Having run out of other automotive and home projects for the moment, I recently turned my attention to some long overdue servicing on the condensing boiler for my in-floor hydronic radiant heating system.
The boiler has been used for four winters without any servicing. Before going into a fifth winter, I wanted to check the burner and igniter and to flush the heat exchanger
I found an online video from Triangle Tube, the boiler manufacturer, for the recommended procedure. I noticed that my boiler configuration was slightly different from the one shown in the Triangle Tube video, so I snapped several detailed pictures of the parts of my boiler that I would be disassembling before taking them apart to ensure that I could put everything back together again:
Not shown in the pictures: From my 20+ years' experience of wrenching on my cars, I have learned to store all disassembled parts in a box so that nothing gets lost. All removed screws and nuts are collected in separate wads of crinkled paper and labeled so that I know which fasteners correspond to which parts.
After watching the Triangle Tube video several times, I determined it was overly complicated:
(1) The video suggests the assembly of a complex adapter and hose to attach to the condensate drain to collect the 50/50 CLR/water solution that has to be flushed through the heat exchanger. However, I determined that I could just fit a simple 1.25" ID rubber hose over the condensate drain for this task, especially since the fluid coming out wouldn't be pressurized.
(2) The video suggests putting a submersible pump in a 5-gallon bucket to cycle the CLR/water solution being flushed into the heat exchanger and coming out from the condensate drain. However, I determined that the force of the water that would be pumped from my 1/2 horsepower portable utility pump would be hard to control and would cause a mess.
So, instead, I pumped the CLR/water solution into the heat exchanger using a garden sprayer. I removed the shaft and nozzle from the wand and sprayed the solution using just the trigger, which allowed for a reasonably strong and fast stream:
I collected the runoff in a 5-gallon bucket with an inserted dirt trap (which I had purchased for washing my cars) to separate the mineral deposit sediment coming out from the heat exchanger from the CLR/water solution:
I then poured the collected runoff into a 5-gallon water cooler jug that I had cut up (and which I had modified for other purposes), which I then poured into my garden sprayer. (Pouring the contents of the 5 gallon bucket directly into the garden sprayer would've created a huge mess. The spout on the water cooler jug functioned as a funnel.)
I then flushed the heat exchanger again using the recycled CLR/water runoff that I had collected.
The final step was to pour several bottles of pure tap water into the heat exchanger to rinse it clean. (Not pictured.)
Here is the inside of the heat exchanger, all cleaned up:
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