How old was my boiler?

MotownSteamer

We have retired our Crane natural gas steam boiler. The New Yorker is going in (I'm doing another thread with lots of pics!) now.



Curious as to how old the boiler was. My guess was mid 1960's to 1970s. I saved the data tag and cleaned it. She sure earned her retirement. The sections looked gorgeous. No cracks or leaks. Just couldn't keep paying for the 490,000 BTU input.



The serial # is C56 2715. Don't know how to decode, but could it be March, 1956? Here are some pics

Rod

Beacon Boiler Reference Book

You might want to try the Beacon Boiler Reference Book in the Library section at the top of this page. They have info on a lot of old boilers.

- Rod

MotownSteamer

Thanks Rod

According to this book, the only 40-series boilers were made before 1959. So, it would seem the serial number clue could be 1956! If so, we had a 55+ year old boiler that was still chugging along leak free. Pretty cool!.



Any other thoughts on how to decode the serial #?

Mike Kusiak_2

Sure looks like a 1956 boiler

Here is a posting regarding replacing the gas control valve on a 1956 boiler.

http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/138351/old-Bastian-Morley-boiler-and-White-Rodgers-valve

If you look carefully at the photos, you can see the gas valve is the same as the one on your old boiler. That style of valve was discontinued in the 50s, so it would be consistent with the 1956 date code.

Its amazing how many of these 50+ year old boilers are still steaming...

MotownSteamer

Yes, same gas train!

Ok, that seems to cinch it! Same diaphragm valve (same leak issue too!). The data tag is identical to mine.

Hap_Hazzard

Dang!

That thing's older than I am. Probably in better shape too!