It's heating season for real. Is your boiler ready?

Did you forget about what it takes to keep your boiler running safely and efficiently throughout the heating season?

Here’s a primer for your gas-fired, steam-heating boiler:
Piping

No steam boiler should be piped with copper. All manufacturers recommend the use of threaded steal pipe and fittings when installing a steam boiler.

Burner tubes

In most gas boilers, fuel flows into tubes, mixes with air and is burned to heat the water contained in what is called the heat exchanger.

When dirt and dust build up on those burner tubes efficiency declines because complete combustion of the air/fuel mixture is hampered. As a result of rising levels of unburned fuel after the combustion process has taken place, carbon monoxide begins to rise proportionately.

The heat exchanger may also become coated with carbon brought on by the burning impurities creating far greater carbon monoxide risks.

Low water cut offs

There are two basic types of low water cut off devices: the float-type (most often used is the McDonnel-Miller model # 67) and probe-type (yours would probably be the PS-800 series also by McDonnel-Miller). The float type should be blown down (flushed) weekly. It is made to last for ten years. After that, get a new one. Bad things can happen when they fail.

The probe type should be disconnected from the boiler and cleaned and inspected annually. It is made to last fifteen years.

If you think you’ve been maintaining your boiler because every week or so you push down on that lever that lets out that dirty cruddy water, you’re wrong. You haven’t done much of anything for the boiler at all. That valve is there to maintain the low water cut off to which it is directly connected.

Fresh water corrodes a boiler. Every time you flush it out, you’re creating the need to add more fresh water. If that new water doesn’t boil right away, it does bad things to the cast iron and steel that contain it.

Flue and chimney

Flu piping and chimneys need to be looked at by someone who knows how a problem presents itself. Surface rust and discoloration are signs of something going wrong.

The causes are often one or a combination of the following: inadequate intake (or make-up) air for combustion, a collapsed or compromised chimney, or a serious issue inside the boiler.

The grey, metallic flue piping should connect to the boiler, its lowest point, and continue upward from there to the connection to the chimney. There it should be sealed to the bricks without gaps or holes in the penetration.

Skimming

Newer boilers need to be skimmed to get rid of the oil that lies on top of the water which prevents steam from rising and moving toward the pipes and radiators.

Every boiler contains an installation package naming a very specific connection factory-installed in the boiler called a skim port or surface blow-off location where the skimming procedure is best performed. It is the installer’s duty to screw a pipe and valve into that connection to allow for the safe and effective removal of oils from the boiler water.

If this is not done, efficiency, boiler longevity and system balance suffer.
In the boilers I see, about one in four has any provision for skimming installed.

Our installations include a new valve and follow-up skimming service after 2 weeks of use when the oils have collected and are easily removed.

Pressure

Steam heating systems operate on the principle that steam pressure created in the boiler moves the gas (the steam) to areas of low pressure throughout the building. Areas of low pressure are created by adding air vents in places like the ends of radiators and piping runs. It doesn’t take a lot of pressure to do this, little more than just enough to be different from one end to the other of the system. That being the case, having the boiler run long enough to make more pressure than is necessary is nothing but an expensive waste of fuel and money.

A trained boiler mechanic and technician knows how to set the pressure regulating device, found on every steam boiler, properly.

The device is mounted on a curled length of pipe called a pigtail which protects it from the hot steam in the boiler. The pigtail should be made of brass (yellow metal in color). If yours is made of steel (black in color) have it replaced or at least flushed clean. They inevitably clog and fail.

While I’m on a roll (rant?) here:

A word on Water Feeders

Increasing occurrences of having to add water to a steam boiler is NOT a reason to buy an automatic water feeder.

If your boiler is less than 400,000 BTUs (in your 1-to-3-family building, your boiler is probably less than 400,000 BTUs) and you’re adding water more than about every two weeks, you’ve got a problem that needs to be identified and repaired. Adding a water feeder to deal with it would be like putting a band aid on a gunshot wound. You haven’t solved your problem.

Water feeders have their place and their people.

I happen to be a fan of the Hydrolevel VXT model.

There are countless benefits to their digital display (in number of gallons fed) and their flexibility made possible by their settable flow rate options (how much water per feed cycle) and its lockout feature which effectively prevents things like flooding a house while the occupants are away.