Boiler loses water quickly ... *sometimes*

Rob_21

I should also point out that there is no apparent water damage, dripping noises in the wall, etc ... I've had someone come out and take a look at it, they can't find anything wrong either.

Thanks!

Rob_21

Boiler loses water quickly ... *sometimes*

Hello,
I live in Boston and have a residential steam boiler which, up until this year, I've had to refill about once every month or so.
Just recently, there are days where the boiler will lose all of its water in a 12-24 hour time span, while other days the water will last 2-3 days or even a couple of weeks. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason behind it. I would imagine that if the tank is filled, the boiler cycles a few times, and the level of water remains the same then there isn't a leak ... but why the sudden loss on some days?

Any help would be appreciated. Great site!

Ray Landry

I'm definetly a rookie when it comes to steam, but I know enough to get me into trouble... You could have plugged return lines that aren't allowing flow back to the boiler when the steam is condensing in the main. You may also have bad radiatior vents, and/or a bad main steam vent. Do you have any radiators whrch are shut off at the rad. valve? small amounts of steam may be entering the closed rad because of the valve not being a positive shut-off.

When you say the boiler looses 'all' of it's water does the low water cut off trip out on saftey? if you are really loosing 100% of the boiler water you have bigger problems than waht I just stated. Is there any type of a hot water looop of the boiler? Like an inderect water heater or a baseboard heat loop? Some pics of the near boiler piping would be nice as well... Where in MA are you located, the company I work for is out of holliston maybe we can help.

ed wallace

boiler loosing water

Hi i am in Watertown give me a call at 617-908-0554 i can help you

Rob_21

Thanks for the reply -
I'm losing water to the point that the cut-off is enabled, so it's not dry boiling (thank god). All the radiators are fully open, and all the valves are in good shape (according to the plumber).
I'm thinking the problem could be the returns as well. It's a one-pipe system with underground returns (which makes that very difficult to tell!). Attached are some pics of the system.

Jim Bennett

returns

I'm thinking it is the underground returns leaking. You could isolate and pressure test them. I have seen underground returns deteriorate in less than ten years.

Good luck,

Jim

Rob_21

That would make the most sense I'd think, since there's nothing obvious in the house/walls. The plumber mentioned something about rerouting the underground returns above-ground. Not sure how much of an undertaking that is.

So, based on the picture I provided, I guess I'm confused as to what those two pipes coming out of the concrete floor (the returns, right?) are actually doing. Why are they run undergound in the first place, and where are they connected to under there?

Can you tell I'm new to this? : )

ed wallace

losing water

the returns were buried so homeowner wouldnt be tripping over them

Rob_21

How would I go about running the pressure test? Is that something a homeowner can do, or something I'd best ask the plumber to do?

Jim Bennett

testing

This is something for your plumber or heating tech to do. You need to trace your returns and find out which ones are connected to the underground portion. If they have been buried for any length of time, it's probably safe to assume they are leaking.