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Purple water when skimming

StaggerLee
StaggerLee Member Posts: 1
in Strictly Steam

maybe this is a dumb question but I’ll ask anyway.

Had a call for a 4 section oil steamer surging. Thermoflo OSB-4.

Started skimming and water is purple,water in sight glass was clear. Continued skimming and water remained purple.

Skimmed for a while and wasn’t getting any muck out, very mucked up from looking inside skim tapping before it started.

I built up some pressure and blasted it out, did this about 3 times and had some results. Boiler was no longer surging up pipes but still needed some more love.

Went back next day and started skimming again and water is still purple.

Homeowner had not had anything done to boiler in 2 years. Could this be remnants of a steam master tablet or something similar? Would it last two years in a filthy system? Why isn’t water in gauge glass purple? Customer does have well water could this be a reaction? Any ideas?

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,984

    If it's honest to goodness purple, I can't think of anything other than a Steammaster tablet or the like — and I venture that if there's that much of that in there, it's no wonder it's having indigestion.

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 6,814

    Some thoughts:

    1. Skimming only removes floating gunk. The other gunk you saw (in the port itself) does not necessarily mean there was floating gunk.
    2. The lower gauge glass port could be gunked up and blocked. You can remove the valve and shove one of the protective rods in the hole to see if you can free it up.
    3. The boiler additives don't cause surging on their own in my experience, but they can cause it in combination with really gunky water. Try draining some or all and re-treat with a small amount of pH-boosting treatment to limit further mud production. Some people including my friend @Jamie Hall above may disagree with that last part of my advice.

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,984

    oddly, @ethicalpaul , I agree with you… except that in most cases in good water I don't see a requirement to treat!

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    ethicalpaul
  • Big Ed_4
    Big Ed_4 Member Posts: 3,044
    edited December 15

    When you are cutting pipe for a steam system keep a 5 gallon bucket's with detergent handy to clean off the cutting oil of any nipples and fittings before installing . It is easier to keep the oil out then removing it later …. Just a little tip…..

    There was an error rendering this rich post.

    ethicalpaul
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,588
    edited December 16

    Drain flush and refill the boiler. Continue skimming.

    Check the homeowner's trash for remnants of boiler water treatment

    They could have been having problems and dumped stuff in the boiler and don't want you to know.

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