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Here we discuss the various types of manual and automatic water feeder valves used on steam heating boilers, including when and how to add makeup water to a boiler. If your heating system is hot water, not steam, see Water Feeder Valves, Hydronic Boiler. If you don't know what kind of heat your building uses, see our introduction at BOILERS, HEATING. If your heating system is not working properly, see NO HEAT - BOILER / FURNACE DIAGNOSIS..This website answers nearly all questions about central heating systems to aid in troubleshooting, inspection, diagnosis, and repairs. The photo above shows a modern automatic pressure-reducing water feeder valve on a hydronic (hot water) heating boiler - one of the safety controls which we discuss in this article. Contact us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution. © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website. Steam Boiler Water Feeder Valves, Automatic & ManualKeeping the proper amount of water in a steam boiler is a critical function for both safety and to avoid damaging the boiler itself. So on a steam boiler we consider the automatic water feeder to serve as a safety device too. Water feed valves on steam heat systems operate under very different requirements than those on hot water (hydronic) heating systems. Residential steam heating systems are mostly "low pressure" systems operating at less than 2 psi. In fact if you see the pressure set higher on a residential system it is often an indicator that the occupants/technician have been having trouble getting the steam heat to locations where it's needed. But steam heat systems all consume some water which escapes from radiator air vents during the time that the steam (heat) is first rising in the building. So unlike a hydronic water feeder, the steam boiler water feeder is going to be much busier, regularly adding makeup water to the steam boiler, but operating at low water pressures. Automatic water feeder valves on steam boilers
Automatic water feed valves on steam boilers (such as the McDonnell & Miller automatic water feeder shown at left) perform functions similar to the valve described earlier for hot water boilers. But because the steam boiler will be damaged or unsafe if its water level falls too low and because it's normal for a steam system to use (lose) water, the water feed valve on a steam boiler has to operate more often, and will be a more heavy-duty (and probably reliable) device. The black box shown in our photo at left is a Mcdonnell & Miller™ automatic water feed valve. On a signal (normally from the low water cutoff valve) the water feed valve will open to send additional makeup water into the steam boiler. Manual water feeder valves on steam boilers
This button permits overriding the automatic feature of the valve to force water into the steam boiler. But on lots of steam boilers, especially older residential units, you may find that only a manual feeder valve is installed. You'll need to use it to manually add water to the steam boiler whenever its water level is low. Below we discuss the detailed procedure for manually adding water to a steam boiler. In our photo above at automatic water feed valves, an automatic water feeder is installed. But the yellow valve handle is an manual water feeder that will bypass the automatic water feeder and force water into the boiler. On this particular system you shouldn't need to use the manual feeder lever unless the automatic feed valve is broken. As you'll see in that photo, the yellow handle is in the horizontal position, "across" the water pipe, showing that it is in the "closed" position (we're depending on the automatic feed valve). How often you'll need to manually add water to a steam boiler that lacks an automatic feeder depends on how rapidly your particular steam heating system loses water. If you are new to your particular steam heat system, you should check it's water level (and flush the low water cutoff valve) at least weekly until you know more accurately how the heating system behaves in normal use. Steam heating systems without an automatic water feeder are less safe and risk serious boiler damage should boiler water be lost and should there be no low water cutoff installed on the system. That's why all modern steam heating boilers can be expected to include at least a low water cutoff valve. Low water cutoff valves are discussed in detail at Low Water Cutoff Valves, Boilers. When, How, & How Much Water to Add to a Steam Boiler
If your steam boiler has an automatic water feeder you should see the water level always close to the fill-mark and the automatic water makeup valve will normally do this job for you. When to add water to the steam boilerIf your steam boiler has only a manual valve for adding water, until you know the system's rate of water usage, you should check the water level at least once a week during the heating season. You'll want to add water whenever the sight glass shows that the water level has dropped to the "add" mark and you should always see some water in the sight glass. How much water to add to the steam boilerThe sight glass on a steam boiler, combined with a mark or gauge usually placed on the sight glass or on the boiler body behind the glass, will show the proper level to which the steam boiler should be re-filled when it's low on water. See Sight Glass, Steam Boiler for details of this component. Share this Article
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02/25/2010 - 09/05/2006 - InspectAPedia.com/heat/WaterFeeders.htm - © 2010 - 1988 Copyright Daniel Friedman All Rights Reserved - InspectAPedia® is a Registered U.S. Trademark
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