Boiler Cleaner ?

S Ebels

The automatic blowndown on this process type steam boiler was inadvertantly shut off for an unknown period of time. (So much for weekly check marks in the maint sheet)

It has about 3" of scale built up in the bottom and the MM150 is siezed up due to crud.

What can I use to clean this thing out? The calcium deposits are like cement in the bottom and on the sides of this poor thing.

Constantin

I'd contact George @ Rhomar

I bet he could hook you up with something interesting, considering how much experience his company has saving industrial systems.

If it were a thin layer of scale then I, the ignorant homeowner, would simply buy a couple of gallons of vinegar, heat the system nominally (to maybe 100°F) and let it bubble away. Rinse and flush as needed. 3 inches of scale is going to take a long time to descale though.

In your case you may want consider more aggressive acids/salts that will dissolve calcium carbonate faster. For example, Hercules offers HCl salts that are designed to descale on a industrial scale. Again, George at Rhomar might be able to hook you up with a contractor- rather than a industrial-sized solution.

George_10

Call Dwight here at Rhomar

He can solve this problem for you and the boiler should be well again. Our number is 800-543-5975. We are on the central time zone here is Missouri.

How big a volume of water is in this system. Dwight would need that info to be of help.

sandy_4

Vinegar

I have read at several places about putting vinegar in a steam heat system. But no one has mentioned where to pour the vinegar in???

hr

I'm not sure

any chemical treatment could handle a 3" layer of sludge build up. Seems the acid would weaken the surrounding metals before it could handle that much calcium?

I've seen guys try this on limed copper tube boilers and eat through the copper before the calcium was dissolved

hot rod

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S Ebels

This one

Is VERY heavy steel. It's made by Lattner boiler out of Iowa. Rating is 7HP and it looks like the firing rate is 300K. I'm going to try and call Rhomar and Lattner tomorrow. Be interesting to see what Lattner suggests. The only access port is on the top of the boiler, which is about 5' tall. I'm thinking a couple heavy duty 1/2" drill extensions and a coarse wire wheel might be the only way. Just grind it out.