Time to Check & Drain The Low Water Cut-Off on Your Boiler

I had not drained the low water cut-off in my boiler since last spring. Over the summer we used the boiler only for hot water as needed (we turn it off at night and when we leave the house). I would periodically glance at the water level in the sight glass and all was good.

A couple of days ago, i decided to drain mud from the low water cut off so i fired the boiler and opened the dump valve (there was plenty of water in the sight glass). water came out but the boiler did not shut down. I turned it off and filled the boiler well above the “winter full mark” and turned it back on and opened the valve. It still did not turn off. After draining it a little longer, i took an aerosol can (as opposed to a hammer which could crack a pipe or damage something) and tapped on the cut-off valve body. Mud that had been trapped inside came out and the boiler shut down (there is a ball float inside that got stuck on the mud).

This was the second time this had happened in this house. The first time was when we bought the house and i opened the cut-off to test it for the first time. The previous owners (who were dead; so their heirs) had not been draining the cut-off down.

Had i not checked this and loosened that mud and later ran this boiler out of water, it would have been toast (happen to a neighbor a few years back).

draining these things down is something that has to be done (monthy?, every two weeks? in commercial buildings i was told weekly).

Steve

justinromeu26

in General Discussion 1 year and 4 months ago

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justinromeu26 | 1 year and 4 months ago

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thank you. i am the boiler service person and if i put my mind to it, i can install these items. whatever happens down the road, i will have a modern set up.

hkapstein | 1 year and 4 months ago

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Steve, when your boiler is serviced next season, just ask them to install an autofeed and probe lwco . I don’t remember exactly but I dont’ think it’s that expensive. I did this a few years back and I should have done it myself. The licensed plumber installed the autofeed backwards and now the counter doesn’t work. I didn’t notice right away, and I hate fighting with plumbers anyway, so I guess I’ll have to fix it when I get around to it. He sweated it in, but do you think I can get away with duck tape?

brokelin | 1 year and 4 months ago

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In my former 4-unit brownstone coop, with a really, really old mammoth-sized boiler (not on of the newer ones that come in a fairly compact footprint), we used to drain this regularly, weekly if my memory serves, and I think year-round, and it never caused us any problems.

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 4 months ago

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and we tend to see the newer type with the autofeeds. those of us with the manual feed might be stuck with these a while longer.

Master Plvmber | 1 year and 4 months ago

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This why we rarely use float activated low water cut off devices anymore. The probe type units don’t require flushing or draining.

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 1 year and 4 months ago

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Wow, reading this makes me glad that I have a furnace rather than a boiler—it’s SO much easier to maintain.