VXT-120

skipro · November 30

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.

pecmsg · November 30

Where is this house located?

skipro · November 30

house is in Rhode Island

pecmsg · November 30

@New England SteamWorks

Jamie Hall · November 30

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.

EBEBRATT-Ed · November 30

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 · November 30

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 · November 30

Water feeder filter, might need to be cleaned

Steamhead · November 30

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.

DanielDAY · November 30

how old is the VXT? And has it always worked good before this issue?

109A_5 · November 30

The VXT is a timer / counter. The water flows through an orifice. So at typical utility water pressure 1 gallon per minute. The display is actually in minutes. Probably the water feed valve is closed or the VXT is defective, not feeding water, or the system has a leak using a LOT of water.

Since you own one of these units I recommend you read the manual.

https://hydrolevel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/VXT-120-Instructions-web-0321.pdf

Jamie Hall · November 30

I'm not convinced that this is a problem with the VXT — although I'm not saying it isn't. What I am saying is that if the trigger for the VXT is a float type LWCO, I'd verify its operation. Those floats do stick down now and then, and can produce at least a veery similar problem — very high count of the VXT and overfilled boiler.

109A_5 · November 30

Some more system pictures may help here.

Bottom line is something is wrong and the system, so it needs looking at to determine what the actual issue is.

Could be a steam leak up the chimney, could be a valve closed so the VXT can't do what it was made to do.

999 + 238 minutes is over 20 hours of the VXT trying to feed water. And how many times has it rolled over 999 is unknown.

skipro · December 2

thank you all for your input. While some of the jargon used is foreign to me, I have an idea of what to expect from my service guy. I understand that too much water is bad as well as not enough water for these systems. The whole point of having the VXT was to prevent over filling and regulate water level. This way I am not depending on my tenants to regulate water level. Service is scheduled for Thursday so I keep my fingers crossed. 🤞. Need to make sure tenants have heat going into winter.

KC_Jones · December 2

If the VXT has indeed fed all that water, you have a leak of some kind, appears to be a major leak based on what the VXT is showing. How much, roughly speaking with it rolling over that is about 1237 gallons. That is about 175-200 years worth of water usage for a typical residential boiler. Either there are puddles of water somewhere, or the boiler has a hole. Considering they are currently manually filling every couple days, I'd say that confirms a major leak, or leaks. Fixing the VXT is not the only issue and should be considered as the secondary problem, not the primary. If the person you call doesn't tell you this, they most likely don't know what they are doing. Proper VXT operation doesn't fix leaks, but can effectively mask them because people aren't monitoring the boiler.

I also very strongly agree with Jamie, get the LWCO checked for proper operation, no matter which type it is.

skipro · December 2

thanks for all that expert input. Will update findings after Thursday service call.

skipro · December 4

update. Service call discovered corrosion hole between 3&4. Losing steam up chimney. Service guys tell me I need to replace boiler. For now keep an eye on water level until replacement. Great timing with the holidays coming. 😟. Question is who to do the work and how deep will I have to reach into my pocket. House is in Rhode Island. Suggestions from the experts here?

IMG_3332.jpeg

Jamie Hall · December 4

Ryan at @New England SteamWorks . Or just maybe @Charlie from wmass — though I'm not sure he works in RI.

Charlie from wmass · December 5

I do not work in Rhode Island. Try Ryan @New England SteamWorks

VXT-120

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