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No heat :(

kmerdal
kmerdal Member Posts: 3
in Gas Heating
Hello,

What is the basic maintenance that i can do myself to figure out what's wrong with my weil mc lain boiler? It was showing zero PSI and it was not working. I just restarted it and PSI started to slowly go up. It has been at least 5 years without any maintenance.

Comments

  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 23,275
    It needs a clean and check by a qualified tech. 5 years is too long!

    Most boilers need a minimum pressure to operate. Perhaps you have a leak if it reads 0 psi?
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
    kmerdal
  • bburd
    bburd Member Posts: 1,031
    Is this steam or hot water?
    —
    Bburd
  • kmerdal
    kmerdal Member Posts: 3
    edited January 18
    Hot water and i dont see any leaks at all. 
  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 9,317
    edited January 18
    kmerdal said:

    Hot water and i dont see any leaks at all. 

    You may not see any leaks if the water has already leaked out to zero PSI on the gauge. There are SOOoo many places that water can vent of leave the boiler under normal operation.

    What did you do to "restart" the boiler? Is there a flame? Are you getting heat?
    You may have a Low Water Cut Off (LWCO) that made the boiler stop when the water level dropped. You may need to add water pressure and maybe even purge some air from radiators.

    Need more Info.

    Can you post a photo of the boiler to include all the connecting pipes from ceiling to floor? Take 4 pictures one high and one low from the left side, one high and one low from the right side. That way we can see the pipes from different angles in case some pipes are blocked from view by other larger pipes in front of them.

    Edward Young Retired

    After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?

    kmerdal
  • kmerdal
    kmerdal Member Posts: 3
    edited January 18
    I will post photos hopefully in the morning. I have the LWCO and it looks fine (green light is on). System keeps trying to run but i think flame doesnt come on because the PSI is 0. Is there at least a temporary fix to bring the pressure up?
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,735
    Yejah... find the feed line from your domestic water. Find the valve on it and open it. Shut the valve off when the pressure reads 12 psi.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    Intplm.
  • minneapolisboilers
    minneapolisboilers Member Posts: 4
    First off, you need to add water to your system and get it up to ~12 PSI. Also, make sure your radiators are all bled. I would then put a bucket under your relief valve to make sure that isn't popping and your losing pressure there in the future.

    As for getting it started, old cast iron boilers typically do not have pressure switches that prevent it from running which leads me to believe it could be something else. When you are saying it's trying to start, what do you mean? Is the damper turning and opening, but then the boiler isn't firing? Does your boiler have a standing pilot or intermittent ignition (a spark generator starts the pilot) that is lighting, but the main flame isn't coming on? Have you checked if you have a backdraft switch on your draft hood? On windy days sometimes the flue gas can be pushed back down and set that switch off. There is a reset button in the middle of the two low voltage wires you can try pressing. If you haven't had it serviced in many years, your flame could be rolling out the front and the rollout switch could be burnt up as well. Pictures would definitely help.

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