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Brand new boiler- water tube has gunk in it

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seaamygo
seaamygo Member Posts: 19
in Strictly Steam
I just had my brand new peerless boiler installed two weeks ago. It’s been cold enough here in Connecticut for it to fire up every day since then. It’s been working well but when I went down to the basement to put away some Halloween decorations I was looking at it & noticed that the glass tube which Shows me the water level was going up and down (always below the level line sticker) and the tube has brown gunk in it. The boiler was running while I was looking at it. Should the water in the tube be clear?
The one photo that has the yellow arrow shows where the water level was when I took that picture

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  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,842
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    Not surprising. A new boiler installation will almost always loosen lots of gunk. Call your installer back to flush it out.

    You may need to have this done more than once.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    seaamygo
  • Hap_Hazzard
    Hap_Hazzard Member Posts: 2,846
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    Two signs a boiler needs skimming: surging and dirt collecting in the gauge glass. You've got both of them.
    Just another DIYer | King of Prussia, PA
    1983(?) Peerless G-561-W-S | 3" drop header, CG400-1090, VXT-24
    seaamygo
  • Matthewdg73
    Matthewdg73 Member Posts: 38
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    seaamygo,
    I have the same issue plus some.
  • Dave0176
    Dave0176 Member Posts: 1,177
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    > @seaamygo said:
    > I just had my brand new peerless boiler installed two weeks ago. It’s been cold enough here in Connecticut for it to fire up every day since then. It’s been working well but when I went down to the basement to put away some Halloween decorations I was looking at it & noticed that the glass tube which Shows me the water level was going up and down (always below the level line sticker) and the tube has brown gunk in it. The boiler was running while I was looking at it. Should the water in the tube be clear?
    > The one photo that has the yellow arrow shows where the water level was when I took that picture

    Question, did they skim the boiler after installation to remove cutting oils?
    DL Mechanical LLC Heating, Cooling and Plumbing 732-266-5386
    NJ Master HVACR Lic# 4630
    Specializing in Steam Heating, Serving the residents of New Jersey
    https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/dl-mechanical-llc

    https://m.facebook.com/DL-Mechanical-LLC-315309995326627/?ref=content_filter

    I cannot force people to spend money, I can only suggest how to spend it wisely.......
  • BobC
    BobC Member Posts: 5,478
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    Some installers like to let the boiler run for a week or two to make sure all the crap is loose, sometimes the take away the old boiler at the same time. Call the installer and ask when he's coming back to skim.

    Don't be amazed if his answer is why. Some installers don't include the cost of skimming in the quote even though boiler manufacturers all view it as part of the installation. It's an easy operation as long as they installed a skim port, if they didn't install the skim port tell him you want it installed. There are several good skimming tutorials here jut search for them.

    Bob
    Smith G8-3 with EZ Gas @ 90,000 BTU, Single pipe steam
    Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
    3PSI gauge
    seaamygo

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