Steam Boiler, Excessive water useage

[mechanical'al]

the scout found / or started an old leak out in the system steam is realy clean I never use chemicals on old systems for this reason likly on the return line does the vacuume run constantly or cycle?

[snupytcb]

Both zones are Cast iron radiation.... Leak tested boiler only..... excessive water consumption was never noted to us prior to installing the new boiler... are you from pulaski rd in ny.... Bethpage ny here

puaski, ny. north country, about 45 minuts from canada. i have never heard of bethpage. whose idea was it to run the sealear through it? scout is sealant right?

[mechanical'al]

scout I believe is a chemical cleaner / rust reducer

[knarfoires]

20 gallons a day and it isnt water logged you have a leak some where look for it before you damage the boiler

TO: Tinknocker to another New York TinKnocker...

PLEASE...I need a response from your last statement ..... If the glass gauge is always showing a acceptable water lever of approximately 1'' above the top of the lower sight glass valve or showing 1'' in the glass column and the water feeder is always feeding the correct amount of water (as per the digital gauge setting of 5 gallons per call), how will I damage the boiler.. The water feeder delivers water into the return line at 32 1/4'' above the floor, which is the same height as the present water level in the glass gauge and the low water cut off is 26'' above the floor.... Once again, I THANK YOU GUYS for all of your help and taking the time to teach guys like myself..... As per the customers phone call a few moments ago, the boiler took another 20 gallons of water between yesterday and today... When we set the feeder on Friday the feeder was reset and left at 10 gallons. Consistently using 20 gallons per day, we are now at 70 gallons, three days later...... Many thanks Frank S.

[knarfoires]

Water is constantly being added automatically.... The water level never exceeds 1'' above the bottom of of the glass sight glass.

[beenthere]

Where does the condensate tanks vent line run to?

[knarfoires]

The condensate vent line is a 180 degree piece of 1' black pipe. The basement is 10' high, so I will say that the vent line is 9' high from the pump to the ceiling, has a double elbow, and then the line returns towards the basement floor the same 9'. I have on two occasions seen this vent line discharge steam into the basement.

The condensate discharge line is another question that will be answered on Wednesday.... At this particular moment I an not 100% sure where the condensate discharges into.

[dandyme]

not all leaks will be this easy to locate

that's one of +/- a dozen leaks, all on return line.

[mechanical'al]

Hopefully it goes back into the boiler or theres where the water is going
also why isn't there a Hartford loop installed???

[hvacvegas]

The reason mechanical'al mentioned you'd flood the boiler, is during the down cycle.
You feed, you feed, and you feed, and the condensate is getting stuck up in the return, due to clogged returns.

During the down cycle, all that water will make it's way back to the boiler, eventually.
Now it's flooded.

Steam coming out of the condensate pump tells me you've got broken traps.
Probably broken vents too.

[knarfoires]

I think the boiler would certainly flood due to old return lines and I would see the flooding in the sight glass, however, the sight glass never rises past 1'' above the lower glass gauge valve.......The auto water feeder has dip two switches that you can set. The first switch is for gallons of water that will be fed to the boiler when there is a call for water from the low water cut off probe. The second switch is a delay time set. This delay can be set for up to 20 minutes. It will stop the auto water feeder to the set time to allow water to run back thru the old return lines and dump back into the water. Right now I have it set for 10 minutes due to the old lines. I will inspect the two steam traps and verify that the vents are working.... Thanks again!

[knarfoires]

Hunting for leaks on Wednesday.... Thanks for your time...Frank S.

[knarfoires]

Piping was first installed in the early 1900's. This set of cottages and garages and mansion is part of the "Goodyears" estate that has changed hands since then. I really cant tell you why there is no Hartford loop based on all of the previous work in the past years, and at this moment I have a feeling that the condensate water from the return lines is being pumped out of the boiler to a waste line... JUST a bit of history here... Recently changed 29 fan coils in the mansion and found old newspapers dated July 10, 1958. I know for a fact that this boiler was originally a Weil Mclain 678, then changed to a Weil Mclain 578, and we just replaced it with another Weil Mclain 578...I will look on Wednesday for the condensate discharge. Many changes have been made to these systems.... Thanks for your interest.... Frank S