chances of successful mineral removal from old kewanee boiler

jim b_3

i was out at a customers house the other day and the complaint was that the boiler is not getting hot like it used to. the boiler is an ancient kewanee oil burner with vertical firetubes. the house is on well water and the boiler has never, to the homeowners knowledge had any chemical treatment. i punched the fireside of the tubes but without knowing if i could reseal the handhole on top i did not open the vessel. now im young and not the most experienced guy but im pretty sure that im on the right track in my thinking that the waterside of the tubes are severely encrusted with mineral deposits. now the real question is is it worth the time and money to the homeowner to have me back to try to chemically clean out the boiler, or should i tell them to put the money towards a new boiler? the boiler is probably 55-60 years old and in pretty good shape externally, but internally i think its outlived its usefulness

ALH_4

time to replace

It really is time for a new boiler. I cannot see dumping a bunch of time into trying to clean a boiler that old with no guarantee that it will work, and a guarantee that even if it does it will come nowhere near the efficiency of a new mod/con.

lee_7

Even if you are able to clean inside of boiler, what is to say all of the minerals you take out are not holding the boiler together? I cleaned my own New Yorker boiler, about 20 years old, and when i was done, boiler was clean but also now leaking. What a way to tell the wife that we need new boiler!! Better to replace then to try and clean something that old.

ttekushan_3

EEEEEK!

Don't put a thing in that boiler! I just worked on a Kewanee box boiler (like a scotch marine in the form of a tall box). It was leaking when I got there. Had my favorite boiler company replace a couple of tubes to get it through this cold snap we've been having and through the rest of this season. You are correct in assuming the scale is holding it together. And the remaining tube wall thickness is frighteningly thin. Now, Kewanee was an excellent product, and if it was a horizontal two-pass, I'd even consider retubing it and installing a new burner (if it were mine).

But you run the liability of turning a functioning (such as it is) boiler into a sprinkler. Time for a new one, I'd have to agree.

-Terry

P.S. Here's what happens to a Kewanee steel box boiler when its had a misprogrammed outdoor reset control operating it for 15 years. Max allowable temp 150F, lowest temp 100F. It was run as a condensing boiler for much of the season. I was obligated to remove the turbulators and clean out a 5 gallon pail's worth of rust due to CO problems. Well, duh.
Plugged leaking tubes with what I had on hand necessitated by extremely low outdoor temps. Tubes in question quickly replaced. Seems like it runs like new, but is being replaced once the weather moderates. Its been decertified by hartford, but has been allowed to operate for now. It better not be there in the Fall!