Added Vents, Lost Heat?

KC_Jones

GeekGirl913 said:

Pretty chilly night with a nice moon to give me some light, but I took a peek outside after the boiler clicked on, and sure enough it's coming out the chimney...

That means the block is busted from the top? 

Possibly, the definitive test is to overfill with water and see if it comes out the bottom.

As stated above, don't panic just yet. You most likely could get through the winter with it like this, steam is still getting to the radiation so you will stay warm, and only a couple months till warmer weather that requires less heat. I'd wait, emergency last minute replacements may lead to a poor installation.

Sylvain

GeekGirl913 said:

Pretty chilly night with a nice moon to give me some light, but I took a peek outside after the boiler clicked on, and sure enough it's coming out the chimney...

 

The question is "how much? " as the combustion of any fuel containing hydrogen will produce some water vapor in the flue.

Do you see a difference before (while burning) and after the boiler starts to produce steam pressure?

MaxMercy

Sylvain said:

Do you see a difference before (while burning) and after the boiler starts to produce steam pressure?

That.

GeekGirl913

Sylvain said:

Pretty chilly night with a nice moon to give me some light, but I took a peek outside after the boiler clicked on, and sure enough it's coming out the chimney...

 

The question is "how much? " as the combustion of any fuel containing hydrogen will produce some water vapor in the flue. Do you see a difference before (while burning) and after the boiler starts to produce steam pressure?

When I looked, it looked like one of those stereotypical NYC steam stacks was placed on top of the house, billowing out a nice cloud. Later I'll do a more timed examination to be sure, but it seemed considerably more than just combustion emissions. 

We were hoping that since this boiler is only four years old, that now since it was piped correctly we'd get a few years before having to replace it... I highly doubt we'd be eligible for a warranty replacement, either. 

Thankfully we have a mini split that covers a good amount of square footage, and we can just leave the boiler for "taking the chill out of the corners"  when we need for the remainder of this season.

After this experience, I will unfortunately be "that customer" who essentially grills every potential installer on their knowledge before selecting one for the job. Absolutely not going the emergency replacement route and running the risk of another terrible install. 

delcrossv

Boiler died after 4 years? There's something seriously amiss. Usually there's a 10 year warranty if it's a standard cast iron boiler.

dabrakeman

Still do the fill test.