Square D Pumptrol

Quote: Fleastiff

Two minutes to fill the boiler seems very fast .... is it truly full at that time or does the water flow simply stop?

Steam boilers all have a visual tube so that you can see the water level. I assume that the boiler/raditor system never goes to empty, but loses water due to evaporation, and must be refilled.

Quote: Fleastiff

Fourteen minutes to empty ? I don't know. Do boilers actually empty before being refilled or should water be added while low but not empty since I can't imagine you add cold water to a hot, but empty boiler.

I assume you have to regard the boiler and all the steam pipes as a single system. The steam condenses and returns to the boiler, and I assume it could never be empty. Of course, if you ran cold water into empty hot container it would crack.

Quote: Fleastiff

At low water there would be a inflow mechanism but if that mechanism failed then the Too Low water alarm would activate.

Yes, the Low Water Cutoff switch is activating all the time. But I don't think it should be used that often. My impression is that a LWC switch should be for emergencies, not routine operation.

Quote: Fleastiff

Have you tried getting the names on these old pumps and comparing it with regional manufacturers of the time. The house may have been an institution at some time and that is why its steam, not water.

There is names on the pumps, and they are fairly well known brands. But they are difficult to find information since residential steam heating was fairly rare. The house is basically a 73' by 56' rectangle with a full size basement level and protruding towers. It was never an institution, but was built by an industrialist in the late 1920's (who lost all of his money in the 1929 crash and never lived in the house).

The home was built for a large staff, and had industrial style amenities.


The refrigerator was huge for the pre-freon era. Even a single door refrigerator was considered a sign of social status.

I clearly do not understand the physics involved in the system.

I do understand that it generates steam, not hot water, and its circulating steam that heats the house. Steam cools condenses drips by gravity back into the boiler. But inlet water into the boiler contains dissolved air so somewhere there must be a release in the system. Usually each radiator has a steam release mechanism in case some sort of blockage occurs in the system due to steam/metal corrosion.

I agree that an emergency water inlet switch should be stand-by only, not in frequent use.

EDIT:
Methylene Blue is often used as leak detector in water systems. That steam has to be going somewhere else and condensing without much return to the boiler. So track down cold radiators until you find one that is warm and you should be near some sort of leak or pipe blockage.

Photo of well

close up ohot of well

The is a Pumptrol attached to the cylinder, also a pump, and a long pipe labelled vent that goes to the air. It has an input water and an output that goes to the boiler.