fast pressure drop?

Ray_2

My boiler turns off at 2 psi and back on at 0 psi. The pressure drops from 2 psi to 0 psi in about 2 or 2.5 minutes - Is this normal? Seems like alot of cycling

Ray

KCA_2

HUH?


Your Boiler is running with only 2lbs/sqin?

Thats way to little you know. Most circulaters need +-14psi to run correctly but then again the PSI is mandated by the height of the system.

:-) Ken

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Sweet_2

I think its a

steam boiler.

jeff_51

sounds like your boiler might be flooded

where is the waterline on the guage glass? It should be about half way. How old is the boiler? The new ones have a smaller steam chest but that sure sounds like short cyceling to me. Do you have steam traps on the return? Are they passing steam? do you have a boiler feed pump or condensate pump or is it a gravity return? Give us a little more to work on and the guys at this site will get you fixed up right

Ray_2

answers for jeff / more info

It is a 1 pipe steam system, gravity return.
Burnham gas boiler independence series model Pin5SNS-ME2 about 10 years old
Honeywell pressuretrol L404a 1354

this Is what I have done recently
replaced all vents on the radiators

Replaced Vents on the main/reuurns (located at very end of returns)_used Gorton#1 on long side / vent-rite #35 short side(wanted hoffman #4a- not available) had DOLE 1933s

insulated all pipes

I adjusted the pressuretrol From main =5 diff=2 and set it to 3psi main 1.5 psi diff

I monitored the operation of the boiler - once the pressure builds up to 3 psi it shuts off, pressure drops to 1.5 psi, then fires up again. The boiler cycles on/off every 2.5 minutes till the temp on the thermostat is achieved. Seems fast to me?

Water in the site glass is 1/3 up the glass.

I have recently drained some water out of boiler - very rusty, I also cleaned the filter in the auto water feed.

Thanks again for your input

Ray

Steve Paul

Short cycling

Ray
It sounds as though you may have a leak somewhere. I would check:
1- All of the air vents to be certain they are closing.
2- All of the radiator valves packing nuts and unions.
3- I would also shut down the auto feeder to see if you are making up for lost water due to a steam leak. How often does the feeder operate? A tight system and boiler should go many days without re-filling. The boiler and system should hold pressure longer than 2-5 minutes before firing up again

Ray_2

pressure leak? short cycle

Steve,
I went and inspected all my vents / pipes - look good to me. I did not see / feel steam coming from vents or connections. I did notice that some of my vents spit a little water as they heat up.

My water feeder does release water every few days, when the boiler is running alot.
My pressure drops in 2 and 1/2 minutes and turns the boiler on and off till tempature is reached.
I will try running the boiler with the autofeed off and monitor the water level.

How long shoud it be before water is needed? And is there a way to tell if the system leaking / losing pressure at the boiler?



Thanks for the help and input -
Ray

John Shea

Sounds fine to me.

2.5 minutes seems right to lose pressure. As soon as the burner kicks off, you should lose pressure.

You're obviously having no trouble making steam, and the Pressuretrol is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. In fact, you may want to crank the pressure down even more on a small residential one-pipe.

Sounds like maybe you could use more venting on the mains. Steamhead could tell you what you need based on the pipe size and length of your mains.

Hope this helps.

Ray_2

low pressure

Well I'm glad to hear this is normal operation. As for the main vents - I already hit steamhead up for the proper ones and installed them. As for the system pressure - the pressuretrol lowest settings are 2 main 2 diff Subtractive, on a honeywell l404. I can't get the diff lower them 1.5psi and I have the main set at 3psi. Should I have the main set lower?
I know I could buy a more sensitive pressuretrol, but I don't know if it would be worth the money.

Thank you all for the input and help