Expansion Tank Installation Boiler
Expansion Tank is designed for use with a hydronic heating system or boiler. Features diaphragm design and is easy to install. 30 Expansion Tank for Hydronic/Boiler-EX-30 - The Home Depot. Hot water expansion tanks are designed to protect the home's hot water boiler and plumbing system. When water is heated, or the hot water is shut off quickly, the tanks, filled with both air and water, will equalize the resulting water pressure. Unequal water-to-air ratios caused by a built-in.
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Hot water heating system expansion tank / compression tank drain procedure to re-charge lost air: This article describes the steps in draining of a steel compression or expansion tank used on hot water system heating boilers - hydronic heat. Draining water out of a waterlogged expansion tank is a common heating boiler service procedure used to replace a lost air charge. If this step is not taken when needed the waterlogged compression / expansion tank will cause boiler leaks and improper, even unsafe boiler operation.
In this article series we provide a heating system expansion tank / compression tank Troubleshooting & Repair Guide that will address just about any problem traced to this heating system component. How to Drain & Re-Charge the Air Needed in a Heating Boiler Expansion Tank, step by step Periodic draining of non-bladder boiler expansion tanks: Older heating system expansion tanks such as the one shown in this photo need periodic service: because air in the expansion tank can become absorbed into the heating water over time, eventually the expansion tank can become waterlogged. Newer internal-bladder type expansion tanks don't need draining but might need an additional air charge, as we explain at As we detail below in another photo, the green arrow indicates the expansion tank drain valve and the blue arrow marks the isolating valve that gets shut off first. So if no one has ever drained the expansion tank, or not for years, chances are it's ready and waiting for that attention.
Or as we've explained above, it's past due for draining. How to determine when the expansion tank needs drainage A traditional rule of thumb practiced by old heating service technicians (including me - DF) was simply to always drain all of the water out of the bladderless-expansion tank at every annual service. If a call-back customer complaint led to a need to drain the expansion / compression tank more often than once a year we figured something else was wrong and needed to be diagnosed and fixed. At that point we'd check to see if the expansion tank were waterlogged. If not we'd look for a different problem such as If the heating boiler expansion tank is heavy (try pushing it up or tapping on it) or if the relief valve is leaking, we probably need to drain the tank and let air return to it.
Watch out: don't go pushing the expansion tank all over the place. Just a tiny test push is sufficient. If you wiggle the tank around too much you're asking for a pipe leak.
Also some expansion tanks are strapped tightly against the ceiling so you can't move them anyway. Watch out: modern internal-bladder type expansion tanks such as Diaphragm-Type Expansion Tank do not need periodic draining - those tanks use an internal bladder. If your Amtrol expansion tank is waterlogged there is a problem to correct.
It might be a slow loss of the tank's air charge over several years, fixed simply by adding air. IF the tank has a pinhole leak or a ruptured bladder, the tank probably needs replacement. See if you missed that step or see if you need to adjust the pressure in a bladder-type expansion tank. So Now, Finally, Let's Drain that Heating Boiler Expansion Tank Can't Find the Expansion Tank?
This article section has been moved to Many expansion tanks use a special drain valve that permits air to flow into the tank as water is drained out. Turn off the heating boiler at its electrical service switch. Identify the expansion tank feed pipe. There will usually be just one pipe leading to the expansion tank.
That pipe will be found coming from the boiler or perhaps a nearby heating water pipe to the tank to permit the tank to accept the expansion of water in the heating system (or expanding air entrained in the heating system's water) as the boiler gets hot. In our image at left, the red arrow points to the feed pipe. Turn off the isolating valve that should be located on that hot water feed pipe between the expansion tank and the boiler or heating line. This temporarily isolates the expansion tank from the rest of the hot water heating system. If you don't do this and you start draining the expansion tank you may end up draining water from your heating piping too - not what you want. We only want to drain the water that is inside the expansion tank. In our photo at left the blue arrow points to the isolating valve.
Technical note: an isolating valve often is omitted if the expansion tank is an internal bladder Extrol type tank since those don't need to be drained. Connect a garden hose to the expansion tank drain valve and position the hose so that it drains into a floor drain or convenient slop sink. In our photo the green arrow points to the expansion tank drain valve. Click any image to see an enlarged, detailed version. Open the expansion tank drain valve to allow. water from the expansion tank to drain out. air from the room to enter the expansion tank Watch out: this hose idea is convenient and is recommended by some folks who lack experience with expansion tanks.
But the hose only works if a special air-admittance valve is installed on your expansion tank. If your tank just has a regular boiler drain valve installed, the hose thing will be very difficult to work - in that case plan some trips with a bucket held under the opened tank drain valve instead. The expansion tanks we show with our arrows in the photos above had a simple boiler drain.
We open the drain and let it spill into a bucket. That lets air bubble back up into the expansion tank - something that would take forever if we had a hose hooked up here. This can be a tedious process.
Some expansion tank drain valves include an extra feature, an air inlet that allows air to enter the expansion tank through an air inlet on the drain valve at the same time that water is draining out of the expansion tank. Watch out, the expansion tank water could be hot, and is usually a bit smelly and dirty.
Let all of the water out of the expansion tank. You could get away with a bit less than all, but all is good. This lets us start with an expansion tank full of air. Don't worry, water from the heating system will be back in there in a jiffy. Close the expansion tank drain valve. Open the isolating valve between the expansion tank and the heating boiler or heating boiler piping (photo below left).
You will doubtless hear some water entering the expansion tank. That's because the water in the heating system is sitting there somewhere between 12 and 28 psi and your expansion tank was full of air at '0' psi. When water stops running into the expansion tank, don't worry, it won't be waterlogged again. Rather it will contain some water, and some air, both at whatever pressure is that of your heating system at the moment. Our photo above shows an expansion tank isolating valve.
Below it and to its left you can see the top of a B&G water feed valve that sends water into the heating boiler. Check for leaks. Make sure that the isolating valve (that no one had touched for a few years until you got to it) and the expansion tank drain valve (that no one has touched for a few years before now) are not dripping. If you see a tiny drip around the valve stem of either valve, you can usually stop that by gently tightening that large packing nut that surrounds the valve stem.
Don't over-tighten nor break anything. Turn the boiler back on. Check for leaks one last time when the boiler has heated up and the system is at full operating pressure.
You should be ok. Below: The boiler drain valve on an oil fired heating boiler is located low on the boiler at the bottom of the boiler's water jacket. Continue reading at or select a topic from closely-related articles below, or see our complete INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES below. Or see this Article Series Contents. home. & how do expansion tanks work?. Suggested citation for this web page at - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.
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Expansion Tank Installation Boiler
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Boiler Expansion Tank Maintenance
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