Good Protocol For Keeping Water Clean in Boiler

HotChocolate1947

I have an oil fired boiler. I know it's a good idea to keep the water clean. Clean water is easier to boil. However, I also know it's bad to constantly fill your boiler with fresh oxygenated water. What is a good routine to keep the water clean in the boiler? Thank you in advance.

ethicalpaul

It's a bit of a catch-22

Normally you'd have to constantly be draining and replacing the muddy water, but that action itself creates more muddy water.

the solution is to use a boiler treatment product such as 8-Way to raise the pH of your boiler water to around 10. This will dramatically DRAMATICALLY reduce corrosion and creation of brown water. Use less than the product instructions recommend, like 1/4 of what they call for.

Then drain as little as possible as rarely as possible. You are posting in Strictly Steam so I am assuming this is a steam boiler. So you must also stay vigilant about any steam or liquid water leaks in your system. You should aim for a maximum of like 1 gallon of replacement water every month during the heating season.

Here is my video about this topic:

https://youtu.be/Bx8NryCUkng

Finally I'm not sure about your statement that clean water is easier to boil. Is this just your belief or are there facts behind it?

Jamie Hall

The best advice for residential boilers is to put in as little water as possible. Float type low water cutoffs do need to be blown down perhaps twice a month to once a week. Ideally, other than that, you add no water at all. That said, most systems do require a little makeup water now and then — perhaps a gallon a month.

There is something to be said for blowing down the boiler itself from the mud leg/bottom drains once a year, to get any accumulated goop out — but if you are not adding much water, there won't be all that much (though it may be remarkably hard!).

Some people advocate adding a small amount of buffer to drive the pH up into the alkaline range; others don't feel it is necessary.

That said on an initial install or if significant work has been done on piping, it is absolutely necessary to thoroughly skim the boiler to get rid of any oil. This is time consuming, but critical. It doesn't use much water, though.

HotChocolate1947

@ethicalpaul

I heard about the dirty water part from a YouTuber. He runs a plumbing and HVAC business. He does the occasional informational video. I think his name was Tony (or Tommy) Pipes?? I've also heard that the heating process actually "burns away" the oxygen in the water. I actually read that on this message board. The wonderful thing about the internet is anyone can post and give info. The worst part of the internet is that anyone can post and give info :) Thank you for the replies.

ethicalpaul

You saw Mikey Pipes. He is not too bad but one strong disagreement I have with him is that he is constantly draining all the water out of boilers and replacing it. He sees muddy water as the enemy without understanding that he is creating that enemy.

I currently believe that the idea that you can remove the damage of fresh water in a boiler by boiling the water quickly after adding it, is a myth.

Of course you are going to boil all the new water in a boiler, it is a boiler. In fact I would say that almost all the new water added to a boiler is pretty much immediately boiled (think about an auto-feed—it activates when a boiler is getting a call for heat and so it gets boiled right away).

But regardless of when that fresh water is boiled, the oxygen within it is released into the boiler cavity and I think the damage is done. The evidence of this is shown by production of rusty water.

That's why for all of last year as described in the video above I pre-boiled all my replacement water or used distilled water (along with my increased pH level). The video is there for all to judge.

HotChocolate1947

Yes! Mikey Pipes! I was a little uneasy with his advice on draining once a month to the point the low water shut off activates. He argues it cleans the water and you get a safety check all-in-one. What's the deal with Burnham steam boilers. I've seen people say they were trash on the message boards. Yet, I have also seen people say they were the best residential boilers?! Go figure. Do they make a great ones and crap ones depending on the model? Again… anyone can post anything. Hard to discern good from bad. Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Jamie Hall

I rather agree with @ethicalpaul here — we often do! — on his comments on oxygen in water: it does pretty well vanish on the first boil. Whether it is useful to preboil the water or not… well, he's fussier than I am!

I would completely disagree with the YouTube chap. Any chemical reactions — including corrosion — with the water will occur very quickly after addition — and then stop when the chemical environment has stabilised.

HotChocolate1947

BTW. I love this message board. It's very helpful and the people are great. The people on Reddit are to be honest… kind of jerks. One wrong question or statement… they go FULL A-you-know-what Jerk.

ethicalpaul

Reddit can be good, but moderation is always a challenge everywhere on the internet. Here we are lucky to have Erin.

the Burnham Independence line seems to not be lasting as long as it once did decades ago and lots of people around here including me would be hesitant to install or recommend one today. I haven't seen a conclusive reason but my favorite theory is that they have changed the boiler castings perhaps to make them better at transferring heat in the name of increased efficiency, and their lifetime has been greatly shortened.

They also make what I think is called a "three-pass" design called the MegaSteam that is highly regarded (but is sold only as an oil-burning boiler). I have no direct experience with either product.

HotChocolate1947

I have a MegaSteam. Someone on the board told me it was the best. I was little confused when someone else told me Burnham were trash. He went on to imply some unscrupulous firms used them knowing they would crap out and need replacing sooner rather than later.

ethicalpaul

I think several knowledgable people on this forum would say that you are OK with your MegaSteam, congrats!

skimmer

My burnham crapped out after 16 years.. Im surrounded neighbors all who had boiler replacements within a year or two of mine - still have their boilers.. 2 weil mclains and one other brand im not sure..

row houses, all look the same, same edr, same piping.. same water, same radiator type and locations,,,

i can tell you this, none of them give 2 sh*ts about blow downs, water loss, maintenance, treatments, heatinghelp, one was at install repiped in copper and still going strong 20 years now…

so yeah I would say its a burnham problem.

one neighbor has a couple of valve's that have been hissing for years, i can only imagine the fresh water it must take on.. but yet it outlasted my independence, that one is 20 years old now , still hissing away every steam cycle and im worried about my 2 gallons used in a month