LWCO Float Cleaning

Wcurtis

Would anyone have an opinion on soaking the float in vinegar or lemon juice in an attempt to dislodge buildup as a preventive maintenance item.

Interested in pros/cons of others

Currently system works as it should

Without disassembly and not knowing the internal condition of chamber, this may be an option over a new float or new purchase of entire device?????

109A_5

Hello Wcurtis,

" LWCO Probe ", implies an electronic LWCO.

" soaking the float ", implies a M&M 67 or similar or you have both.

I have a M&M 67, I did not mess with mine until is did not work correctly. It worked fine for decades.

I just took it apart (remove the switch assembly then the float assembly) and basically gently, carefully, scraped off the old paper gasket and the crud from the float and the sylphon, wire brush the chamber, flush all the debris away. I don't use the paper gadget any more, I have them but I just used one as a template to make a gasket out of 1/32" silicone sheet material, comes apart easier and reusable.

Soaking may help but I just want to get the job done.

My M&M 67 is about 50 years old and has been cleaned twice. M&M recommends replacement every 10 years. For me it is simpler to clean it than buy a new one and mess with the pipes on an old boiler. Dirty job, wear gloves if you like.

With reassembly the screws that hold the switch assembly in place only need to be barely snug.

Wcurtis

yes I wrote probe vs. float (wrote this about 4:30 this morning), I agree a disassembly is much better than a soak but other discussions had me thinking of the lemon juice approac and wanted to know what others thought about it

Big Ed_4

There should be a flush valve under the unit if there is a float switch . Flush every two weeks … If you notice mud , repair the steam leaks. Normally the budget vents don't hold … You want a good float type vent , it is cheaper in the long run….

Wcurtis

yes the float works perfectly however I do not know the condition of the internal bellows-this boiler was operating ok when we purchased the house however I have drastically improved my situation over the last two years and was considering adding lemon juice into the chamber in an effort to dislodge any gunk barnacles vs a disassembly

Big Ed_4

If the bellows are bad the float will fill up with water .. Your good

ethicalpaul

Be aware that the Gorton float-type vent's float is a metal bell that doesn't float. And the Maid O Mist float doesn't float either and is solid plastic.

It's no big deal because if your vent is full of water you have bigger problems than can be solved by a float-style vent

109A_5

Well I guess may question is, how would you get the vinegar or lemon juice to stay in the float chamber and not dilute with the boiler water ? If you don't fill the chamber full you may not clean it all since the float floats.

Wcurtis

drain the level from the LWCO until sightglass is empty, remove pigtail and add lemon juice until visible in sightglass!, when finished drain LWCO and refill a few times…reinstall pigtail

109A_5

Last time my float stuck it stuck to the top of the chamber. Since I'm not 100% sure you have a M&M 67 but I will use that as an example; The vinegar or lemon juice will just flow over part of the float an fill the chamber until it flows into the boiler and never get to the whole top of the float or the top of the inside of the chamber the pipe that feeds it boiler water is down a bit and the sight glass valves just shut off the sight glass.

Wcurtis

That’s sounds accurate and not something I had thought of and now will not proceed, glad I found this site,

Thanks for the valuable input

109A_5

Hello Wcurtis,

If you are interested in what it looks like inside a M&M 67 watch the first video. The second video is about taking it apart to clean. The second video can't be view through another web site, so the URL will have to be copied and pasted into your browser. There are many videos about the M&M 67.

https://youtu.be/HSZLaqm9TXE

How to take it apart. I would have drained the water first & replaced the old paper gasket.

https://youtu.be/SN9SpU4W6VM