Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

Sears \"Indestructo\" Boiler

Mike Curran
Mike Curran Member Posts: 3
in THE MAIN WALL
Does anybody out there have any info regarding the Sears "Indestructo" boiler? I am in St. Louis where most everything is forced air. I have just finished educating myself on steam heating by reading Dan Holohan's "The Lost Art of Steam Heat". Please bear with me and excuse my ignorance. The home is less than 1500 square feet. Is this a steamer? It sure looks like one by the size of the 2 mains. There are no main vents (no pipe plugs either) however and the rads appear to be hot water entry and exit from the bottom). The return mains are above the boiler line but I see no steam traps anywhere. The only vents I could find were on the radiators (high right side). They were small and the woman of the house whose husband handled everything had an old paper that told whoever was starting the system up how to bleed the radiators. Interestingly also was a entry that said 10-15 psi is good pressure, then in parenthesis "very good"! So, if it is steam that would not be good. Also there is a control on the main supply line that is set for 155 degrees.There is no circulator (at least not one I could see)! Any info about this system would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • lee_7
    lee_7 Member Posts: 457


    YOu have a hot water gravity system. NO circulator. On call for heat, hot water rose and cold water sank. primitive but effective.
  • Ken D.
    Ken D. Member Posts: 836
    S&R Indestructo

    Indestructo is right! I have a good story concerning one. I get a call one day to start a heater. I arrive and found a brand new house. Imagine my surprise to go into the basement and see this 60 year old boiler with a 50 year old Silent Flame oil burner. Turns out the house suffered an electrical fire and burnt down into the basement. The customer says the insurance company would not spring for a new boiler because they felt the old one was still good. I check the unit out and everything looks ok. I fill it with water, purge the loops, dump 5 gals of oil into the tank and prime and start the boiler. It starts and runs fine. Lousy efficiency but burns cleanly and otherwise ok. This after having tons of debris on top of it not to mention water from the firemens hoses. I'm still amazed.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories