boiler itself gurgles

Joe at krahezfoo@aol.com

Have to agree with Steamhead. Dirt and sludge lay on the bottom and entrap the water, which turns to steam when heated. Have this problem in my hot water tank, due to the high amount of iron and calcium in our water. Looked into buying a commercial hot water tank with a cleanout door, but the cost is prohibitive, can buy a lot of hot water tanks for that price. Try blow down or a good boiler cleaner like Squick; plus blowdown. Depends on how much mud is in the thing. Be careful. Sometimes when cleaning out old boilers that have not had their water treated, you remove the sludge that plugs up the holes. Been down that road before! Try to charge your customer for cleaning out the boiler, and then make it leak to the point of having to replace the boiler. Lots of explaining to do there! Pipetight, do it right!

[Deleted User]

what would cause the

boiler itself to gurgle...steam boiler..starts gurgleing as soon as the burner comes on. seems to work fine, just gurgles. any thoughts why?

Steamhead

Dirt!

I've run into the same thing. That's steam bubbling up thru sludge- just like in a rumbling water heater.

You need to give that boiler a thorough water-side cleaning- the return lines too.

Once in a while, an improper flame size or shape can cause this too- but mostly it's dirt!

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