Posted by 500HPLover on April 07, 2001 at 13:34:17:
In Reply to: Re: skimming dirty water off a steam boiler posted by 500HPLover on April 07, 2001 at 13:24:40:
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: : Could you please tell me what the proper method is for skimming dirty water off a residential steam boiler. We have a new Smith boiler. I have been draining water from the skim valve when the burners are not firing. Should I be doing this when the burners are firing?
Do that when the boiler is not firing, for better results. This action will help rid the boiler of contaminents that are either too light to sink and remain close to the surface or junk that sinks slow or is caught up in a film created by any oil contamination in the system. That skim valve is a relative of the continuous blowdown system employed by higher horsepower commercial/industrial firetube boilers and it's actions and purposes are nearly identical. When blowing down a system, being a bottom, subsurface or surface, ideally you want it to be at lowest firing.