Fire-side procedures Multiple condensing boiler plant maintenance By Roy Collver Preventative maintenance programs can help save money and greatly extend the life of boiler equipment while increasing reliability – but how much is enough? As operational budgets tighten, facility managers are looking for ways to trim budgets, and preventative maintenance is often scrutinized. I am a believer in the value of PM programs, and though much of the modern equipment today is designed to be “maintenance free”, is any equipment truly maintenance free? How can we assess what procedures – and at what frequency – are really needed.
A boiler from the bad old days.
Firstly, what does the equipment manufacturer require and/ or recommend? The answer to this question might well affect your boiler purchasing decisions. The manufacturer will advise as to what should be done; which components should be lubricated, which ones should be cleaned or changed – and how often. Some manufacturers are sticklers for frequent and extensive maintenance – citing failure to follow their schedule exactly as reason for warranty denial. Others take a somewhat more relaxed position, requiring regular inspection, but suggesting cleaning only when there is evidence that it is needed. Oil-fired boilers, where still used, require frequent and extensive maintenance; enough said. This article will focus on the boiler rooms that are increasingly using multiple gas-fired condensing appliances. Maintenance of these boilers is less intensive than with oil-fired boilers, and much less painful than was performed on the large high input gas boilers of the past. Gone are the days of rolling up your sleeves, taking a deep breath, calling in all the troops, and shutting down a heating plant for weeks in order to perform an annual “heavy” maintenance, rebuild and inspection. Modern gas-fired boilers (yes, even condensing appliances) are much easier to service, seldom require special equipment or tools, and in the case of multiple boilers, can usually be serviced during the shoulder heating seasons without the need to shut down the whole heating plant. Even though boiler rooms are often monitored through a school district’s building management system on a regular basis, school districts have in-house maintenance personnel available to do a basic boiler room “walk around” once every month or two. This quick procedure is important, and can be done in conjunction with frequent maintenance work of other appliances at the site. It serves to check things like condensate trap cleanliness, fluid fill, venting integrity and security, chemical treatment and air filtration. These checks can give facility managers valuable information as to when they might need to schedule more detailed and extensive inspection and cleaning. Pressure vessel fire-side inspection and cleaning can normally be scheduled once a year, and can usually be done by school district maintenance personnel after they have had a brief manufacturer’s training session. One big benefit of scheduled maintenance is that spare parts, filters, gaskets and wear
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