I have a few questions but will give some info first:

I have no idea how old it is but was at one time oil fired and is now gas fired. The model number is: 0 154 T and series is: 3BT J3 and it supplies both steam for radiators and hot water for faucets.

I had the gas burner replaced a few months ago due to a leak with a Carlin EZ Gas conversion burner.

There is a McDonnell 369 low H2o cutoff-looks original.

There is what appears to be a relief valve on the top towards the back which looks original and has no info on it except half a paper tag with a warning on it not to disturb. There is another relief valve on other side attached to the copper hot water out pipe which looks newer and is a Watts 15k BTU

There is an 'Internal Syphon' gauge on top front with a 0-30 range on it. It is reading at 1. I dont know what this is for.

There is a Honeywell pressure? gauge on top towards the back near the hot water out/cold in and it reads between .5 and 1.

There is a Honeywell temp gauge currently set at 140.

The Mixing valve is shot-corroded-which i need to replace.

So... Because it is old and still functioning and im partial to old and functional things, id like to see if i can increase its efficiency a bit and extend its life if possible... here is what im wondering:

Can i open it? Im not sure if the doors? are sealed shut or just difficult to open, I didnt want to force it but Im guessing there should be firebrick or some sort of insulation inside it which may need some fixing up. sounds like a dumb question but can I just yank on the top 2 doors to open them?

Is there a water tank inside or is it tankless? The hot water is amazing during the winter when the boiler runs more than not, but during the summer its not so great... another reason im wondering about the bricks inside...

I Flushed it out once and the rust came back so quickly i didnt bother again. Should i just turn on the water and open the drain and let it flush for an extended time to get all the rust out or is that not a problem?

Where do i get coils for the hot water and how do i access them inside the boiler?

Thanks for reading! ... any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

Several good clear pictures from all positions would be a good start for you.

I love high pressure industrial steam...It was the major part of my job for more than thirty years but I detest residential steam heat for several reasons. We have a couple of good people in this group when it comes to residential steam. We also have a couple of people that have Arcoliner boilers but I think they are hot water models.

I think I am safe in saying that the closest that boiler will come to efficiency is if you write the word out on a piece of paper and tape it to the boiler. The method of making the domestic hot water is only slightly better than heating a kettle on a wood-burning kitchen range.

So let's see some pictures, I'm probably the most pessimistic member so don't mind my poor attitude.

To post pictures you need to first upload the pictures to a photo hosting site such as photobucket.com or villagephotos.com. and then post the public URLs for the pictures (or album) here. More pictures are always better than fewer. Please have CLEAR pictures and have both close up pictures and ones from a far enough distance that we can see how the various parts are interconnected. Don't use tinypic as the forum software doesn't accept it.