OWB maintenance...To last longer

[Fishhead]

Any tips recipes of chemicals etc. to pro-long the life of a Steel boiler?

 

[November Wolf]

With my boiler it was recommended to keep the pH between 8.0 and 9.5.

The Nitrite test should be around 20 to 30 drops.

My boiler hold's around 400 gallons and I added 2 gallons of Corrosion Inhibitor to get the recommended results.

My boiler came with a nitrite test kit.

 

[Blazin]

With my boiler it was recommended to keep the pH between 8.0 and 9.5.

The Nitrite test should be around 20 to 30 drops.

My boiler hold's around 400 gallons and I added 2 gallons of Corrosion Inhibitor to get the recommended results.

My boiler came with a nitrite test kit.

Same with mine, I use the corrosion inhibitor from Central Boiler. The stuff works too! I had to drain mine down this fall to switch a fitting around and ran my finger on the inside of the water jacket, and it's still clean as a whistle after 3 years.

 

[cedarfarms]

the off season is also hard steel boilers. i clean out the boiler good, firebox, flue chimney and oil everything then cap the chimney. my dealer also recommended turning on the circ. pump on for a day or so during the summer. ash and soot is corrisive to metal if it gets wet.

 

[Butch(OH)]

What the others have said. Mine is 3 years old and looks like new inside also. The condition of your water will have an affect on life but little you can do about it. I have very bad iron in my water but run a softener and use soft water in the OWB, change it every year and add chemicals per the manual. Clean, dry and oil works for the fire chamber over the summer. Dos not have to be squeeky clean but you need to get rid of enough creosote so the oil isnt laying on top of it. I have 4 OWBs near me and at least 3 of them get nothing besides shut down over the summer, one dude does even cover his stack. In a few years when they are spending big bucks for replacements I am going to feel pretty smug about the 2 hours a year I spend maintaining mine.

 

[Johnny Ringo]

The only thing I can add the the above good advice is to keep the ash level down to a reasonable level to eliminate any trapped moisture. That may not apply to everyone but for me I've always got snow on my wood so I feel better knowing it's just going to evaporate and not get trapped under 8inches of ash.

 

[Laird]

Clean, dry and oil works for the fire chamber over the summer.

I have never heard that but it makes sense. Common sense actually.:monkey: Do you wipe it with an oily rag or spray on WD-40? I suppose either would work.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

On my OWB I drain the system and put in new water and conditioner and build one last hot fire. Then after it cools down I scrape out all the creosote flakes, shovel everything out, cap the chimney, and then use a garden sprayer to coat the inside with new motor oil that I thin a bit with kerosene or diesel fuel.

 

[Butch(OH)]

I have never heard that but it makes sense. Common sense actually.:monkey: Do you wipe it with an oily rag or spray on WD-40? I suppose either would work.

No stove builder in their right mind is going to put in the manual, "oil is the best way to prevent rust and it all burns away when you light the boiler in the fall, even used works great and is free" Think about it??

I chipped all the loose and thickly scaled stuff and swept it out. Then I put about a water glass of used oil in a 1 gallon garden sprayer. I then added about the same amount of #2 diesel (low sulfur of course ) to thin it and sprayed it around until every thing was soaked well, took most of the mix. When I lit the boiler last fall you could not even tell there was oil in it.

 

[cedarfarms]

i like the garden sprayer idea!,
up till now (7 years) ive used an old paint brush and used motor oil.
the brush puts the oil on good and heavy tho ...

 

[ms310]

run mine yeara around, and dont do anything to it that is what the heatmor guy told me just keep it full of water.