Posted by jtown on January 01, 2000 at 10:42:08:
In Reply to: boiler water level and bleeding posted by Tom W on January 01, 2000 at 08:15:04:
You probably have hot water heating, not steam if there is no glass or fittings that look like they are made to hold a tube about 5/8 x 6". If there are little air bleeders at the top of your radiators that you put the key into, open one at a time and let the air out until you get a steady stream of water into a cup. If you can do that you do not have steam heat. With either, there should be boiler cocks (like sill cocks, but made to be able to pass a cleaning rod) at the bottom of the boiler. You should open them and blow a half gallon of water out every few days until it isn't too murky. You don't want solids to build up and block water flow into any part of the boiler. It will overheat, unevenly, and crack. Then you pay $2-3000 to someone for a new one. Run the boiler for an hour or two after blowing down to remove gases. A series of smaller blowdowns are better to let solids settle back down by the outlet. If someone plugged your outlet, you should bet boiler cocks put in.