I don't use tap but purified and distilled water mix.
I have always read to mix 5% - 10% tap water with distilled water as by itself its to aggressive for boilers.
I will tell you that I formally was an Aquarium builder, which I got out of the hobby. I learned a lot about water quality and the chemistry of it.
Distilled water in very acidic. The pH is something like 4.5 which is very acidic. Acidity will react heavily. One way to bring the pH up is add maybe a half a teaspoon or less of sodium bicarbonate to a gallon of water. Stir well. Neutral water or slightly alkaline will probably do less damage to your boiler and brass fittings. Problem is “steam” is distilled water so once you open the steam line, that condensate will be acidic again.
I don't use tap but purified and distilled water mix.
I have always read to mix 5% - 10% tap water with distilled water as by itself its to aggressive for boilers.
I haven't done a exact mix between purified and distilled water (I've always kept both on hand for various reasons). I think when I first joined here I read about straight distilled being bad, so I started to mix. Though just as important, if not more so, is as the thread title says "Empty your boilers after use!".
@Raphael that seemed really fast to get your boiler back! I'd wished I had places to send Empire's and Weeden's LOL
Best way to empty boiler? Blowdown valve at bottom of boiler and open it under steam and tilt the boiler towards it. 99% of the water comes out.
Bonjour,
Richard, as I Wouldn't have been confident if I had done this repair, I have choose to pay and the more you pay, the quicker the repair is
As said in another post, I have had problems with all my chinese Hit & Miss engines and I have not been able with my friends to repair one, it is no just a piece of metal sleeping on a shelf
That is why, if I can, I favor local purchases.
To empty my boilers, I use a silicone pipe, I suck up the water and let gravity do the rest.
Bonjour,
I couldn't resist, I have worked hard
to be able to make this second test, a few things to be repaired yet:
https://youtu.be/oafJz-LFU9g
I was once told to look inside my tea kettle to decide if I should use tap water or not, fortunately we are blessed here on the West Coast of BC with excellent water.
Some years ago I installed a reverse osmosis kit under the kitchen sink in a house, the instructions warned not to use any brass fittings as the water would react with them.
Bonjour,
I try to minimize the splashing coming out of the steam exhaust pipe connected to the double oil separator by connecting it as close as possible to the steam outlet of the machine.
https://youtu.be/NOIW4ucypXw
