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Buderus Header Manifold Leaking & Corroded

dgkula
dgkula Member Posts: 59
This GB142 was installed in March 2009. I bought this house last November. This amount of corrosion isn't what I would expect with a system that is less than four years old. It is actively leaking slowly - I have a Tupperware container on the floor below it.



Can anyone give me advice on how to proceed? Do I have a warranty claim against the manufacturer? I have read that these early headers had quality control issues. The more I read about these boilers the more I worry about having to replace it prematurely.



Thanks, David



<img src="http://i47.tinypic.com/2jetz00.jpg" width="508" height="799" alt="" />

Comments

  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,576
    Smart with the installer

    In this case, it is probably a problem caused by the installer. At any rate, he would have been the one who bought the boiler from the distributor. In most cases, the warrenty will be available through him. In the event that the original installer is not available, you could contact the local distributor, and see if he can help.

    The problem may be caused by excess oxygen. Do you have a radiant loop?--NBC
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 6,832
    Call Buderus....

    They might send you new  adapters and unions. They re pretty cool that way. Mad Dog
  • kcopp
    kcopp Member Posts: 4,419
    Is there...

    Glycol/ anti-freeze in the system? That stuff seems to always find leaks/ make leaks in systems. Furthermore, if so was it the right glycol....the inhibited stuff for an Aluminum boiler?
  • dgkula
    dgkula Member Posts: 59
    Thanks

    I am engaged with the installer - he has called Buderus to discuss a warranty claim.



    How is it possible to determine if it was an issue that the installer was responsible for? If Buderus says no to a warranty claim, how would I best go about convincing the installer that it is their issue and they should correct if that is the case? Would that involve calling Buderus distributor directly?



    Thanks,

    David
  • dgkula
    dgkula Member Posts: 59
    edited January 2013
    no glycol

    Only water. No radiant loop only baseboards. Thx
  • icesailor
    icesailor Member Posts: 7,265
    Dialectric unions:

    Look no farther than those dialectic unions. Sooner or later, they will leak. And I have never understood how they actually work because they don't.

    Then, there is the union face issue. Some truly believe as we were taught, that a "ground Joint Connection" doesn't need any lubricant to seal. Some of is don't believe that. And then, there is the issue of thread anti-seize compound like Never-Seize. If a fastener requires 125 Ft Lbs of torque to be spec. tight and it takes 30# of force to overcome the resistance at the end, how tight is it? 95#? Never-Seize takes the resistance away and you are torqued to spec's.

    Yesterday, I had to replace a Steam Trap. There was a 1" IPS union. It took two 2' pipe wrenches and every ounce of my strength to break the union nut. With Never Seize on the nut, it would have come apart with a big pair of water pumps or 18" wrenches at the most

    I will bet that the installer followed the screed that you don't need to lubricate the Unions. Or use Teflon Tape and paste. I'm sure that the installer, who did a nice job, hasn't learned that it is wise and effective to lubricate everything you come in contact with and to use quality Teflon Tape and a thread lubricant together. I do that and have done it for over 40 years. And I don't want any calls from a new homeowner that bought a home that I worked on, years ago that wants Warranty coverage when the Warranty only goes to the original owner.

    I hate that stress.

    When I come across something that the previous installer has lubricated, I say thank you to him, whomever he was. When I need to get out the heat wrench and the 3' wrenches, I curse him. When someone comes to something that I did, they thank me, maybe.
  • dgkula
    dgkula Member Posts: 59
    Thanks for the feedback

    This is helpful. The only other concern that I have, looking more closely at the boiler and header, is that the corrosion appears to have begun to corrode the cold water return pipe on the boiler itself, not just the connection and header like on the hot water supply side.



    In this case, replacing the header will not address this corrosion. Is this boiler pipe field-replaceable? I would hate to need a new boiler owing to this corrosion.



    My boiler is very oversized for my house and this system, and short cycles as a result, so a new boiler wouldn't be a bad thing - I just don't want to pay for replacement header and boiler (and labor to rip and replace) as a result of manufacturer's defects and/or installation issues when this setup is not even 4 years old. Ridiculous! We'll see what the installer comes back with.



    Thanks,

    David
  • icesailor
    icesailor Member Posts: 7,265
    Corrosiion Scale:

    On a corrosion scale of 1 through 10, I'd rate that at about a -2. It's surface corrosion.. The sucky unions should be replaced.

    There seems to be an obsession with short cycling of equipment.

    Every morning at 5: 30 AM, I get off the highway and there is a stop light. I am usually the only one there. Sometimes, someone will pull up beside me. When the light goes green, they are full on it to get ahead of me. WAY ahead. I don't waste my time and gas trying to keep up with them. But, I usually am up behind them by the next light and often, past them before the lane merge. They end up way behind me or way ahead of me.

    They're probably the same people who complain about rapidly cycling boilers. With nary a thought to their rapiddly cycling cars.
  • Ironman
    Ironman Member Posts: 7,367
    Unions

    There's a compression sleeve on that union that's leaking. It needs cleaning and tightening. Not Buderus' responsibility that the installer didn't tighten it enough.
    Bob Boan
    You can choose to do what you want, but you cannot choose the consequences.
  • rick in Alaska
    rick in Alaska Member Posts: 1,457
    leaks

     The two unions at the top of the picture have rubber gaskets that turn hard as a rock after they have been used for a while, and start leaking when they get cold. This leaking water is running down the piping and causing surface corrosion. Get rid of them and put regular unions in.

     The leak at the bottom is probably caused by a leaking packing gland on the ball valve above it. I can't tell from the picture, but you might be able to tighten it up.

    Rick
  • Jeremy_14
    Jeremy_14 Member Posts: 34
    edited January 2013
    It's not a warranty issue

    Your Buderus boiler is fine, and does not need to be replaced.  The header below the boiler has 4 unions, two standard, and two that are dielectric.  The top two unions have a plastic gasket and the bottom two dielectric unions have both a plastic ring and a neoprene gasket.  If you see either type of union leaking, you can tighten them all you want, it probably will not stop the leak.  Each union has to be taken apart and you need to liberally apply pipe dope to each side of each gasket, and that will stop the leaking.  After fixing the unions as I've described, I have yet to see any start leaking again.  The leak down low on the header is probably from the packing nut on the ball valve not being tight enough.  I've seen this corrosion on a number of Buderus GB boilers that I originally installed, and it's all curable.
This discussion has been closed.