Gas boiler: No water from low water cut off (LWCO) valve?

[JEDI]

My mom has an old Weil McLain gas boiler.
her house is heated by radiators. (2 story house + basement)
at night there's noise in the pipes and keeps her awake.

i dont think she's ever released water from the boiler to flush out the dirt and debris. (My dad might have done it but he died in 2014.)
so i tried to do it and no water is coming from the LWCO valve!

Here are some pics:



sight glass level (1/4 full):


LWCO valve:


The water in the sight glass is only about 1/4 full.
Why is there no water coming out??
Is there an easy way to fix?

Moved from OT.
admin allisolm

 

[Red Squirrel]

I don't know a lot about boilers but my guess is there is a leak somewhere. Is this a boiler that actually boils the water like old style ones did? It could be going up into steam out of one of the radiators maybe.

There could be an air pocket somewhere too. I would look to see if there is a way to flush it, hopefully you can find instructions somewhere on the unit.

Hopefully someone else knows more.

 

[skull]

Probably a bunch of crap at that drain/bottom of the boiler. That site glass looks pretty clear though for the boiler to be a mess. You said theres no water coming out of the LWCO but I doubt that or mom wouldn't have heat so guessing you meant the drain in the pic.

 

[JEDI]

Probably a bunch of crap at that drain/bottom of the boiler. That site glass looks pretty clear though for the boiler to be a mess.
You said theres no water coming out of the LWCO but I doubt that or mom wouldn't have heat so guessing you meant the drain in the pic.

so if the 3rd pic is the drain then what is the lwco valve?

and how do i get water flowing from the drain?

 

[skull]

I'd need a pic of the whole thing. I've only seen 1 steam boiler my whole career but work on hot water boilers all the time. I'd call a pro if I were you, hopefully steams common in your area and its not too hard to find somebody that knows what they're doing.

 

[herm0016]

we need an overall picture of the whole thing. for a hot water system, in most places there will be a fill valve from your domestic with a check valve and pressure regulator. you may need to fill the system, purge at the high point. or try blowing some air or water into the drain to unblock.

 

[JEDI]

we need an overall picture of the whole thing.
for a hot water system, in most places there will be a fill valve from your domestic with a check valve and pressure regulator. you may need to fill the system, purge at the high point. or try blowing some air or water into the drain to unblock.

Ugg.. left my mom's place already.
Won't be back for a couple of months ☹️

 

[skull]

Ugg.. left my mom's place already.
Won't be back for a couple of months ☹

Send a pro over there, steams nothing to fool around with and leave unmaintained for years at a time.