Losing Steam Fast

dlgivens

I'm a homeowner currently experiencing a problem with my steam boiler. The problem is that I have to put water in my boiler every 2 hours!!!! I've also had a plumber come to the house and clean the boiler but the problem still exists. The plumber could find no leakage anywhere in, near or around the boiler. Could there be an internal leakage problem that the plumber could not find? The boiler is 13 years old although I've owned the house for 3 years.my house was built in 1935. Any suggestions anyone can provide me would be greatly appreciated.

Mark A. Custis

If you over fill the boiler

past the top of the chest and then look for leaks you may find a leak in the chest. What is going on with the vents? Are they closing when you make steam? Does the unit have a domestic hot water loop? Is the unit equiped with a working low water cut off? Does it have an autofill device?

The water has to be going someplace. Any return piping hidden?

mark

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Boilerpro_2

I agree with Mark

and are you losing steam out of our radiator vents, main vents, leaks around radiator valves.


Boilerpro

dlgivens

the plumber suggested that I check all the radiators for leakage but there is no leakage around the valves or radiators. I do have a low water cutoff but no autofill device installed. please forgive my limited knowledge here but i'm unclear on the hot water loop and chest area your talking about. My chimney was cleaned and the flue was replaced recently. the piping that extends from the boiler through the wall leading to the chimney was removed and reconnected, could this possibly have something to do with it? Is this the hidden piping your referring too?the boiler is made by "Burnham", the model number is XG4000. the vents have no steam leaking through either. One thing I noticed a few days ago is that two of the radiators failed to get hot. one day their hot and the next day they won't get hot.

steve_6

I agree with Mark also.

The steam chest is basicly the area in the boiler from the top of the water line to the top of the boiler sections. if you have a hole in one of these sections in this area, your boiler will consume water like crazy. Go outside and check your chimney while your boiler is running. If its blowing a lot of white smoke/ steam this can be your problem. compare it to your neighbors, their should be a big difference between the to. If you have a buried return line that is rotted this could be the problem also. You need to find yourself a contractor that knows steam heating. Check the find a contractor area of thi web site. Good luck and keep us posted!!

dlgivens

Yes. it is blowing a lot white smoke from the chinmey. what does this mean? Can it be fixed or does the boiler need replacing? I hope it can be fixed.

Mark A. Custis

Now we are getting

some where. Are you into trying to find the problem today?

Yes I was referring to the trait of burying return line to maintain pitch for condensate return.

I would guess, from what has been posted, at some point the LWCO failed and the unit dry fired. Sounds like you could be venting steam out of the flue. I doubt the cleaning of the chimney and flue had anyting to do with the loss of steam (water).

Shut the thing down, remove as much of the jacket (nice blue colored sheet metal hiding the rest of the boiler) as you are comfortable with replacing and over fill the chest. Take the flue pipe off while you are doing the flood test and with a good flash light inspect the top of the chest for water leaks.

It will depend on the leaks, get that far and then we have something to weigh on replace or repair.

I am home and will be checking to see how you are doing. Saturday is a bad day to not have heat.

Good luck,

Mark

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Boilerpro_2

If you have a drafthood or barometric damper..

Where you can look up into the flue gas flow to the chimney, I'd check here for steam. If you have steam here, you probably have a leak above the water line in the steam chest.

Boilerpro

steve_6

flood the boiler

overfill the boiler just bast the top of the steam chest. keep your hand on one of the supply risers that come off the top sides or the top of the boiler. When you feel them change temperature close your water feed and check for leaks. If it does , it needs replacing.

Mark A. Custis

Draft diverter is

not a help. He has an induced draft unit.

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Mark A. Custis

Draft diverter is

not a help. He has an induced draft unit.

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Mark A. Custis

Draft diverter is

not a help. He has an induced draft unit.

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steve_6

did you

flood that boiler yet? let us know what's happening!!

Steamhead

It sounds to me

like that boiler has cracked near the top. That explains why the "white smoke" is leaving the chimney- it's actually steam. Unless I'm wrong, you need a new boiler.

Several factors can cause a boiler to crack. The most common is a low-water cutoff that malfunctions and lets the burner run when there's not enough water in the boiler. But it can also be caused by improper piping around the boiler. I just looked at a Columbia steam boiler on a Hoffman Vapor system that cracked, and it appeared to be caused by improper piping and the boiler being slightly undersized. I'll post pics of that one if we get the replacement job.

Burnham makes first-class boilers, and it's not unusual to see their older equipment still running well after several decades. I'm sure they'd want to know why your boiler went bad. Our contact at Burnham is Glenn Stanton, who is one of the best there is. E-mail him at gstanton@burnham.com - but I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up on this thread soon!

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JM_2

Steam out the chimney

Isn't steam a by-product of nat-gas? I see steam coming from my chimney (outside temp in RI is about 9 Deg.) So i would expect to see some steam at the top of the chimney as the warm moist exhaust mets the 9 Deg outside air? I dont have a water level problem. Should i be concerned by this presence of steam at the top the chimney?

JM

Mark A. Custis

No, look higher on the posts

The advice was to compare the discharge with the neibors assuming they had systems working correctly. I wonder what happened to the lad. I hope he didn't blow himself up or drown himself "flooding the boiler".

Mark

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dlgivens

I appreciate all the feedback I've received to help me resolve the problem. I called my local gas company and they sent over a serviceman. The serviceman flooded the boiler and water leaked from the bottom. he also removed the flue pipe and stated that the boiler was losing steam above the water line and there was a "High Crack @ Heat exchanger". He stated my boiler would need to be replaced. He stated the amount needed to repair it would probably be about the same for a new boiler..:-(

Steamhead

Next Step, Derrick

go to the Find a Contractor page of this site to locate a steam man near you.

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Boilerpro_2

Sorry to hear that, but

now your boiler won't be robbing you blind. The last boiler I had with this problem was running 1700$ per month to run. I installed a new boiler, reworked the system for better operation, and the attic got some insulation and the fuel usage dropped in half. That new boiler will probably pay for itself in a few short years.


Boilerpro