Oil Boiler PurePro P4 Relief Valve

JoeG11

Since I started using my baseboard hydronic heating this season my boiler is draining about a gallon of water per day from the relief valve. I’ve noticed the boiler pressure gets above 30 psi before the valve triggers as it should. Hoping for some suggestions on what could be causing the over pressure issue.

Jamie Hall

Expansion tank comes to mind first. Pressure reducing valve. Is that an indirect? A leak there…

EBEBRATT-Ed

Expansion tank, leaking prv feed valve, leaking indirect tank leaking bypass valve if you have one.

The valve with the white handle in the cold water supply that feeds the boiler shut that off and drain the boiler down to 15 psi. Keep an eye on it and see what happens. make sure to keep 15 psi on the boiler.

I would suspect the expansion tank as the culprit.

HVACNUT

Looks like there was more room to work with, but it was all jammed in the corner.

The Domestic extrol is waiting to snap off at a solder joint once the diaphragm breaks. Secure it. I would've put a brass tee right at the cold inlet and pipe the extrol off the bull with a brass nipple and elbow.

Who's lifting that #30 out of there once THAT diaphragm breaks? At least IT won't snap.

The draft regulator is in the wrong location. It's also crooked. And there's no feasible way to access the chimney base. Which is ALWAYS done on an annual maintenance.

Circulator location sucks. Why are you making me go to the van to get a ladder to replace a circulator? I've got to put a foot on top of the nice new boiler too to reach. I'm too old for that nonsense.

It certainly is sparkly though.

P.S. I would hit "Off Topic" myself if I could, but it needed to be said. But the answer is probably that #30 extrol. Call the boom truck.

JoeG11

Thanks for all the insightful feedback.

While the boiler is not firing it maintains 15 psi. Are you suggesting I shut off the cold water feed and manually drain the boiler to maintain the 15 psi while the boiler is running?
I read a couple of comments about a possible leak from the indirect. There is no visible indication of that.
Seems the most susceptible culprit is the boiler expansion tank. It does not appear to have water in it and it has maintained pressure at 50psi since it was installed. Is there anything else I can do to verify whether it needs to be replaced?

On the off topic comments:

I will definitely add provisions to secure the expansion tanks better.
There is access to the base of the chimney for annual maintenance through the trap door shown in the attached photo.
At 6’ tall I can access the circulators for maintenance without a ladder. I think it looks higher than it is in the picture.

SuperTech

I agree wholeheartedly with @HVACNUT , that water heater expansion tank is a disaster waiting to happen and the barometric damper is definitely installed wrong. That's a nice boiler and a clean looking installation that is ruined because the installer didn't read the installation instructions.

Easy test to confirm that it's the most likely culprit, the boiler expansion tank. Does the boiler pressure increase as the water temperature rises? Does water come out of the Schraeder valve on the expansion tank? If yes to either question than you need a replacement expansion tank.

HVACNUT

Um, the #30 has 50 (FIFTY!) psi written on it. You might want to check that. It should be 12 psi.

Shut the feed valve, isoate all the zones, and drop the boiler pressure to zero. And please tell me there's a drain at the bottom of the boiler somewhere, because I can't see it.

Once pressure is at zero, remove the extrol (Have fun. Will it slip between the return pipe and the wall? Maybe some butter?), and check the air side pressure. If it's actually at 50 psi, drop it to 12. Then cross out that 50 psi stuff, and put out an APB on the knucklehead that did it.

BTW, I could probably do the circs without a ladder, but I'd be thinking bad things while I was doing it.

JoeG11

There is a drain valve at the bottom of the boiler and plenty of room to remove the Extrol. After reducing the pressure from 50 to 12 and reinstalled the tank the boiler is now maintaining pressure around 15 psi. Thanks, this has been very helpful.
I noticed the pressure on the indirect expansion tank is also set at 50 psi. Should that one also be reduced to 12?

HVACNUT

With the domestic extrol, it's air side pressure should match cold water pressure in. But again, it must be removed to test properly.

JoeG11

My excitement for fixing the problem may have been short lived. I’m now getting a constant drip from the spirovent.