Auto Water Feed

SteamDream · April 10

Good morning… I am a new owner of a relatively new system… I am looking for advice regarding adding a device to feed water into the system automatically. The furnace does indeed have a unit that shuts the operation down when the water is low… but no auto feed. Any suggestions on the correct unit to add to the system. Thank you!

bmma · April 10

The auto feed you're looking for is the Hydrolevel VXT-24. But if this is a new system, and if everything is working correctly, you shouldn't really need to add water very often. If you're losing water frequent enough that you need an autofeed you should be looking at why/where you're losing water. Also, what is up with the pressure relief valve on the drain from the boiler. That is definitely not in the right place!

ethicalpaul · April 10

Unless the location must go for long periods of time without attention, I would leave it manual and be in the habit of checking it at least weekly.

Even if you install one, I would visit the boiler weekly and top it off myself so to be able to have an idea of how much water it is using.

That water level in the picture is very low, don't let it go that low.

ScottSecor · April 10

Unrelated to your auto feeder question, but the relief valve is in the wrong location. The pressure relief valve is that brass thing with the yellow paper tag is supposed to piped into the top of the boiler.

STEAM DOCTOR · April 10

Good eye. Someone must have told the installer that the relief valve needs to terminate close to the floor

SteamDream · April 10

Thank you for all this information. The system is about 10 years old. And Yes it is very obvious that it was installed by amateurs masquerading as professionals… it does work… but the entire system at the boiler itself needs to be redone. I need an auto water feed because I do go away for extended periods of time and have renters in the upstairs apartment. Thank for all you help! I very much appreciate it.

Steamhead · April 11

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1851896#Comment_1851896

Where are you located? We might know someone who can help……………..

SteamDream · April 11

Silver City, New Mexico… the center of the Universe

ethicalpaul · April 11

Indeed it's like the eye of a hurricane…completely clear of steam professionals 😅

109A_5 · April 11

Keep in mind the auto feeders are usually triggered by the LWCO (Low Water Cut Off), so the water will be low for a while preceding the refill event. With the VXT you can add more water to get back to a more normal water level but it won't refill until a LWCO event. Personally I like my boiler at 2/3 to 3/4 on the sight glass. A water feeder basically keeps things safe and operational but probably does not run the boiler at the optimum water level.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.supplyhouse.com/product_files/Hydrolevel-45-026-Install-Instructions.pdf

And get that relief valve corrected, It looks like it was leaking anyway.

STEAM DOCTOR · April 11

Just a word of caution. The feeder doesn't actually know how many gallons it's feeding. It's really counting minutes, and assuming one gallon per minute. Let's say you find The Sweet spot where it fills to your desired level. And let's say your water pressure is higher or lower in a month or a year or whatever. The water level will be different than what it was originally set to. I have heard of people who have ended up with overfilled boilers. For precisely this reason.

Auto Water Feed

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