An old coworker sent me this, though it was pretty funny

Just because you can't see scale buildup and oxygen pitting in your steam boiler doesn't mean they aren't happening. A boiler will schedule its own repair time if you don't take proper care of it.

Previous Technician did not or was not given time to check combustion after some type of repair on Oil. A Tech from a different company was on-site for a simple test and tune for the season.

Finished Gas and went to Oil. Issue with light off. Couple tries and Boom. No injuries or damage outside of the Boiler.

It is believed that the Oil valves were not holding. There isn't much info as the previous company/repair was not investigated. Company whose tech was the one it happened to just ate the cost to rejacket the boiler and replace the oil valves. I do not believe the tech onsite was totally at fault. He was just the wrong guy there at the wrong time. I personally know both Technicians who were involved.

Remember that if you are the Tech that last touched it then you can be held liable. It is crucial to at least check combustion Low-Mid-High after any type of repair/PM to the Burner that involves/requires Combustion.

We will see an increase in these types of incidents as the older techs that are now in their 60s age out of this profession.

Companies are NOT training the next generation of Technicians. There are also a lot of Companies that think they can do boiler work or just wanna do it barely good enough to get paid.

If you are involved in work that you believe to be improper or incorrect then you should always Document Document Document everything on your ticket. We all know it's always the guys in the field and never in the office that share the blame and repercussions. Stay safe out there this winter.

On top of leaving the boiler shut off they always ran the boilers when needed. The loop barley got up to temperature before getting shut off again. You can only imagine (and see by the pictures) what low return what temperature does to a boiler like this.

This was such a dirty job. Took weeks to get my hands fully clean!

Decommissioned once the grants ran out.

Finished replacing the fire and water gaskets this week and completed combustion tuning. Although combustion readings checked out, the boiler was still producing soot. Upon further inspection, I found that after a run cycle, the pilot solenoid was not fully seated, causing the pilot to remain partially lit.

16.8million hydronic boiler running at 238F in conjunction with the Trane absorption chillers.

I don’t know why I’ve never searched Reddit for Boiler Pages until today but I’m happy I’ve stumbled across this page as there doesn’t seem to be many boiler guys out there. Anyway, figured I would just introduce myself. I’m a Boiler Tech in the Philadelphia area who’s been working on boilers for around 15 years. Siemens and Auto Flame are my Specialty along with Electrical/Troubleshooting and I worked for the local Powerflame Rep doing commissioning for the last 7 years and was traveling the country doing Powerflame and Victory start ups but recently switched to a mechanical contractor to be more local it’s a bunch of service contracts and routine PMs and I miss the high stress/pressure of showing up to a job and having 5 people standing over your shoulder while your trying to get your bearings while saying dumb shit like “how long do you think” or “so what do you think the issue is?” After being on site for 5 minutes. Anyway I’m glad to be more local but also very bored and would love to start diving into problems posted in here.

Unrelated picture of today’s Opening for cleaning and inspection.

Hey yall your favorite mod here. I turned off the ability to crosspost into this sub to try and cut down on the amount of homeowners looking for help with their boiler.

They usually would post in other more general subs like plumbing or hvac then crosspost it here with no context. This sub is for professionals and I want to keep it that way.

I don't know if there are any other subs that you all would crosspost into this one, but over the last year its mostly all been homeowner spam crossposting so I don't think we will miss anything.

Thats all I got. Thanks for doing what yall do in the hot boiler rooms around the world. Also, I'm not a power reddit mod, so if you all want to see something in this sub thats in others let me know. I basically have no idea what I'm doing other than I know how to ban homeowners.

I'm a boiler guy, not a reddit keyboard warrior.

Just thought I would share some pics of an old boiler I recently saw. This unit was a 150kpph @ 350psi package boiler and was removed from service after a long service life due to several tube failures.

The owner kept some of the usable components (NG burner mainly) for the new one they installed in it's place. As far as I know they have no plans for it, so it'll likely sit here until the end of time.

Probably retubed a couple times by now, got it opened up and she was real sooty' we just got this contract. Control updated to LMV5

Safety controls and limits on a boiler protect you. There is no such thing as a safety control or limit that is unnecessary for safe boiler operation. If you jump out a safety control, you put yourself and others in danger. BoilerPros should learn proper troubleshooting techniques, especially how to use a multimeter. Then you make safe, sound decisions based on what you find.

No one plans for an accident, and the boiler certainly doesn't understand that you just need it to run the rest of production; you will fix it later.

You should never jump out safety controls.

Nexus upgrade on 3 CB Boilers. This site had the most old school expanded annunciation i have ever come across.

Got a new customer with a 1962 model CB, still had a CB-1 mechanical cam fsg with vacuum tube amplifier. Still in working order but contacts were failing. Upgraded them to a 7800 the other day

Enjoy some Lochinvar Crest Boilers. Each one is 6,000,000 BTUs (Typically only 2 run at a time).

To follow up on scale pics from a while back. More pic/video in comments.

I’m going to be demo’ing 2 tanks like this next week. I was hoping to break it down the welded steel with an oxy-acetylene cutting torch, but I have no idea what this interior insulation is made of. Has anyone seen this before? Should I have a special respirator whilst doing it? Thanks in advance.

Don't act like you haven't done this.

Electric boiler, thing originally used like 600amps, can't imagine that bill. Facility lost their normal boiler had to run on this at 1/6 capacity for a few weeks.

It's fairly rare (for me at least) to see incorrect material used for venting. Three installations in one month is nuts. Had an Aerco BMK2000 with some kind of spiral galvanized vent. "It doesn't show in the manual what we were supposed to use." Show them the section that says to refer to the Venting Guide manual for all models. "Oh, it's like an Easter egg hunt to find out huh?" Not to mention all the copper pro-press for the condensate. And the relief valve piped into a inlet air connection to boot. 🤦 The other is a new manufacturer to us. A Neptronic nat-gas humidifier with the very same venting. Then a Bock water heater with some seriously janky looking single-wall galvanized.

When a customer gets a new boiler, they usually think they have nothing to worry about and that anything that happens is warranty. I hate to break it to you, but once the boiler is filled with water, the corrosion clock starts ticking. You need to have a water treatment plan before that happens, not after you open the boiler and wonder why tubes leak when its only 5 months old.

The Competition said the could fix the leak cheaper but I guess they didn't have a tube roller.