dirty water

Frank_6

First, I've got to thank Dan for having this great place to learn more about steam.
I've solved a problem with one of my systems that has been ongoing for about five heating seasons.
My problem was surging in the boiler on a 400,000 btu one pipe system which heats a 10 unit apartment building. When I took over the building, the boiler was loaded with mud. After succesfully flushing the mud, I treated the system with "8-Way" boiler treatment, my goal was to prevent further deteriation of the inside of the system. This was entirly successful, in my opinion, as the muck and rust never reapeared. About once each season, I add another dose of 8-way as the color change would indicate.
However, the surging continued, sometimes worse than other times, so I was thinking this is a normal condition for this system. This year the surging got so bad, the boiler was short-cycling on the low water shut off continuously.
Heatinghelp.com to the rescue!
I never thought water that looked good could go bad! Changed the water in the system, surging went to about 1/2 inch on the gauge glass. Wow, Changed it two more times, and now I got no more than a 1/4" bounce in the glass! No more surging, no more condesate going backwards thru the return. And I'm getting heat to the farest away radiators that were never getting warm.
Ah, the mysteries of steam!
Sometimes we overlook the simplist solutions.
Thanks again.
Frank