steam help

John Genereux

Hi,
I have a steam Burnham boiler that is about 4 years old.
Last year I replaced all the main and radiator vents and the system worked flawless through a very cold winter.
Now this year I am not getting heat in the two furthest radiators and I am getting a lot of mid cycle water hammer from the feed pipes to these as well. The only thing that was done this year was the annual boiler cleaning. Now the oil company is saying I need to repipe the returns? This doesnt seem right. Is there anything that could be wrong with the boiler? Thanks John

Fred Harwood

Steam

Sounds like a bad main vent and too much pressure.
You also may need to ensure that the condensate return (if parallel flow) is clear and not stacking condensate in the main. Check and tell us more.

John Genereux

main vent check

How can you check the main vent for proper operation? It is a brand new "vent-rite" main vent. The only thing that is strange is that it sits on a stem about 6-8" above the main.
How much pressure should the boiler be making?
I watched the system this AM and it took almost 2 hrs to build 2 psi at the boiler. This seems slow to me.
I will check the returns.

Unknown

John

What does the water look like in the gauge glass of the boiler. Are there traces of oily deposits on the water and the same coming down the gauge glass? Is the water clean or brownish in color? It just may be that you have accumulated some sludge from the system and are not making steam in the boiler the way it is intended to. It is really amazing how well boilers can make steam when the water is clean and free of oily deposits.

Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

John Genereux

How to clean

How do I clean and desludge the boiler?
I really dont want to have to pay the oil company to repipe the system..

Thanks
John

Thad English

too much pressure

2lbs is too much pressure. Lower the pressurtrol to under 1. Steam systems are most efficient at low pressures.

During the 'cleaning' some gunk may have been dislodged in the boiler and is now stuck in the main vent. Take it off and blow through it [but not while the boiler is running, unless you like steam burns ]. You should be able to get air through the vent. If not then you need to either clean it or replace it.

Unknown

The cleaning procedure

is pretty well described in the manual, but is best left to the professional heating contractor to take care of. It generally involves skimming the boiler which will involve installing skim piping and a bit of patience as it takes a little while to accomplish sucessfully.

Glenn

John Genereux

Fixed (so far)

Thanks to all who helped out..
I flushed the boiler last night and it seems to have cured all. The radiators are hot and there is no water hammer.

JOhn