pH of OWB water

[doctorb]

CB recommends that the pH of the boiler water be around 8-9.  I, foolishly, didn't test mine until after my second heating season.  Just slipped my mind.  When I got around to testing it, the pH was low, 7.0 at best.  I called my dealer, we added about a quart of inhibitor and retested.  Same result.  I added a second quart, same thing.  So, before I drained the boiler and refilled, which was the next recommendation, I decided to try some new pH strips.  Bought them today and the water tested out at about 8.5.  Moral of the story- check your testing strips before making a major move based upon old ones.

[mrwood]

In the book for my CB5036 it states that before inhibitor the water should test between 7-8 and after inhibitor should be 8.5-9.5. It says that the inhibitor will change ph slightly but that the inhibitor itself is not used to control the ph itself. I do however forget what it says to add for ph. But now that you added 2 quarts of inhibitor trying to bring your ph up I would think it wise to check your nitrate level and make sure that it is not too high. You may be fine but just something to think about

[doctorb]

mrwood-

Agree with your suggestion.  Tested for nitrate and I am at 31 drops.  That's one drop over the recommended level, but close enough for me to not think I need to drain the system and refill.  Your thoughts?

[mrwood]

Yeah I am not a CB master as I did just get mine up and running 3 weeks ago. But I would say that 31 is not bad enough to hurt anything. Heck even if it worried you to death you could drain 10 or so gallons and fill water to dilute it. But at 31, I see no reason to change anything.

[ral]

When testing for nitrates another reason it might take a few more drops is the permanganate solution can become less affective over time. Same thing happened to me, went from 25 drops to 31. Talked to the CB guys and they said being nothing had ever changed they were not concerned.

[maple flats]

For years I was a dealer in OWB's. The testing and long term results for ours proved that the PH wanted to be 9-9.5. That was for the Taylor brand, the modern day re-inventer of the idea. An idea from Roman times.
My brother still has one, that is in it's 23 year. He was my partner in the business. With the right PH AND a good ground system, they last a long time. Ground is extremely important on these. Moving water thru plastic pipes of any kind produces static electricity, which leads to electrolycis. Electrolycis destroys the tank in time.
For your unit, use the PH your manual states, and add another ground rod. We uses to do 2 many times if we couldn't get a rod down in at least 7.5' or if the earth was particularly dry, (ground water table low).

[bandmiller2]

When I ran my old power boiler used soda ash to take the "teeth" out of the water,its cheap and available. Frank C.