Steam Boiler Failures

heatman

Had two Burnham IN9 gas fired steam boilers fail in the same house. First one lasted 9 years. Second one lasted 3.5 years. Both developed leaks near the top of the boiler. Either Burnham has a problem or there is something wrong with the installation or configuration. Some characteristics of the system: 1 pipe system, no water hammer, small water loss, good water level maintained by auto-fill, relatively fast auto-fill, 2 risers out of boiler into header, excellent heat distribution across all radiators in house. Any thoughts? Unable to see hole in existing boiler since it is still in operation awaiting replacement and it is not visible without removing flue vent assembly.

Dale

Happy returns

I guess I mean any buried wet returns? I think that the systems deserves an air test before the next boiler. If there's any wet return in the floor to replace it. If it's a waterline hole the answer is why the water feeder and if you plan to use it again I would put in a water meter.

heatman

No Buried wet returns

There are no buried wet returns. Air test sounds like a good idea. The boiler leak is way above the water line at the top of the boiler and it's pretty large. We manually flooded the boiler and the water leaked out at the top at a pretty good rate. When you say water meter, do you mean something to slow the rate of the automatic fill into the boiler or something to measure the water rate into the boiler?

heatman

No Buried wet returns

There are no buried wet returns. Air test sounds like a good idea. The boiler leak is way above the water line at the top of the boiler and it's pretty large. We manually flooded the boiler and the water leaked out at the top at a pretty good rate. When you say water meter, do you mean something to slow the rate of the automatic fill into the boiler or something to measure the water rate into the boiler?

kevin coppinger_4

he means a measuring

device...Like a Hydrolevel VXT LWCO. kpc

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clammy

water ph

Did any one chk the ph level in the water is it city or well water also was the boiler piped with swing joints or was it a welded job they always end up cracking because of lack of companion flanges for expansion .good luck and peace clammy

Unknown

Look outside the box

There are many, many things that can shorten the life of a steam boiler. I've had the opportunity to visit a lot of sites over the past 33 years where steam boilers would not last. I somehow always end up seeing the same thing. First off, uninsulated mains and headers will produce condensate before steam ever has a chance to get to the system. Improper venting, in particular main vents, will help in producing acidic condensate which will certainly play a big role in killing a boiler. You stated that you had a small water loss. With an automatic water feeder installed, you will have absolutely no way of knowing that unless you have a metering device or an auto feeder with a built-in metering device.

Check for steam leakage at every radiator valve and every vent. Steam is invisible unless the room is cold enough to make it condense. Hold a piece of tissue or a real cold bottle of water over the air vents and radiator valves while it is running. If you see the tissue getting wet or the bottle condensing, you are losing steam. As stated in another post, check the PH of the water with Hydrion paper. The PH should be higher than 7 and lower than 11. Use of copper piping for steam headers can cause a galvanic reaction within the boiler that can contribute to the symptoms you are having. Most important of all is to make sure that the boiler water is clean to prevent surging and carry over into the heater piping. You can't see inside the boiler when it is operating and a bit of oil or sludge can make for some rather violent water wash of the inside of the sections while operating. Properly maintaining the "System" will certainly provide for a much longer boiler life. Hope this helps.

Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

www.burnham.com

heatman

failed boilers

Water is town supplied with following characteristics:
pH: 7.4-7.9
alkalinity: 62-73 ppm
hardness: 84-120 ppm; 5-7 grains/gallon
total dissolved solids: 290-350 ppm

Boiler is piped with swing joints. That's a good question though. One of the first things I checked since it has had repeated failures and all the piping and controls have stayed the same.

Thanks for your help...

heatman

outside the box

Thanks for the ideas. The mains are insulated. The header is not. Headers are often not insulated. Is that really important for boiler life? Main vents appear properly located and are functioning. How would a problem with a vent create acidic condensate? Isn't that more a function of the water pH? In this case water is town supplied and varies from pH 7.4 to 7.9. The metered auto-feeder is a good idea and the new furnace will have one. Vents are only venting dry air/steam. No detectable moisture coming out. There is no copper in the header but there are two copper risers for two radiators. There doesn't appear to be any surging. I can't hear any wash into the header and the water line on the guage glass (which is not clogged) is very stable during boiler operation. What about an auto-fill that is too fast? Current one only waits about 30 seconds after boiler stops firing to kick on and runs at about 3 gallons per minute. Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate the help.

Unknown

Check the boiler PH

Even though the water you are getting claims to be and probably is at 7.4 - 7.9 that doesn't mean that it will stay that way inside the boiler. Unvented CO2 can return to the boiler as Carbonic Acid and alter the PH quite a bit. As I stated earlier, steam is undetectable in a warm atmosphere until it condenses. Making it visible will tell you for sure if anything is leaking. Some of the older water feeders that had quick acting solenoid valves that slam on and off will give the boiler a real good jolt of makeup water. The delay you spoke of is generally controlled by the low water cutoff. The newer models are completely programmable for delay, feed amounts and other features.

Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

www.burnham.com