Low water cutoff installations

dopey27177 · May 2020

I have seen many questions on low water cutoff installations and how to maintain them.

I am sending the installation guide from McDonnell and Miller for Steam and Hot Water Boilers.
This can be a refresher to Boiler a installer, technicians but more for the do it your self people. A do it your self person needs to know what the install looks like especially when hiring contractors.

A cautionary note to all do it yourself people is you are playing with fire. A dry fire can occur and you will lose your boiler. McDonnell Miller warrants it's products. Should the new lwcf fail you may not recover the cost of a boiler replacement.

Only a qualified boiler installing contractor will be able to recover your cost of a new boiler installation from McDonnell and Miller or his liability insurance due to a product failure.

Proper maintenance of LWCF's is required to protect the boiler from dry fires.

After reading the enclosures if you have questions about maintenance go on McDonnell Millers web site and reference the maintenance requirements.

I hope this discussion will answer some questions and impress on some people that LWCF's are a vital safety device. Additionally some jurisdictions require two LWCF's on small boilers.

Jake

retiredguy · May 2020

A lot of the service tech's I dealt with were unaware of the risk or the potential disaster they could cause during a normal service check on a piece of equipment. I always stressed to any "would be" service tech the potential damage and bodily harm they could cause due to disregarding safety procedures on something they were servicing. When you are there for service or to correct a problem concentrate on the problem at hand. If you don't know or are uninsured about a particular control ask someone who knows and can instruct you on how to service or fix that device. A mistake could cause a disaster or change your life. I never found a fuel that had no potential risk or pressure vessel that was totally safe. If you want to be in this business you have to read and study everything you can get your hands on. It is much easier today than when I got into the business due to computers and instant access to just about everything.

BobC · May 2020

Decades ago the primary control on my steam boiler failed, I was sick at the time so I called for repair instead of doing it myself. The guy came, diagnosed the problem and installed a new control - it didn't work.

He called his boss who came over with a new control and found the new controller was miswired and thus failed. A new properly wired controller got the system back up.

Mistakes happen, always inspect the last work done carefully. BTW that was the last time anybody else was called to fix my boiler. I'm perfectly capable of blowing things up on my own, no need to pay someone else.

Bob

Low water cutoff installations

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