Steam water loss problem

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

checked the chimney when it was cold outside and the boiler had been running for a while? bob

Bruce H.

I have a one pipe steam system with a gas fired burnham IN-10. I ouccupy the entire building. The boiler was replaced a year ago when I moved into the building. Everything works fine except the system uses a lot of water . If I fill t up to the recommended water level, in a few hours it will drop below the low water probe. I have spoken to Burnham about how much water this boiler should use and they said you should only be adding water once a week at most. I do not have any burried returns, I have checked for a slow return, there are no water leaks or steam leaks, all the air valves including the ones on the mains were just replaced. Over the summer I filled the boiler to the top to see if the water level would drop it did not. I have looked out at my chimminey and do not see a white exhaust. When the boiler was warm I shut it off and filled it up just past the relief valve to try and check for a high section leak. I didn't want to go to high because I wasn't sure if water would flow into the loop pipe and into the pressuretrol. I took off the boiler cover on the half that does not have the exaust on it and saw no sign of leaks. This is really driving me crazy as I am worried about damaging my new boiler with all the fresh water. Where could the water possibly be going? Whats the best way to check for a high section leak ( do I need to worry about getting water up the loop pipe and in to the pressuretrol when I over fill the boiler)? Even though I do not see any return leaks, does the water level not dropping in the sight glass when the boiler is filled above the level of the return tee in the equalizer loop, after a few days with the system not in use confirm that the returns a not leaking anywhere below that level. How can I definitivley troubble-shoot this problem. Thanks for any help.

Steamhead

Did it lose water

before the boiler was replaced? If so, the problem is in the system rather than the boiler. Maybe a pipe has rusted thru somewhere?

I wouldn't worry about water getting into the pigtail below the Pressuretrol- it already contains a bit of water to keep steam from reaching the control.

You might want to check the packing nuts at the radiator shutoff valves- if these are loose or need new packing, you will lose steam there.

Burnham makes a real good boiler, and I know they'll stand behind it if it turns out the boiler is at fault.

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John@Reliable

Water leaks aren't always water leaking?

Have you checked air vents? Bear with me. If you put a pan of water on the stove and set at high without a lid the water will steam away,put a lid on it and water will last for a long time.Now think of your boiler as the pan of water and the vents as the lid! if raditor and main vents are leaking steam you will run out of water in the boiler.You should turn thermostat to hi and start checking vents,air will come out first and then they will click shut once steam hits vents,if any are leaking steam(water) replace w/new ones. To check for a high leak shut off and remove top flue pipe and canopy fill w/water til sight glass is full,keep filling for 1 more min. this should be enough water to cover heat exchanger for leaks Hope this helps John@Reliable