:

Is that fraying stuff asbestos or canvas or canvas soaked in asbestos or what?

no asbestos.

Montana14

i had this happen in a condensate tank with too much return steam. Float lost its seal. An attempt at a reseal it ended up in this condition. 

Charlie from wmass

Water hammer my industrial pipe supplier has three or four of those floats on the counter in that condition.

Grallert

This will sit on my shelf as a reminder of the this that can happen.