Drain owb or dont?

[bnew]

I bought my boiler 5 yrs ago and have drained it every spring.I bought it used no manual and was wondering who drains and why?

 

[oneoldbanjo]

It is my understanding that you don't want to drain it. The water should have been treated with a conditioner and the metal will not rust as it does not have a source of oxygen once the water is treated. If you drain the boiler and don't refill it immediately oxygen will be able to get to the metal and cause rust.

You shoudl be draining the boiler and flushing it each year - then it shoud be refilled and a conditioner added.

 

[bnew]

I never looked at it like that. water doesnt cause the rust,its the oxygen in the water?

 

[ktm rider]

I never looked at it like that. water doesnt cause the rust,its the oxygen in the water?

This is correct. You also need to test your water frequently or it is just a waste of time. I work in a Powerhouse for the Bureau of Prisons and we have four 500 Hp. water tube boilers and we test the water on a daily basis. I usually test my residential coal boiler water about 4 times a year in the winter..

 

[Butch(OH)]

The manual with my Woodmaster says to NEVER leave it drained over the off season. Seasonal maintainance is drain, refill and retreat, then fire to temp and circulate, then shut down. My (sometimes) common sence tells me that draining would be OK if we could drain it completely AND get it dry. That being next to impossible leaves us with the next best senario, which is a system full of treated water.

 

[abohac]

I bought my boiler 5 yrs ago and have drained it every spring.I bought it used no manual and was wondering who drains and why?

I drain mine every year because the water gets really black and I can't believe it's doing my heat exchangers (especially my hot water plate) so I drain it. My dad doesn't though because he has antifreeze.