Mud

jim lockard

before the well settled and there is a lot of sediment in the system. Enough that its killing circulators. How would you clean this system? Would you put a strainer at the boiler? System is about a year old, well runs clear now. thanks in advance J.Lockard

Ken_8

It's not just \"mud.\"

It's also flux residual, pipe dope, factory cutting oils, etc.

Get one cup of TSP per 100,000 BTU's in there somehow and circulate it to at least 150° for an hour, making sure each zone gets some. Then drain the system and power bleed all zones of residual junk and air.

I don't care how bad the well was, it's more than the mud. No strainer should be used on the system. Since it's sealed, no new water (after the initial refill and bleed) shoudl be needed other than a "trace" of perhaps an oz a year from gasket or seal vapor leaks.

Hope this helps.



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Weezbo

Jim, do you own a 60 gallon barrel and wayne pump?

turn the boiler off...isolate it . completely purge the field with half the water zone by zone....by he way get water from somewhere else, like a muni or spring so the quality is clean....fill each zone with clean water and isolate....once thats done comes the interesting part...................just about every piece on the boiler , needs to be purged and tested.....first the pressure relife.......make sure it indeed opens and purges and seats.....then open the bottom of the boiler hook a hose to the boiler and drop the water out of it.over a white board or in to a white plastic bucket or across a white piece of sheet plastic....then refill the boiler with fresh water thru the boiler drain to 29 psi.......and dump it back out.........over the same white surface.....
if it is clean...ok now you only have to clean the temp probe well and the fast fill and back flow preventor and take apart the recirc pumps.........and i must say that water is cheap as a place to start........and would like you to also respect Hot Rods idea on jacking the pressure up if you do so it is much better flushing of the system.......ooo ....valve off the extrol tank if you jack the pressure up more than 30 though because while you want to exercise it a bit er...um.... maybe all that much might be too good for it

hr

What type of boiler

TSP is basically a strong soap, fine for cast or copper components. Might not want to use it on aluminum boilers, however. Check with the manufacture, TSP runs ph about 11.

After a cleaner it's a good idea to power flush with as high of prerssure as you can. Stay just under the relief valve setting or remove it and run up to the max listed for that boiler, generally 45 psi for cast iron boilers.

That fine sandy type sediment needs some good flow to flush out of small cavities.

Soap alone will not move it out, but will, as Ken mentioned handle the oils, fluxes, pipe joint compound, etc that tend to congeal the fine sediment into an ugly sludge.

I still prefer hydronic cleaners to plain TSP as it balances ph, offers a film provider and has some O2 scavanger built in. Of course you pay more for the additional "chemicials".

Fill a glass with your water and set it on the counter overnight to be sure the sediment problem is gone. If not buy some filtered water to refill.

hot rod

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jim lockard

Burnham revolution

Thanks this is not my install, trying to help a friend. The well ran red for a couple of weeks during this job and now he would like to know the best way to solve the problem. Cleaning the boiler from day one would have helped I am sure.

hr

Has the water been tested?

That would be a good first step. Red usually indicates an iron problem. Usually has a strong rust smell.

Brown could just be the dirt and sediment of a new well before it is pumped for awhile. Iron, like silt settles and is hard to flush out of boiler sections, sometimes. You need to be sure you are not trying to flush with the same "problem" water.

The water test would indicate if they need any treatment for their potable water. Slowly iron water will turn toilet tanks, etc a red color even if it in not visable to the eye. It's very treatable.

I have an iron filter at my well head, a softner, and some carbon filters to handle rust, hardness, and that iron odor.

hot rod



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Mark Eatherton1

Cartridge filter...

I've used a double cartridge filter on dirty systems before. It got an IMPRESSIVE amount of gunk out of the system. I piped in a bypass manner using drain cocks in the system and rubber washing maching hoses. Easy on ,easy off.

Mkae sure the filter.cartridge assy is rated for the temps it will be seeing. Cuno was the brand I used.

ME

toearly_2

When you draw a glass of the water. Do the particles stay suspended ?

If they do.. You might have had a problem with colloidal clay. Treatment is a pain in the rump as the particles do not cling to each other.

If your supplier carries water treatment equipment have them make a call for you.

David

> Thanks this is not my install, trying to help a

> friend. The well ran red for a couple of weeks

> during this job and now he would like to know the

> best way to solve the problem. Cleaning the

> boiler from day one would have helped I am sure.