Where is all the water going?

Where is all the boiler water going? “There’s no water on the floor but I have to fill the boiler three times a day!” 

Well get ready for this…..It’s most likely going up your chimney!

Look at the picture above do you see that little hole in the cast iron? Steam boilers are sneaky, they don’t like you to know what’s going on with them, so instead of developing a hole which will leak on the floor they get a hole right at the water line. Yes the water which is acidic eats a hole right through the cast iron block of the boiler. You won’t see it leaking since it’s never filled with water above that point!

Here’s the telltale signs you have a hole in the water line of your steam boiler.

1) Filling the boiler with water constantly. 

2) White puffy smoke coming out of your chimney when boiler is running. (It does look pretty)

3) Rusty streaks on the boiler exhaust pipe or chimney.

4) The auto fill valve digital feed counter is rapidly increasing .

Problems which will likely develop include. 

1) Complete failure of the boiler vessel, usually during the coldest part of Winter.

2) Low water cutoff to malfunction do to constant low water in boiler. Leading to boiler meltdown and fire risk. Low water cutoffs protect your boiler but like anything else mechanical they will fail from constant use eventually!

3) Severe damage to your masonry or metal chimney (such as B-Vent). Moisture is very very bad for chimneys especially masonry or brick which will breakdown and collapse from constant steam and water, chimneys like hot dry heat!

Oh the cost is the worst!

Worst of all, you’re heating the neighborhood. The steam that’s supposed to go into your radiators is now drifting down Main St., and with the cost of heating your home nowadays this is not a good idea! Call us right away if you are filling your boiler with water all the time we will examine and actually show you the hole in your boiler.