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This might sound like a really dumb question so I apologize in advance. How do i know if i have an underground return pipe(s) for my steam boiler? I dont see any pipes that appear to be going into or coming out of the ground in the basement anywhere so i'm just not sure.
if you don't see any piping [steam pipes 2-2 1/2 inches round] within 3ft of the boiler, lower than the boiler., then they are all over head steam pipes.
Ok this is what I thought. Thanks having some boiler issues and trying to suss a few things out while my brain goes into full panic mode trying to figure out how much repairs will cost. Thanks
Well I had the boiler (steam) cleaned just over a week ago. Since the cleaning i'm adding water to the tank daily as opposed to montly. Literally the day week leading up to the cleaning it was running fine with no issues. I did the water over the jacket line test to see if there was a crack in the boiler as per my plumbers instructions and we ruled out that. So now the issue is where is the water going? He seems to think the return may be clogged but i was concerned that maybe there was a leaking pipe but all pipes in the basement are overhead and I dont see any leaks so unless there is leak someowhere between the first and second floor it's not in the basement.
Plumber said i should run another bottle of cleaner through the system to loosen up the clog( i should say we just moved in and we have no idea the last time the unit was cleaned) and I spoke with a second plumber for a second opinion and he suggested the same thing. Both said they see this type of thing often when cleaning a unit that may not have been cleaned regularly. So that's my plan tonight
as far as a dirty boiler,the first time you open the dump valve on the low water cut off was it real black and thick?? if yes then it needed to be cleaned, dump about 2gal.of water every mounth out of the low water cut off valve. for the water leak,most of the time the water leak will be the air relive valve at the end of the radiator. to check for steam {water} leaks,put the t stat up to 90.....get a good ":head" of steam all the rads are hot..........go around and check all steam piping and air relive valves for steam leaks. this time of year its still mild out you really should not be using any water?? just one air valve leaking = about 1 cup of water every time the boiler comes on,hope this helps.
the thing was a bit dirty and I had someone come out and clean it. but like i said literally the next day i started having problems with the water levels low. After doing the check for the crack in the boiler the next thought was the return is clogged somewhere. The heat ran over the weekend ( friday night really) and by morning the low light was on. I think the water isnt making it back into the boiler from somewhere. Last night the heat ran a little bit on and off and ran for a good hour or so this morning when it got cold out. It didnt turn off but when I went down to look at the level in the site it was lower by a noticable bit than it was from this morning. When i get home tonight i'll see if that level went up a little more or stayed the same. If it's not a clogged return or leaky valve and it's a crack I'm screwed as I dont have $5k lying around to get a new boiler installed. Hence the panic
you live in west orange nj, check with pseg let them take a look,its free if you have pseg gas. I cant see it being a clogged pipe w/over head steam.piping. to check for a cracked boiler , fill a cold and shut off boiler, over the sight glass let water runn for about 20 more seconds that way the boiler is over filled,let stand,look into the burner box see if you see water dripping, look around base of boiler for water let stand for 5mins.........no water no crack ,boiler is ok......leak is in piping
i did the overfill past the sight line glass thing and didnt see any water on the floor and i let is sit for several hours without being on. not sure how to look in the burner box
as long as you over filled boiler 20-30 seconds of water after gage glass,boilers ok. leak is in piping. put t-stat up to 90 let boiler heat up 10-15 min. boiler and steam piping good and hot.........look for leak.
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