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VXT-120

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skipro
skipro Member Posts: 7
edited 4:06PM in Strictly Steam

new to this forum. I am a landlord with a house built in late 1800’s. Steam system with oil fired boiler and cast iron radiators throughout the house. Boiler has a VXT-120 automatic water fill My tenant told me she has to manually fill the boiler opening a valve every few days. VXT show a blinking 238 on display. See photo. What are my next steps for repairing this issue? Not sure where to turn for accurate professional expertise. Don’t want to be sold a story from present service company.

IMG_3331.jpeg

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  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 6,679

    Where is this house located?

  • skipro
    skipro Member Posts: 7

    house is in Rhode Island

  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 6,679

    @New England SteamWorks

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 26,683

    At a bet… at some point the VXT overfilled the boiler, and some bright child closed the valves to it and is using the manual bypass valve. Good thinking on someone's part to solve the problem — or rather to keep things operational.

    What is controlling the VXT? If it is a float type LWCO, you really need to know if it's working. It should have a blowdown valve on it (on the MM 67 it's a valve on a pipe at the bottom). Now if you look at the VXT's display, you have the three numbers. There should NOT be a decimal point visible to the right of the numbers. Now open the blowdown. A decimal point should appear on the display. It should turn off quickly when you close the blowdown. If it doesn't the float in the LWCO isn't tripping the switch — which also means it isn't turning off the boiler as it should on low water. You can test that — no harm — by opening the blowdown with the boiler running. The boiler should shut off.

    Minor detail. Before operating the blowdown, note the static water level in the boiler and restore it manually when you are done playing…

    Again, if it is a float type control, it is possible to clean it without that much hassle… but it would probably be worth having @New England SteamWorks come take a look anyway.

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 19,179

    Looks like that has been feeding a lot of water. Not good for the boiler at all. MU water contains oxygen and will rot the boiler and piping.

    The feeder is probably gunked up and will not feed.

    Need to get the feeder serviced and have any leaks fixed. Even small leaks at air vents and at radiator valve packings add up.

  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 2,485

    I think that blinking, means that it's on at least its second cycle. Meaning, that it got to 999 and then reset to 000

  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Member Posts: 2,485

    Water feeder filter, might need to be cleaned

  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 18,156

    Or the boiler may be leaking above the waterline. If true, you wouldn't see water on the floor, but you'd have steam coming out the chimney.

    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting

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