\"draw\" off sludge from boiler

Tony Brown

COOL!!

TJC_3

How to \"draw\" sludge from bottom of boiler.

I drained my boiler then refilled it. I then used Squick and fired it up. The Squick instructions say that the "... soft sludge by drawn off. Do not surface blow or drain boiler." How do I "draw" the sludge from the bottom?

Tony Brown

squik

Hello. You posted this:

I drained my boiler then refilled it. I then used Squick and fired it up. The Squick instructions say that the "... soft sludge by drawn off. Do not surface blow or drain boiler." How do I "draw" the sludge from the bottom?

I cannot help you, but did you ever get an answer to your question? I have the same question.

Joe Brix

Boiler drain?

Don't you have a boiler drain on the bottom of the unit?
I would make sure the water was still warm but not circulating.

Tony Brown

I do have a drain. That's the question. The SQUICK instructions say, "do not drain", but instead "absorded impurities sink to the bottom and may be drawn off". What do that mean, "may be drawn off". After adding SQUICK, what do we do to "draw off"?

Anna Conda

"Do not drain" just means don't empty the boiler completely. Your boiler's drain line should have a ball valve or other manual valve on it, to open and close it at will? To 'draw off' (or 'blow down', another term for the procedure), open the valve on the drain line and let a little of the treated water out, just a little, maybe a few liters or so. Then close it again. If your boiler has a lot of sludge, do it again maybe in the evening, then again for a few days but it shouldn't take long to clear out most of the sludge. As Joe Brix said, the boiler should be warm but not circulating, circulating will stir up the sludge and keep it in suspension; not circulating will let it settle to the bottom of the boiler. Doing a couple of little short blow-downs (maybe 2 or 3 seconds?) will move the sludge more effectively than one long blow-down.

I hope this is a little help?

Tony Brown

Another question please. My boiler doesn't seem to have skimming or cleanout tees. Is that a major problem?