Problem with Spirovent

Hi all, and thanks in advance for your assistance.

I have a closed hydronic boiler system with a spirovent/extrol attachment. I've been having a problem with the spirovent.

Whenever my circ pumps turn off, water shoots out of the relief valve on top of the spirovent for a couple of seconds in a solid stream. I lose so much water that every couple of months I have to add more water so to maintain pressure.

Here are my questions: why am I losing so much water through the spirovent, and what can I do about it?

Thanks again,

Chuck

From what I read, they have a lifetime warranty. I checked with them awhile ago, and they said if you remove the top half (a strap wrench should work), you can soak that part in vinegar for a few hours and it should clean it up and restore it. Might be a pain to do while in the heating season. Give them a call or drop them an e-mail...they seemed pretty responsive ad there may be some more info on their website. I think the working parts are limed up, and cleaning it should restore it. If not, then I don't know.

jadnashua said:

From what I read, they have a lifetime warranty. I checked with them awhile ago, and they said if you remove the top half (a strap wrench should work), you can soak that part in vinegar for a few hours and it should clean it up and restore it. Might be a pain to do while in the heating season. Give them a call or drop them an e-mail...they seemed pretty responsive ad there may be some more info on their website. I think the working parts are limed up, and cleaning it should restore it. If not, then I don't know.

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Last I checked It's a 10yr warranty. If the system is not refilling its self You should replace the feed also. It should keep the system at a constant pressure.

Spirotherm had the answer

Thanks for the info/advice. I contacted Spirotherm as recommended by this forum. They had the answer (see below for their actual response). Turns out that the problem wasn't lime build-up but that my expansion tank sat on the wrong side of my circ pump.

-Chuck


Thank you for your e-mail. Usually when this happens the expansion tank is in the wrong location and the temporary pressure imbalance when the pump turns off causes the head to flood and the stream of water. If the head needed cleaned the Spirovent would drip and have no bearing on what the pump is doing. Proper location of expansion tanks is always on the suction (inlet) side of the circ pump. In other words, always pump "away" from the tank, not towards it. The reason has to do maintaining design pressure in the system and is difficult to explain in an e-mail. Check your tank connection and if it is after the pump, consider putting a "T" in the line before the pump and connecting it there. That should solve the problem. If not, let us know and we will try to assist further.

Spirotherm, Inc.