Rusty bolts on the tankless water heating blank

Boiler Talk

I had a boiler installed two years ago.  It is a Peerless wbv-03 and has no water coil.  A few bolts have some minor rust on them.  I occassionally tighten the bolts to snug with 9/16" wrench.  I haven't read the manual, but I bet it doesn't suggest using some sealant on the gasket and blank.  What do you pros do?  Do you put a torque wrench to the bolts?  Thanks. 

Robert O'Brien

"What do you pros do?"

I can't resist this softball. Pros don't put in boilers with blank plates,or pin boilers w/o a tankless installed. Is it cold start or are you shutting it off in non heating season? The OEM gasket leaves a lot to be desired,change to a real gasket and use stainless or brass studs and nuts with never seize in place of the bolts,makes tightening a snap,and not literally!

Boiler Talk

I don't know.

It might be I am a consumer who is the victim of an obnoxious plumber.  I just want an opinion about an alternate cure for the loosening over time of the bolts.  I have a separate water heater and then this boiler that can have a coil.  I can't image a boiler with a blank as being wrong.  It ran all season and I looked at it and see rust color on the bolts.  The boiler isn't running as much now.  I tightened the bolts.  I bet the bolts are stainless.  Can you tell me what a real gasket is and to what force the bolts should be tightened to avoid loosening of the bolts?  Or is there really no answer? 

Robert O'Brien

Not obnoxious

just ill informed. The gasket is so thin,it pushes out when you tighten bolts,hence my suggestion. If it's not nipped in the bud,it will rapidly get to the point where the bolt heads will snap off when attempting to tighten. I'm not aware of a torque specification for them

Pumpguy

I can't speak

to this particular boiler application, but I do have some experience with gaskets, studs, blanking plates, and that sort of thing.



First, what is the gasket material?  If it is a non-asbestos composition, 1/32" thick should do, and you can use a gasket sealer on them.  I like good old fashioned #2 Permatex.  Now if it is  a rubber type gasket, I would use a 1/16" thickness, AND NO SEALER. Sealing compound acts as a lubricant and allows the rubber gasket to squish out between the studs when you tighten things up.  You want the joint faces to be dry, nice and flat, but with some surface roughness to grip onto the gasket. 



Now for fasteners, use studs and nuts, definitely not bolts.  Use red Loctite (#262) where the stud threads into the boiler plate. This holds the stud in place and seals off any leakage along the thread.  You can make your studs from all-thread rod.  It is important to clean the threads, both male and female, where you will be applying the Loctite, with Acetone.  This acts as a degreaser and primer for the Loctite.  Allow the Loctite to set up before assembly.  And, yes, use anti-seize on the threaded portion of the stud where the nuts thread on.  I like to use heavy wall nuts, but I realize these may not be available to you.  Stainless is nice, but probably not really needed here.

Dave in QCA

A Similar Experience

Back in 1985, I purchased a fine old home that had an H series Weil-McLain hot water boiler that had been installed in 1965.  I had the system drained for the summer to replace numerous leaking radiator valves and to install some zone valves.  A few months later when I went to fill the system, I found water leaking out of the boiler.  Upon removing the cabinet, I found that the indirect heater blank plate was leaking around the gasket.  I suppose it dried out while I had the system empty and then when I refilled it, it started leaking.  



Anyway, being unafraid to tack the problem, I started to remove the bolts.  To my horror, over half of them broke off, just about flush with the boiler casting.  I tried drilling and using easy outs, all to no avail!  I was beginning to think that I might be buying a new boiler.  But....   the solution came from a very competent welder.  The old trick of their trade is to weld a nut onto the end of the broken bold.  And yes, they do that through the hole in the center of the nut and there does not have to be much, if any, of that bold protruding from the casting.  The heating and cooling of the broken bolt loosens it from the cast iron.  Then, as I recall, he used an impact wrench set on very low to remove the nut and broken bolts.  All in all, it took him less than an hour, including cleaning out the threads with a tap.



He also made me a new blank plate out of plate steel.  I got a sheet of red rubber gasket material and cut the gasket myself.  I got the thick stuff because of the somewhat damaged face on the boiler casting.  I put the thing all back together and it worked perfectly.  The boiler continued to run well until a subsequent owner replaced the boiler sometime around 2004 because it "looked" old.



Good luck on your project.

Mic426

peerless WV03 coverplate bolts

I have a coverplate leak at the 10 o clock bolt position. The bolt at this position appears to have broken causing the leak in the first place...whether the installer overtightened or the bolt was bad who knows....anyway it is "weeping". I would like to at least drill this bolt out and replace so I can tighten, hoping this may fix the leak for now. Does anyone have the bolt size information? need to know how far I can drill and what i need for tap size.



or does anyone know if a new coverplate comes with the correct bolts?



Lastly, thinking I should probably switch this to studs...any thoughts?