Hi There, we have a smith boiler that does not seem to be heating the water. The water is lukewarm, at best. We read that we may need to add more pressure to make the water hotter, does this sound right? We are currently at about 10psi. Any suggestions? Thank you.

 

Some pictures of the boiler & nearby piping would be a big help. You can post them on photobucket or other photo hosting site & provide the URL to them here.

 

What Grady said so he can tell you were to look with pics. Pics are always good when you need to troubleshoot. FYI, your water pressure is perfect for hot water usage. Too high of a pressure will make you loose hot water if you have a tankless system. I have 10 to 12 PSI with my system. Regarding your Scalding water mixer, I would mark where it is currently set and then exercise it back and forth. Once you have done that, move it back to the mark and see if your water is now hot again. Sometimes that can get blocked up so the hot water is not allowed to flow as much as the cold water that mixes in.

 

Thanks for the replys. Here are some links to a few pics.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x243/plexus13/IMG_0297.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x243/plexus13/IMG_0296.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x243/plexus13/IMG_0295.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x243/plexus13/IMG_0298.jpg

Pressure is about 10psi and temp. is pretty steady at 180

 

Ten psi is really a bit low for 180 degrees but if you only have heat on the floor directly above the basement it may be okay. I would prefer that the pressure at that temperature was 16 to 20 psi.

Hexonx is giving you good advice concerning the "Scalding water mixer" which is more properly called a tempering valve. it is the valve with the black knob on top directly under the grey box as shown on the third picture.

You could have a more serious problem with the tankless coil being corrupted with mineral deposits.

 

We do only have heat on the first floor.

We tried spinning the tempering valve and it's basically the same as we had before, about 15 seconds of hot water then gradually cooling back down to luke warm. The tempering valve was set almost all the way in one direction. Thanks again for the replys. Good thing it's summer the cool showers don't feel so bad.

 

Not sure that this will help with the problem (I don't know squat about tankless coils), but three things I notice.

1) the backflow preventer should be piped to within 6" of the floor (that DEFINITELY has nothing to do with the hot water problem, just something that should be done)

2) there is a yellow-handled ball valve below the circulator that is off. Should it be? I dunno. I'm assuming that's the heating circuit return and since it is pretty much not heating season, you might have turned that off.

3) there is a lot of efflorescence on the blocks below the boiler. Is the system leaking?

 

Those particular tempering valves are noted for failing. I don't know if the rebuild kits are still available or not. Both Taco & Honeywell make excellent tempering valves if replacement is needed.

I suggest getting a local pro in to look at the boiler & investigate for a possible leak. The rust & efforvescence could be evidence of a leak. If the boiler was down for a while it could simply be due to condensation but it's worth a look.

 

Every coil will eventually have the problem that you have. The best solution, if you have a higher water demand(3+ people in the house, especially if one is a teen) is to install a indirect water heater instead of fixing the coil(which will cost a few bucks too). The indirect water heater will give you full pressure, meaning that the hot water will flow at basicly the same pressure as the cold(which the coil in the boiler will never do) and you will have 40 gallons of all the same water temperture(other sizes are available). Its a bit more expensive but worth the investment. You can have someone come in and give you a estimate to fix your coil(which will most likely involve replacing it, assuming it isn't the mixing valve) which won't be cheap.

What you can do for a temp fix is find the valve that feeds the cold water into the furnace and slow that down(close it alittle) so the water will have time to heat up before it leaves the furnace.

Regadless of what you do, you should have someone come check and see why there is oil in that bucket under the burner.

 

Adam said: "Regadless of what you do, you should have someone come check and see why there is oil in that bucket under the burner."

and I was kinda surprised that so many replies went by before it was mentioned ! Yeah, there shouldn't be oil leaking anywhere... (besides, don't it stink up the basement ?)

 

Yep. I was going to mention the bucket also and that can be a real PITA to troubleshoot/fix. I read a thread on this forum regarding a leaking Becket burner underneath as the bucket clearly shows. The guy did all kinds of shotgun replacement repairs but the leak kept coming back. I hope you get that also resolved because it can be very STINKY and annoying.

 

I was noticing how shiney the flue was but where is the draft regulator???

 

I saw it. I see it all the time. Homeowner either runs out of oil or changes a filter & leaves the bucket sitting there. How do we not know this is the case here? Seems like we've gone off on a tangent & we have not heard from our original poster in a couple of days?????

 

Sorry the tangent wasn't squished at the begininng. The previous owner didn't live in the home for close to three months. Before we moved in the oil tank was replaced. We don't have any leaks just haven't moved the stinky bucket yet.

Still don't have any answers yet...waiting for the repairman still. I'll let you all know when I do. Thanks again for the help.

 

"I saw it. I see it all the time. Homeowner either runs out of oil or changes a filter & leaves the bucket sitting there. How do we not know this is the case here?"

The rust spots on the furnace look like they happened a while ago, suggesting that it isn't leaking. Or maybe it it happened when they converted it from steam to a boiler. Its also off the main topic BUT you mentioned it because it caused conern to you. Which is why I mentioned the oil. You might be right, BUT its still worth a mention.

 

Thought I fill you in on the verdict...the tempering valve was shot which was replaced. We also replaced the shower head with a lower flow one and we are now enjoying warm showers. Thanks for the advice and help.

 

Often we give advice or make suggestions & never hear the final outcome. In the long run, it helps us to help others. Glad you are back to nice warm showers. Thanks Again.