To drain, or not to drain...

 
Qtown1835
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Post by Qtown1835 » Thu. May. 03, 2018 6:57 am

So the heating season has come to an end here and its time to shut down and clean for the season. Im wondering if i should consider draining the boiler for the season as it sits dormant or just leave it the way it sits? Thoughts?

Side note, my boiler gauge was reading 32psi this morning :o Highest i have seen it was 20 and it usually rides at 12-15. Not sure what happened for it to spike like that. I will open up the domestic coil ports when i clean and see if that has a hole maybe?


 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Thu. May. 03, 2018 7:02 am

I would never drain a boiler.....why introduce new oxygen when you refill it?

If your domestic coil has a leak, the boiler will be pushing water out the pressure relief.

 
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BunkerdCaddis
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Post by BunkerdCaddis » Thu. May. 03, 2018 7:34 am

Freddy wrote:
Thu. May. 03, 2018 7:02 am
I would never drain a boiler.....why introduce new oxygen when you refill it?
Yeah, a definite second on that, and the air replacing the water as you drain it will provide plenty of O2.

 
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hotblast1357
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Post by hotblast1357 » Thu. May. 03, 2018 7:56 am

X3! Never drain a boiler, keep it full of non oxygen water. Maybe shut off the water feed to it in case something starts to leak you don’t have a huge mess on your hands, just remember to turn the water supply back on when firing it back up.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Thu. May. 03, 2018 8:05 am

The high pressure could be from a failed coil, or the pressure reducing valve on the make up water. You should be able to figure it out by valving things off and monitoring the pressure.

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Thu. May. 03, 2018 8:15 am

You shouldn't even change the water let alone drain it. The water itself contains dissolved oxygen and other gases. If you have ever let a glass of water sit overnight bubbles form on the inside of the glass... one of life's mystery explained. :D Those gases dissipate over time and the boiler water becomes "dead". This is also why it's important to fix even minor leaks.

 
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Post by Richard S. » Thu. May. 03, 2018 8:22 am

Qtown1835 wrote:
Thu. May. 03, 2018 6:57 am
Side note, my boiler gauge was reading 32psi this morning :o
What was the water temperature? That's high but this is the time of the year where it might be idling along for 22 hours and you get a lot of demand early for both heat and showering. Now you have a big fire going and demand just stops.

If the water temperature is also up try dropping the hi to 160 and the lo to 140.


 
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Post by lzaharis » Thu. May. 03, 2018 9:48 am

Do not drain the boiler. Do your seasonal cleaning and adding a drop light
or a container of "Damp Rid" after plugging the flue and chimney.
I leave my boiler at summer temperatures during the heating season.

 
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Post by McGiever » Thu. May. 03, 2018 10:04 am

And bypass any cold water supply for the DHW from flowing through the tankless coil for the off-season.
Needless cold water flow thru a coil in a dormant boiler could create condensing temp to the entire vessel to then encourage rust formation...even with a lightbulb/heater or not.

 
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Post by Qtown1835 » Thu. May. 03, 2018 2:58 pm

Well I guess that sums it up. On a side note this hopper is never ending on my 10th day. Should finally be out this evening. I do think the PSI spike is from the temp, looked this afternoon and it was around 200* and 29psi. I plan on plugging the air scoop and use the expansion tank in the rafters to see how it goes next season.

 
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nepacoal
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Post by nepacoal » Thu. May. 03, 2018 4:39 pm

If you are talking about a steel tank in the joists, do yourself a favor and add a drain-o-tank valve to it before you put it in service. It'll save you hours a trying to drain it when needed (if you don't already have one on your tank). My system with 150 gallons idles at 200 to 210 all summer and stays right at 13 psi with the large, steel expansion tank. They do need to be drained every few years or so.

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Qtown1835
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Post by Qtown1835 » Thu. May. 03, 2018 5:40 pm

Yeah thanks. It has one of those siphon valves on it.

 
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skobydog
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Post by skobydog » Fri. May. 04, 2018 12:22 pm

I just drained my boiler before reading this.

I guess I'm just going to leave it empty this summer. :oops:

 
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hotblast1357
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Post by hotblast1357 » Fri. May. 04, 2018 4:16 pm

Fill it back up and fire it up for a week or so.

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Fri. May. 04, 2018 6:56 pm

The water will re oxygenate once cooled. Being in a sealed boiler isn't going to stop oxygen from getting to it.

https://www.google.com/amp/www2.claritywatertech. ... s_amp=true


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