# Crown Boiler Leaking Out Pressure Relief?



## yuri (Nov 29, 2008)

Drain the expansion tank or replace the bladder tank. Read the ENTIRE bunch of posts here, especially Adam's at the end.

http://www.diychatroom.com/f17/no-water-flowing-88614/


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## GearHd6 (Sep 2, 2007)

Ok, I read through that. It doesn't sound exactly like what I've got. My expansion tank only has a schrader type valve at the bottom and I have no air bleeds at my radiators. I've just got regular baseboard type radiators. The pictures I attached will show what I've got. The picture of the gauge is right after the burner kicked off. At about 22-25 psi on the gauge water will start coming out the pressure relief.


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## yuri (Nov 29, 2008)

Hang in there. Our resident hydronic h/w Pro Beenthere may be able to help U along with some of the others. Try posting on the Plumbing forum at top of this page too. We have some Pro plumbers there.


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## hvactech126 (Nov 11, 2010)

first let the boiler cool down < 100F, then shut off incoming water, drain off water until pressure is at 0psi. check with tire gauge the pressure in the exp tank. should be at 12psi. if water comes out of shrader valve, then you need a new exp tank. if not at 12psi then use bike pump to get to 12 psi. open incoming water valve and watch gauge on boiler should not go much over 12psi. if above 20psi and rising then you need to replace the pressure reducing valve and at the same time i would look at replacing the backflow preventer. I really believe these could be DIY projects, but getting all the air out of the system can be a pain with out bleeders.


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

looks like you have an auto water feed just below your return manifold. Turn it off, and if the relief valve stops opening after shutting the manual valve off. Your auto feed is bleeding through.


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## GearHd6 (Sep 2, 2007)

Thank you for all the in depth replies. I shut by boiler down to let it cool so I can do some checking. 

Is the pressure reducing valve the one near where the water supply feeds in (next to the backflow preventer)? Could I just turn that down or is that a fixed setting?


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## hvactech126 (Nov 11, 2010)

yes, thats the prv. they are typically set at the factory, from the looks of yours (distant in the picture) it is preset at the factory to 12.


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## GearHd6 (Sep 2, 2007)

hvactech126 said:


> yes, thats the prv. they are typically set at the factory, from the looks of yours (distant in the picture) it is preset at the factory to 12.


Ok, and the lever on top just lets water flow in unrestricted if you lift up on it?

The tag on it says,
SET 12-15
Range 10-25


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## hvactech126 (Nov 11, 2010)

yes, that is correct about the lever. once your relief has opened up, it is best to replace it IMO.


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## Adam_M (Feb 4, 2011)

Most people both in and out of the trades don't tend to read their manuals below is a link to the installer manual look to the first page bottom left corner:

http://www.amtrol.com/media/documents/thermxtrol/9015-087revDTXT.pdf

A few things you should know even if you get your pressure to below 30 psi your relief valve may still drip because normally they sit unused stuff in your water builds up then when it goes back down it may not seal fully and could drip. Also turning off the feed valve is a very bad idea, if it was broken the relief valve would be going all the time not just when it gets to temp. 

I believe the warranty on an expansion tank is like 12-18 months they will die over the years it happens to all of us. On the bottem if your tank there is a black cap take it off and put your gauge on there. If it drips water it's dead, if you get air then there is hope, when If you have to replace it when you do I suggest you pick up a 1/2" ball valve (Iron Pipe IP) threaded and two nipples the idea is you can put an isolation valve on your tank to service it easier next time.


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## GearHd6 (Sep 2, 2007)

Well I let the system cool to right around 100*. Then I turned off water supply, then relieved the pressure with the pressure relief valve until the gauge read 0 psi. Then I checked the pressure at the bottom of the expansion tank with my tire gauge, the reading I got was 0 psi and some water dripped out of the shrader valve in the process.


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## yuri (Nov 29, 2008)

As per Adam "I believe the warranty on an expansion tank is like 12-18 months they will die over the years it happens to all of us. On the bottom if your tank there is a black cap take it off and put your gauge on there. If it drips water it's dead, if you get air then there is hope, when If you have to replace it when you do I suggest you pick up a 1/2" ball valve (Iron Pipe IP) threaded and two nipples the idea is you can put an isolation valve on your tank to service it easier next time.


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## GearHd6 (Sep 2, 2007)

Yeah that is what I figured Yuri. I just wanted to post up the results. Is that expansion tank something I can replace or am I going to have a nightmare trying to bleed the air out of it? I checked out the manual that Adam posted the link to and it says something about running the water tap to bleed water. I know that is for a hot water heater, so I'm not sure how I'd bleed the air out of the heating system. Open a valve at the return manifold then turn up the thermostat for that zone until it circulates some water through? Would I have to do that for all 3 of my zones?

Thanks again everyone.


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

You can replace it yourself, its easy. Your is bad if it has water in the air side of the bladder.

BUT, you never check a tank while it is attached to the system.


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## Adam_M (Feb 4, 2011)

beenthere said:


> BUT, you never check a tank while it is attached to the system.


Yes you can and that's the way it's normally done. If I have an expansion tank on a 30 story condo tower do I have to drain the system down to test the tank hell no. That's why I said install an isolation valve it allows you to work on it.


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## hvactech126 (Nov 11, 2010)

bleeding can be hard if you have a multi story home. if you have problems we can help you though that part, but the exp tank should be easy for you.


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## GearHd6 (Sep 2, 2007)

I've got just a one level ranch home. It's got one zone in the basement and 2 zones upstairs. I guess you'd call that one level but 2 levels of heat.


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

Adam_M said:


> Yes you can and that's the way it's normally done. If I have an expansion tank on a 30 story condo tower do I have to drain the system down to test the tank hell no. That's why I said install an isolation valve it allows you to work on it.


An isolation valve and a vent valve will allow you to check it.

His has neither. And since 99.99% of resi doesn't have one, saying never check it while attached to the system, holds true. Since we're talking about resi systems.


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## GearHd6 (Sep 2, 2007)

Well I messed with it a little more this morning after it cooled down completely over night. If I push in on the shrader valve with a screwdriver water doesn't pour out, I maybe get 6-8 drips out and that is it. If I tap on the tank it does sound hollow at the bottom half and full at the top half. Could it just be moisture dripping out?

Also, I drained off all pressure in the system with the pressure relief valve until the gauge on the boiler showed 0 psi. Then I aired up the expansion tank to 13 psi on the boiler gauge AND my tire pressure gauge. It held that pressure on both gauges for the hour that I waited. I then bled off the system with the pressure relief valve again. Then I checked the expansion tank pressure with my tire pressure gauge and it read 0 psi. Shouldn't that have stayed at 13 psi? I'm just trying to trouble shoot it to see if it's something I want to deal with myself or just call in the heating guy.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

> Shouldn't that have stayed at 13 psi?


Ayuh,... The tank should hold it's own pressure, Yes...

Try to pump it back up, with the boiler unpressurized...

Sounds like ya mighta found the main Problem though...


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## GearHd6 (Sep 2, 2007)

Bondo said:


> Try to pump it back up, with the boiler unpressurized...


I did that and it seemed to hold pressure. But I'm wondering if the air I'm pumping into the expansion tank is just going by the bladder and then pressurizing the whole system seeing I can't isolate the tank from the rest of the system (no valve). When I pump it up the gauge on the boiler goes up accordingly. So I thought if I released the pressure with the pressure relief valve, the expansion tank should have held some pressure but I got 0 psi on my tire pressure gauge.

Maybe I need to hold the pressure relief valve open when I air up the expansion tank?


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

Quit screwing with it. Just replace the tank. And DON"T screw with the air schrader, you will mess up the tank's pressure.


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## hvactech126 (Nov 11, 2010)

replace the Exp tank, replace the relief valve, and refill


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