Boilers - Home Heating Steam and Hot Water Systems - Steam boiler prob: water and start /stop

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mtfmjb
12-15-04, 02:30 PM
We have a dunkirk gas steam boiler. The boiler was filling causing humming and hissing in the pipes. The techniciuan replaced the low water shutoff. othing. This still has not solved the problem. The water fills once the boiler has shut down. They disconnected the low water shutoff, but want to replace the return pipes in the basement for another $1200 after spending $750 on the low water shutoff. I saw on another message it could be the pressure. Second problem is the bolier starts and stops frequently. It stays on for about a minute and then shuts down and fires up again for another minutes or so before shutting down again. I am leary to call the technician again without some background knowledge. Can someone help out and explain some causes. Thanks

KField
12-16-04, 06:51 PM
The reason for suspecting the wet returns is that they get all clogged up after many years and do not let the condensate flow freely back to the boiler. When condensate is accumulating in the returns, more is added because the boiler gets low. Then when it returns, it floods the boiler. The short cycling isn't really normal but there may have been other changes made to your system over the years that could account for part of it.

Ken