Tarm Shut Down for Season

She finished her first year in high style. Yesterday brushed the heat exchanger tubes, vacuumed the smoke box, scraped as best I could the firebox, cleaned out all the ash from the firebox and gasification chamber, vacuumed everything, sealed up the smoke outlet, sealed the air inlet, cleaned the chimney, and put her to bed until Fall. The refractory looks to be in real great shape. Burned pine the whole season with just this one chimney cleaning, very little buildup - she does her job well.

Any thoughts from others on the creosote in the firebox that doesn't scrape off? It would be ideal to get to bare metal, but I don't think scraping can do that. A layer of creosote remains well bonded to the steel. My guess is that sealing the boiler from moisture will greatly limit an ongoing creosote caused corrosion.

The instruction manual says to do what I think I did. A key is to keep moisture out over the summer, as moisture + creosote = acid = corrosion. The manual also says that if moisture/condensation is a problem, a light bulb in the boiler to generate some evaporating heat should be used. It would be wise to check once in a while to see if any condensation is evident.

I'm not draining the boiler. It is a closed system and any oxygen in the water should have been used up during the heat season a long time ago. If you haven't done so, check the boiler water pH. Tarm says the ideal is 8.2. Water on the base side (I think 7.5 to 9 or even a bit higher probably is OK) is essential to prevent corrosion. You certainly do not want pH below 7 = acid = corrosion. I opened the drain to take a couple of ounces to check pH. It was clear in color. My pH is between 8 and 9.

Search "boiler chemical" on this forum and on Google -- if you find out anything new, post your findings for all of us. Thanks.