boiler leaking

Icehouse

Hi, I have a 20 year old Burnham boiler model V 14A-T and I recently had to replace a zone valve, and have had trouble getting the air out of my system (hot water) .  Tried bleeding zones at the return manifold with some success but the problem would return.

Today I noticed a small amount of water on the floor at the rear of the boiler, also insulation under sheetmetal is wet.  Obviously a boiler leak.  When looking at some forums about furnace problems I saw there were problems with the burnham V series boilers.  So my questions are, does that include the model I have, was there any recall on the product, and if not is there any fix possible without total replacement?  Thanks for any info.

Scott

nicholas bonham-carter

leaker

can you check with the original installer, and/or the burnham rep, and see if there is any remaining warranty, or replacement sections available?

perhaps others here may have had some experience with stop leak temporary fixes to get you through the winter.

have you checked your pressure, and is your expansion tank waterlogged?--nbc

Icehouse

boiler prob.

Thanks for your thoughts, the installer is retired and he was self employed, I changed the expansion tank a few months ago and the pressure in the system is supposed to be 30psi but I can't get it that high without blowing the relief valve.  The factory rep. might be a way to go, I'll call the local supply house see if they have that info. , thanks again for your ideas.

Scott

kcopp

Short answer....

No. No recalls on the V1. The V7 had some issues. The V1 was a top notch boiler... real thick and heavy unit. There are a bunch still out there doing their job. Prob  no warranty left.

billtwocase

too high

You shouldn't have 30 PSI on the boiler, and probably don't need 20 PSI either. It will run about 12-15 with a good feed valve and extrol. That will get the water up about 30 feet above. As far as the V1 boiler, they rarely leaked, and sounds like the blank plate or tankless coil on the right side towards the rear. They did leak there, and can be repaired.  Is there any auto vents on the system? 

lchmb

either that

or your over filling the boiler (cold 12psi only) and that's water from the pressure relief valve. If in fact it is a leak in the casting, 20 year's old is generally the end of any warranty either way.

Icehouse

boiler pressure

Sorry took so long to get back, want to say thanks for all the ideas.

the boiler pressure is maintaining itself at 12-15 so that's good,  and I put a new self vent valve on just last week and thought that had fixed the problem (noise in lines) and that's when I noticed the water on the floor.  So it's good news to hear that there is a chance that it's the tankless coil.  But the thing that made me suspicious of the boiler is my inability to bleed the air out of the lines.  But I will definitely check into the coil.

Scott