30 year old boiler losing lots of water?

bipbap · January 16

Our multifamily building has a 30 year old Weil McLain boiler serving about 6000 square feet over 5 apartments.

It has always been losing some water but I can’t tell from where. Most of the pipes are visible and I don’t see any obvious leaks.

This month has been very cold in the Northeast and it’s been worse than ever- it lost about 14 gallons just in past 30 days (though it was much better last season, maybe 2-3 gallons per month). It is a big boiler (label says input 450k, output 360k) but that seems like a lot of water lost in a month and there aren’t any puddles or visible leaks.

Any thoughts? Is this typical on a boiler this old? How many gallons does a boiler like this even hold typically? And is 30 years typically how long these last, is this a sign of the end?!!

BobC · January 16

Do any of the boiler return piped come up from the floor? if so there might be a leak where you cant see it.

Check the burners to see if it's leaking when making steam. Then overfill the boiler when It's not making steam to see if anything is drippinh down on the burner tubes, if it is dripping you have a leak above the bormal water line and that boiler is toast.

Bob

bipbap · January 16

the only pipe that goes underground and comes back up was the one that was fully dug out and replaced about two years ago

Jamie Hall · January 16

Bluntly, that is more water use than it should be — half a gallon a day is excessive.

It might be a leak in the boiler, likely above the water line; if so, on a cold day, you may see steam clouds from the exhaust. Take a look.

However, it might just be cumulative steam leaks all over the system. While it is excessive, keep in mind that just one drip every ten seconds somewhere is two gallons of water per day — four times what you are seeing. The most likely culprits are the valves on the radiators; the packing often gets tired and leaks small amounts of steam which aren't visible. Another likely spot is the radiator vents, if this is one pipe steam. They also can get tired and leak small amounts (or sometimes copious amounts!) of steam.

Start looking there.

delcrossv · January 16

Use a mirror to check vents and valves around the stem. A lot of leaks are not visible to the naked eye and will show up as condensation on a mirror held near them.

Set the thermostat up 5 degrees so you have a long run and then go apartment by apartment. Mark all the leak locations (vents and valves) so you can go back later and fix them. (less disruptive to tenants).

Don't forget your main vents near the boiler.

Long Beach Ed · January 16

Sounds like a confluence of leaky vents, radiator valve packing nuts and radiator unions. Just as delcrossv and Jamie says, check the whole place. Also check that the sight glass isn't losing steam.

Your situation is what I typically find when I service buildings the size of yours.

mattmia2 · January 16

Spend the money to fix it if it is in the system. That fresh water over time will kill the boiler.

bipbap · 4:50AM

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1835363#Comment_1835363

Maybe a silly question but the air being pushed out won’t fog things up? Just escaping steam?

delcrossv · 4:58AM

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1835538#Comment_1835538

On the valve side, either is bad so ir makes no difference where you are in the cycle. On the vent side, the test should be done into the cycle with the radiator hot. So if the vent is good you shouldn't get anything.

30 year old boiler losing lots of water?

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