QUESTION FROM Kenneth

I notice that my low water light will come on sometimes and my furnace will not heat up the house even though the water level show sufficient amount of water. But when I flush out the water and reestablish the water level the furnace will kick in and the baseboards will began to heat up again. It does not happen often, but sometime I have to flush water out more than usually when the water light come on. I would like to note that I do not have an auto feed and that every once in a while I would have to fill and flush water out of the furnace. Could this be from a build up of rust in the pipes that cause the low water indicator to come on and shut the furnace? If so can this be clean out other then continuing to draining and flush water out of the furnace? What do you think is causing this to happen. Your information is greatly appreciated.

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD

Dear Kenneth:

Yes, your problem with the your furnace shutting down could be caused by rust and sediment affecting your low water level cut-off gauge.

If the boiler and the low water cut-off gauge are not flushed of sediment, the low water cutoff could hang up on the sediment. You should follow the appropriate procedure for your particular furnace system to drain and flush your boiler. And as part of your annual inspection and service, a trained service technician should take the low water cutoff apart to manually scrape and clean the walls of it, and to also clean the sight glass.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com

FOLLOW-UP FROM Kenneth

Dear Home-Wizard,
The explanation you gave me for my furnace yesterday is right on point. The sediment in the glass and water level gauge is just as you describe. I will have a technician come to clean it out.
Thank you very much.

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD

Dear Kenneth:

Thanks for the feedback!

Glad that we could help you with this.

If you have other home maintenance questions come up, just let us know.

Regards,
Home-Wizard.com