The Industrial Boiler Maintenance Checklist

Routine boiler maintenance is strongly recommended and can result in operational efficiencies,
cost savings and safer work conditions for your company. Unfortunately, many companies are
reactive and wait for something to malfunction before attending to their boilers. While it may
seem like an added expense, preventative maintenance practices could reduce boiler emergencies
and costs, and moreover, increase the lifetime value of your equipment. If your company can
establish routine boiler maintenance into its policies and procedures, then there will be both short
and long-term benefits for your business.

How often should a boiler be serviced?

It is important to continually monitor your boiler system to help you identify any unsafe or
operational inefficiencies. Preventative maintenance practices can be broken into daily, monthly,
periodic and annual services as a means to ensure that your boiler system is performing
efficiently and effectively. If you notice a larger issue with your equipment during an inspection,
be sure to schedule repair services to handle before it becomes a bigger problem. We also have
put together a boiler emergency preparedness checklist to help you get started on contingency
planning for your operation.

Incorporating preventative maintenance practices into your policies and procedures has short-
and long-term benefits for your company.

Boiler Maintenance Checklist

We created a boiler maintenance checklist that is separated by daily, monthly, periodic (or
quarterly) and annual services for you and your team to incorporate into your policies and
procedures for preventative maintenance practices. Should you notice any boiler system
problems during these routine checks, be sure to contact your service technician to help resolve
the issue.

We strongly recommend that you consult the manufacturers’ guide and implement their best
practices into your routine maintenance plan. It is also suggested that you should schedule an
annual inspection and cleaning with a professional boiler technician. Powerhouse can help you
with those services.

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Daily

 Boiler equipment, components and piping for water, leaks or obstruction as well as for
unusual vibrations or noises
 Venting system to make sure it is not blocked with debris, ice, or snow
 Boiler’s sight port and examine the flame for any evidence of damages or possible soot
 Exhaust temperature, boiler temperature and boiler pressure to make sure all readings are
within the desired range
 Water softener, dealkalizer and chemical feed system to make sure it meets required
levels of salts and chemicals
 Display panel for error or service codes

Additionally, we recommend doing a blowdown of the boiler and water column via the bottom
blowdown valves and column drain valves, respectively. This helps to remove water that was
intentionally removed from the boiler system.

Monthly

 Combustion air piping and flue gas vent piping for leaking, deteriorations or signs of
blockage
 Relief valve discharge pipe and boiler relief valve for leaking or weeping
 Burner’s diffuser for burning, cracking, or deforming; burner’s pilot tube for pilot
ignition; and burner valves for wear, slip and/or proper action
 Operating and modulating controls for proper set point operation
 Lights and alarms for proper function

During your monthly inspections, we also recommend that you clean the fireside surfaces as
required and take water samples for comparison to the manufacturer and local chemical expert to
make sure the levels are within the desired range.

Periodic (Quarterly / Seasonal)

 Boiler hydronic piping for leaking

 Burner flames for appearance changes (if flame looks different from normal, then report)
 Condition of wiring and switches
 Gaskets on front and rear doors and replace as necessary
 Water levels using low water cut-off devices to make sure they are within manufacturers
recommended levels
 Check pump alignment on all base-mounted pumps

For your periodic maintenance, we suggest that you clean the plugs in the control piping by
removing, inspecting, cleaning and then reinstalling to keep things running smoothly.
Additionally, you should reset combustion using a combustion analyzer in order to read oxygen,
carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.
Annual

It is more than likely that you will be required to have an annual inspection of your boiler
system, so we have listed the final few things you should check and test to be in a good spot,
including:

 Heating system and resolve any issues

 Venting system for deteriorations, corrosion, blockages to ensure pipe and joint
connections are secure
 Auxiliary systems which provide fuel, air, water, or chemicals to the boiler
 Metal for oxygen corrosion and waterside for heavy scaling on tubes, tubesheets and shell
 Refractory for cracks, patch and wash coast as required (1/8" or less is acceptable)
 Water pH levels and ensure in the proper range
 Gas valves and conduct safety test as recommended by the manufacturer as well as safety
valves for leaking
 Control settings and then test safety and operating controls
 Electrical connections and wiring are intact

For an upcoming annual inspection, we recommend cleaning the burner assembly including
flame sensors and igniters along with the boiler furnace, tubes and tube sheets. Additionally, you
can clean the handhole and manhole plates by removing then flushing boiler with water to
remove loose scale and sediment.