Steam Furnace Surging/Needs Water Every Day

seabee570

If you are sure that the water is clean...the conductivity of the water could be high...boiler needs blown down to lower conductivity..foaming= very unstable water level in boiler due to impurities in water...priming=similar to foaming,surging water level but the main cause is that the boiler load is too great for the boiler..if the level jumps up high thengoes to low you are "pulling" the level high by having an extreme load,you could try isolating the different boiler loads and shut some areas down for a short while and see if the level is steady.when opening valves again open very slowly

Jeanne S.

Steam Furnace Surging/Needs Water Every Day

I have a two pipe steam system and it seems that I have had to add water at least once a day this winter. The system surges if I do not, but I feel that it is too much water as it is well past the water line. The water bounces around alot in the glass, but it appears to be clean. I just keep adding water each day. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Steamhead

Water might look clean

but there may still be lots of dirt in the boiler. Have the water-filled areas of the boiler cleaned well. Also check to see that there isn't a leak in the boiler above the waterline.

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ta finnegan

Surging

A few things to check:

How are the returns: wet returns, dry returns? Are they below the water line?

Are there any vents in the near boiler piping? On the mains? On the returns?

When was the last time the boiler was thoroughly cleaned?

Are there any leaking valves? pipes? returns?

Where is the pressuretrol or vaporstat set?

How about a picture of the near boiler piping.....

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