why is my boiler pushing water out the pressure relief?

[ssupercoolss]

ever since i drained my oil boiler to do my plumbing for the wood boiler, the pressure relief valve on the oil boiler has been pushing a trickle of water out every now and agian. enough that i have to keep a bucket under it. when i filled my wood boiler i did replace the valve. so i am on my second relief valve with the same exact results. whats up with that? the pressure reads on the gauge at about 15 lbs., on the wood boiler it reads closer to 20 lbs. it does it all the time, whether its hot or cold, circulating or not, wood boiler off.....etc.... you know the definition of insanity, right?

 

[WoodNotOil]

Is the valve rated for the right pressure?

 

[trehugr]

Take the wooden end of a hammer handle and gently tap the top of nthe lever of the presscure releif... very common

 

[ssupercoolss]

yup...rated for 30 lbs. i will try to fix it with a sledgehammer and a can of cold beer.

 

[atgreene]

Is there someplace to purchase a new pressure relief valve on-line? Mine is bad (leaks non-stop etc...) and I'd like to replace it outright.

 

[webbie]

Lots of place online - do a google search and then hit shopping.
Make sure it is rated high enough - usually 4x the boiler rating or so:
(broken link removed to http://www.idealtruevalue.com/servlet/the-2646/Detail)

They also have them at HD, Lowes, etc.
A lot of decent hardware stores also.

 

[atgreene]

I tried Lowes and HD, both said no. I would have thought they were a common item. Thanks for the link.

 

[stee6043]

I had to replace the releif valve on my hot water heater last year and found that the Home Depot had a pretty decent selection. You may want to check it out....

Sorry...didn't see your post....Disregard if they said no! Try Ace Hardware maybe....or TSC......

 

[atgreene]

Just ordered one from True-value on-line. $31.00 with shipping. HD had everything but the valve. Not sure why. They even sell wood boilers and oil boilers, but only high pressure relief valves for hot water heaters and the like.

Thanks for the link, sorry for the hi-jack.

 

[Couderay80]

Do you have an expansion tank on this system. If you do, check and see if it is holding pressure. Relief valve usually malfunction for a reason. This is a safety device and this needs attention. Check the water make up valve and make sure it is feeding the right pressure to your system.

 

[trailhound68]

Good point. Expansion tank?
Any time you tap into a system and take the pressure off it, you get crap off the walls and it goes everywhere.
It's possible that the rubber seat on your PRV has 'crap' in it. Try to release it a time or two.