Weil Mclain gas water boiler is making kettling noises...

[Wewannaplumb]

I have an old Weil Mclain gas water boiler (for my baseboard heating), and it's now starting to make popping (kettling) noises at the end of it's heating cycle, right before it shuts off. Is the only way to resolve this by draining the system and adding a special dissolving agent?

 

[Mr_David]

Not really familiar with that unit but, I would tend to think if it was popping at the end of it's heating cycle that the pump that moves the water through the tubes stopped at the same time the burner shut off. There can be quit a bit of residual heat still in the fire box. The water can boil because it is not flowing through the tubes, making it pop.

Otherwise why would it not pop when the burners are on

Just a thought to ponder.

 

[voletl]

Probably have an abundance of sediment build-up causing the water to flash to steam. How old is the unit?

 

[Wewannaplumb]

Thanks for the info guys. The unit is about 25 yrs old. I actually had a service tech come in, and they said you don't really service these units, and to just call them when I don't have heat. Lol. Heat still works fine and all, but just that popping noise is annoying. Sorta like the pop noise I had in my 50 gallon water heater used for my house's showers, and all other hot water in the house....just before we needed to replace it (after 15 years). I read that these Weil Mclain boilers can last 50 yrs though.

 

[voletl]

50 years in perfect conditions. Ive seen boilers fail after 3 years. 25 years is awesome and you should be fine, but I don't like what your service tech said those units do need to be serviced even though their gas. Clean out the burners, clean out the orifices, check to make sure proper operation, check the combustion to make sure it's running correctly.

 

[Wewannaplumb]

50 years in perfect conditions. Ive seen boilers fail after 3 years. 25 years is awesome and you should be fine, but I don't like what your service tech said those units do need to be serviced even though their gas. Clean out the burners, clean out the orifices, check to make sure proper operation, check the combustion to make sure it's running correctly.

I agree with you. I think the unit should be serviced, but I have a service warranty through my gas company on the unit, and they seem to only want to either fix it if it's broke or replace it. Maintenance is not in their vocabulary, so I guess I need to do that on my own. Thx again for your advice.