Wood Boiler Water Treatment Chemicals
Wood boiler water treatment chemicals are mainly used in outdoor wood boilers. The outdoor wood boiler needs water to exchange and pass the heat. The heated water is generally circulated through insulated underground lines to a heating load, where the heat can be transferred from the water to various heat emitters. The most important thing to maintaining a wood boiler is treating the water that flows through the system.
outdoor wood boiler
Outdoor wood boilers offer an alternative heat source that is appealing to many homeowners looking to save money on heating costs. You bought it. You paid a lot of money for it. But it is important to know if maintained properly, a wood boiler can last 20 years or more. At that time, you will know it is value for money.
To prevent corrosion, you must treat your water with wood boiler water treatment chemicals. They provide a protective barrier, prevent the breakdown of metals, and keeps minerals like Calcium and Magnesium in check. Treatment must be added to the wood boiler upon installation and annually thereafter.
But after long-term use, the scale will form in the boiler and pipeline. At that time, the wood boiler water treatment chemcials will be the first choice. Good wood boilder water treatment chemcials have many advantages. And also they can prolong the using life of your outdoor wood boiler. The advantages include but not limited to as below.
- Protect your wood boiler from rust, corrosion, and scale.
- Meets or exceeds all boiler manufacturer nitrite warranty requirements.
- Balance pH and Alkalinity confidently.
- Works with Stainless Steel, Mild Steel and Boiler Plate, Iron, SSTL, Copper, Bronze, and PEX.
- Use in most outdoor wood boilers. Compatible with propylene and ethyelen glycol.
As a wood boiler water treatment chemicals raw materials manufacturer, we supply high-quality raw materials to global distributors. Some wood boiler water treatment chemicals ingredients you find on Amazon and Walmart may contain our raw materials.
Top 18 FAQs on Wood Boiler Water Treatment
Q1. How often should I replace out the boiler chemistry?
A: The most common chemical is a nitrite-based passivation chemical. Nitrite will not convert to nitrate for 4 to 8 years depending on the boiler system. To be on the safe side, we recommend dumping and replacing your water and chemistry every 5 years.
Q2. If I over feed my boiler chemical will it cause any problems?
A: If you grossly over-feed the any boiler chemical you may increase corrosion rates to any copper or bronze metals since it is most likely high in alkalinity.
Q3. What is the shelf life of the boiler chemical?
A: Typically, 4 to 6 years. Store it in a cool place to maximize the water life.
Q4. Is nitrite a source for bacteria development?
A: Yes, nitrite is a source for bacteria development, but in this application, your water system is closed and there is not enough replenishing dissolved oxygen to create much if any, bacteria within your system. When you fire up your system, the hot temperature will kill any bacteria or slim within the water system.
Q5. How should we lay up the system when out of use?
A: If you are not planning on using your system for more than 8 months or greater, you should consider dumping the water instead of leaving it filled with water.
Q6. Are different boiler chemicals compatible with my existing chemical or antifreeze system?
A: Typically, Yes. There are only a handful of different chemicals out there and you can just add ours without dumping the existing water.
Q7. Should we use antifreeze in our boiler system?
A: We have heard antifreeze causes you to use more fuel sources to maintain proper heat, but we have no data to support this in either direction. Now, if you leave your residence or facility unattended, you may consider at least using a 20% antifreeze solution.
Q8. What type of Antifreeze should we use?
A: In general, there are 2 commonly used types, ethylene glycol, and propylene glycol. Use a 99.9% food-grade propylene glycol solution or a 95% corrosion inhibited propylene glycol solution. Do not use ethylene glycol or technical grade glycol. Ethylene glycol and technical grade propylene glycol will kill animals, pets, or humans if spilled and consumed. Every year we get calls from a hospital about a person who accidentally drank their boiler water through some sort of water cross-contamination. Also, purchase a small test sample of any premixed solution that offers freeze protection to -40F before purchasing a bulk quantity. Again, every year we get complaints about some premixed solution that promised freeze protection to -40F, and the system froze and the pipes burst during a cold spell. Typically, the premixed lower-cost antifreeze is recycled antifreeze. There is good stuff out there, just test it out first to make sure it will work for you. Also, remember there is a difference between bulk water freezing and freezing where the water only slushes up. This temperature range can be as much as a 40 to 50 F difference.
Q9. Are boiler chemicals compatible with antifreeze?
A: Typically all of them are.
Q10. Do we need to use an oxygen scavenger such as a sodium sulfite-based product?
A: No. You are not making up enough water to require using an oxygen scavenger. Dissolved oxygen enters the system through fresh water and system air intake leaks. If you are only making up minimal water, you are only adding a very small amount of dissolved oxygen (parts per billion). Oxygen scavengers are required in higher volume steam generation boilers.
Q11. Do I need to check pH?
A: With a Nitrite chemical, No. This chemical passivates the metal. As long as the pH is above 8 your system is fine.
Q12. My system is rusted. Do I remove the rust prior to using a new boiler chemical?
A: No, we do not recommend removing the rust by means of acid cleaning. The damage is done and is irreversible. We have seen many cases where the system is cleaned and put back in service only to have pinhole size leaks are now. Many times the rust and corrosion are holding the metal together and is preventing the system from leaking.
Q13. I have a stainless steel wood boiler. Do I need to still chemically treat the system?
A: Yes, you should. In some cases, the stainless steel used is a lower grade stainless steel and you may have iron leaching from the exterior to the interior of the boiler. This chemical will work excellent on stainless steel systems.
Q14. Do we use softened water, RO water, groundwater, or city water?
A: If you have good ground or city water, it is safe to use within your boiler system. Softened water is also good if your water is hard, but not necessary. Avoid using deionized or RO water.
Q15. I have an outdoor wood stove water boiler. My system holds approx 800 gals. I ran the system last year without enough chemical treatment and currently now have scale buildup in the heat exchangers. Now what?
A: First, You should not be scaling up your heat exchanger, unless you have a lot of makeup water or very hard water. If you have hard water I suggest, dumping the water and starting over with fresh softer water. You can use an all-in-one boiler chemical to minimize scale prevention, but ideally, you use chemicals as a polisher to remove small amounts of hardness. If you cant get soft water use the all-in-one chemical. If you are losing a lot of water to evaporation, tighten the system up. Second, if you have soft water or softened water and have only been operating for one year make sure it is not rusted debris or other debris in the heat exchanger. If you did not use a corrosion inhibitor this may be the problem.
Q16. How important is our water cleanliness?
A: Water cleanliness is important to reduce erosion within your water system. Debris such as dirt or rust particles should be a filter or flushed from the water system. Also, if your water has been sitting idle for a few years and it has a bad odor. Dump the water and replenish the system with fresh water.
Q17. Does it hurt my boiler to clean and flush at the end of the year, add the new treatment, and let the stove sit a full summer before firing again?
A: I recently bought a house with a woodmaster 4400 already installed.. the man who installed the stove told me that the treatment has anti-rust treatment in it and won’t hurt to set all summer. the man who installed it also put an electrical bypass switch inside the house to cut power to the unit during the off-season so it wouldn’t be constantly running the pumps.
Q18. What should my water ph be using the nitrate stuff?
A: It should be higher than the normal PH 9. 10, 11.