steam heat boiler question

[joesxm3]

My 90 year old father has steam heat with radiators in his house. The system is powered by a boiler that makes the steam.

Apparently there is a tube-gauge that has some water in it that you keep the water level in the middle of the tube. If it gets too low there is some sort of valve that you open to add more water to the system.

He came to visit for a week and after returning home is telling me that somehow the tube has become dirty or cloudy, maybe exposed to excessive heat. He seems to think that the water level got too low.

We called for a service call, but they are a week or so from coming. They seem to think that all it needs is cleaning or replacing the tube. For now he is guessing on adding water since he says he cannot see the tube level, even with shining a flashlight behind it.

The part that has me puzzled is that he is saying that he needs to check the water level every day and manually add water. Apparently in the winter when the boiler runs a lot he has to add water often.

When I questioned him as to why this process is not automated, he gave me some screwy answer that sounded like there is/was some sort of device to automate it but there was a problem when the furnace was installed ten years ago and the service tech told him that those things never work right and it is best to just manually monitor it.

I asked the guy delivering oil to my house today and he more or less said the same thing, that the steam systems need to be manually monitored.

It seems strange to me that the boiler cannot be left on its own for a week without problems. How would someone go on vacation?

Do any of you know about this sort of system? Does any of this make sense?

I suppose I will ask the heating company to have the technician call me and explain what the situation is, but I figured I would ask here for the time being.

Thanks.

Joe

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Here are some suggestions:

First, get yourself and your father a copy of Dan Holohan's book "The Lost Art of Steam Heating." https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Art-Steam-Heating/dp/0996477241/ It is a fantastic read.

There ARE automated fill valves, but they are indeed finicky. You are correct: Lack of one makes it difficult to take vacations in the winter! I don't have one, and I should probably add one before I take up snowbirding.

Probably the first thing you or your father should do is to replace the radiator steam vents on all of your radiators. If you are losing that much water in a day, your vents are probably not working. (They stay open and lose steam whenever the heat is on.)

You also may benefit from draining, flushing, and refilling the system. This should help with the cloudiness in the tube that shows you the water level.

You should also make sure that the heat will cut off if the water level gets too low. (Low-water level sensor.) If the water level is low, but the flame continues to burn, you can crack the cast-iron boiler.

 

[latexman]

Here’s a 4 minute video on the basics.

https://youtu.be/f6WBhWlXAZY

There’s also some videos on cleaning the sight glass too. I saw a couple on industrial boilers. Maybe you can find one on residential boilers.

 

[joesxm3]

Thanks for the responses. I feel like I have a better understanding of the situation. The service tech is coming on Monday. Unfortunately I am taking care of my mother 90 minutes away from my step father's house, so it is not easy to just pop over there to check it out or to meet the service tech.

Hopefully he will talk some sense into my stepfather and do a maintenance while he is there. My stepfather got a bit ticked off at me poking my nose in and suggesting an annual service. He is 90 and I have a hard time figuring if his thinking is getting screwed up or he was always like this, not completely understanding how systems work while thinking he does.

I guess I will go with the flow and see what happens since I have my hands full taking care of my mother after I pulled her out of the nursing home when covid hit.

Thanks again.

 

[GrayHare]

There should not be so much water loss as to require daily topping up. Agree with Out-to-lunch regarding the valves at the radiators, and to check for leaks elsewhere. I don't need to add water to my steam heat system more often than once per month or two.

 

[marko]

Most systems DO have an automatic refill when the water gets low. My old system (new house with forced air now) would refill maybe once or twice a month in mid-winter (New England).

The very old systems didn't have one but the newer ones do. The old timers would worry that the 'on' valve would get stuck, fill not only the furnace but have water coming out of the second floor radiators (this DID happen to me once) but for the most part it's automatic; actually an easy upgrade.

Unless there's some big steam leak (look for water) the refill shouldn't be more than every few weeks except maybe every week when it's really cold.

My mom still has this system and I have a camera focused on the sight-glass so I can check it without traipsing down the basement.

 

[Koolau]

Growing up, we had to call the FD twice as my dad's usual diligent monitoring of the boiler's water level had slipped a bit. Never had an actual fire, but being rousted at 2AM to go out in the cold in PJs convinced me that I would never have steam heat in my house. Ironically, DW and I moved into that house when we got married and we still live there 3 or 4 months a year. Of course, the steam heat was the first thing we changed out when we originally moved in full-time. YMMV