cracked steam boiler

jim lockard

Hi all look time no post. ? Just had a call from another contractor about a cracked steam boiler.  This contractor removed the one pipe steam rads on the 2nd floor of a house. That is all he said did just pull and cap the rads. That was 2 weeks ago now the customer says the boiler is cracked. This contractors question to me and mine to you is could this action in its self cause the boiler to crack. thanks

Jamie Hall

Can't see how

removing and capping radiators could crack a boiler, unless something didn't get capped and they lost a lot of steam and dry-fired the boiler.  And I can't see a homeowner missing that much steam coming out...  Um, come to think of it, maybe I can...



But the short answer is, no.

jim lockard

thank you

Thank you Jamie. What I did not tell is there is a 3rd contractor now spouting off that by removing some of the volume in the system. (removing rads) it has caused the boiler to overfire and crack. 

Mike Kusiak_2

No way

Removing half the radiation would not overfire the boiler. It would make it oversized for the load and it would reach the pressuretrol limit sooner, but the pressure would not go any higher than normal.



Even if the pressuretrol failed, the relief valve would vent excess pressure before any damage to the boiler occurred.



Are you sure the boiler wasn't cracked before and the customer is trying to use the situation to his advantage?

FJL

Sounds More Like ...

The homeowner got the idea from another contractor who was giving a second opinion.

JK_3

removed radiators can cause a boiler to crack!!!

If the removed radiators are large enough and can be dropped on the boiler from high enough !!!!

nicholas bonham-carter

radiator removal

we ran a 3 floor building 1-pipe system, without the top floor radiators for several years with no problems, other than over-sizing. in my opinion the boiler could not crack solely because radiators were removed.

it it certain that the boiler cracked [dry-firing, or adding cold water improperly while hot], or is there a hole from corrosion [too much makeup water]? if the makeup water feed is not piped into the return properly, there can be a problem. perhaps as well, if   all the water suddenly emptied out while steaming, there would be enough thermal shock to crack a section [no hartford loop?].--nbc

jpf321

is it possible ...

that condensate somehow got held in the capped risers like a straw with a finger over one end, thus removing water volume from boiler coupled with a LWCO failure and no auto-feed? i'm just, as the pun would go, grasping at straws here...