Steam base heating system maintenance during off season

georgearoush

Now that spring is here, I'm wondering what’s the best maintenance approach for my steam-based heating system. I’ve already drained the old water and refilled it with fresh water. Should I repeat this process a few more times over the next few months before fall? Or should I completely drain the system now and leave it empty until fall? My guess is no. Thanks!

dabrakeman

Do not let oxygenated water just sit in the boiler. Make sure to run a few cycles to boil that water after flushing before letting it sit.

georgearoush

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1853350#Comment_1853350

Are you suggesting I should turn on the boiler, let the water heat up, then flush and refill it? If so, how often should I do this between now and the fall/winter season?

delcrossv

Fill boiler, run boiler to thoroughly boil the water. Leave BOILED water in boiler. Do not flush out the boiled water.

ethicalpaul

I'm not sure that advice matters…if boiling the fresh water actually helped then boilers wouldn't rot out from fresh water because in every normal case (both manual feed and auto feed), boiling happens very quickly after adding it. (with the exception of weird practices like the original poster has presented here)

Just by adding it, the oxygen is going to get released into the boiler interior when it's heated and will attack the metal.

Better advice IMO is "don't drain water unnecessarily". Some time during the end of the season, drain just until the mud is gone (like a gallon max) then just let it sit until fall.

If you want the mud to not even form, then add a little 8-way product to increase your water's pH and the corrosion will be greatly reduced.

But even with higher pH in the boiler water, adding new water will introduce oxygen and attack the top of the sections (this is where we always see them rot out on this forum at least), so you must minimize new water. You can go overboard like I and a couple others do and only add water that's already been boiled, or distilled water, or even boiled distilled water.

Jamie Hall

Main thing is — whatever philosophy you subscribe to — is to ensure that the boiler is left near its operating level (I prefer slightly above) with water which has been brought to a full and prolonged boil.

Do NOT leave it emty. Do NOT drain and refill and drain and refill. Drain or blow down, if you feel so inclined, and then refill to the desired level, and then bring it to a full system boil. Then let it sit. In the fall, bring the water level to the operating level and turn it on. That's it.