Leaking Weil McLein steam boiler

RonWHC

a long time.

If the sealing ring ports are not pitted or gouged, new seals normally take care of the problem. That is, if the ports are properly cleaned. No petroleum cleaners please. And the sections are aligned & drawn up properly. That "goop" on the outside edges of the seals should have been there the 1st time. It is a silicone compound that resists oil penetration, from the fuel, which hardens & cracks the seals.

Chemical treatment, by someone who knows cast iron steam boiler requirements, can be helpful. Confirm there are no petroleum compounds in the treatment.

All cast iron boilers rust. Scale, normally gray, or white, on the interior of the boiler sections is indicative of excess fresh water make-up. If you decide to replace sections - price a new boiler first. Boilers, a piece at a time, are very expensive.

B. McCready

Leaking steam boilers

Our 1947 school has two 1996 Weil McLain boilers that have never had much maintenance. 15 months ago Boiler 1 started leaking and was repaired by replacing the gaskets, but the contractor said it was really rusty. 5 months ago Boiler 2 started leaking and was shut down until September, when it was repaired. Now it is leaking again.

Today the contractor showed me the leak point and is cleaning the fittings again, which have rusted significantly in just 7 weeks. He is also going to put some goop around the outer edge of the gaskets. There are seven (chambers?), and the leak was between the first two, at the bottom opening. He thinks we should look into chemical treatment to get rid of the rust. But I am concerned that we are going to cause more trouble with that. Our City has fairly soft water, so I don't think minerals are a concern.

From what I have read, some of the problem may have come from a condensate tank that was leaking for many years, thus new water was being added to the system all the time. That has now been repaired.

Does it make more sense to bite the bullet and replace the (chambers?)? How do you know when the rust is too bad to continue trying to repair?

rich on heat

Water Treatment

You might want to contact these guys for water information.
People speak highly of them.
http://www.rhomarwater.com/

Kevinj_3

location

B. McCready,

Where are you located? Someone here meay be able to help you.

B. McCready

Location

I am in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I checked the "Find a professional" search without luck.

frankiewrench

Weil McLain leaker

You didn't mention the boiler model/size, but if its for a school, I'm guessing a series 88 or 94. What-ever. The real questions are..............
1. steam/return type; gravity hot water conversion?
a) Is complete header configuration and near boiler piping as per W-McL boiler installation instructions? Wrong configutation could lead to stress at the weakest part of the system.[Those elastometer rings cannot withstand any stress at all.]
b) Water usage? Is there a meter to record amount of fresh water feed?
c) Does burner cycle too freqently?
d) Type of return feed system? gravity, boiler feed tank, condensate tank?
e) [If hot water] circulator and expansion tank location in reference to direction of flow? What is the temperature of the return? I'm thinking also of thermal shock. Some of the 88's need a blanket on the combustion floor. Just some thoughts from a plumber.