Confirmation of boiler failure

The_Gel

Hey guys-



My wife and I have just made a quick inspection of our boiler (Dunkirk PSB series, installed 1991) and noticed a number of leaks. We pulled off the metal sheeting on the front and back and looked into the sides. I haven't removed the upper assembly to get a look at the pins. But I think that what we have already seen may be enough to warrant a replacement.



As you can see, there's a lot of rust all around. And in many places, large flakes of rust sloughed off when we pulled back the sheeting. There was a good deal of moisture underneath the cast iron “tank.” I wondered initially, before taking a closer look, whether this moisture might have traveled from another big problem I spotted nearby – a rusty wet return with some sort of pinhole leak. But pulling back the sheeting suggested something larger.



At any rate, we filled the boiler to the top and didn't notice much of anything. So we moved to step two: we drained the water level back to something reasonable and turned the thermostat to ninety. We could see wet steam rising from the sides of the boiler, and at the back of the boiler, there was new moisture between sections.



Question 1: is further investigation necessary, or am I correct to conclude that we need a replacement? Just making sure.

BobC

23 and done

You can replace single sections on a boiler but it's hard work and expensive from a labor point of view, Also you may have more than one bad section on that 23 year old boiler.



It's time to get quotes on a new boiler. be sure the new boiler is sized to your installed radiation and make sure it is installed per the manufacturers piping diagram using threaded steel pipe NOT COPPER.



Where are you located?



Bob

The_Gel

Thanks

Makes sense. Thanks for taking a look so quickly. I'm in Detroit.



I've read We Got Steam Heat and much of The Art of Steam Heating, so luckily I've picked up a few things about how this stuff works; in particular, I'm aware of the "knucklehead" problem, which I hear is particularly bad here in Detroit. I've talked to one Detroiter I met on Heatinghelp, and he has a referral for me (one HVAC "specialist" claimed he was "afraid" of steam heat and that there was a substantial risk of my 1-PSI boiler exploding "if you understand how steam works.") Of course, if you know of someone else in the area, that would be immensely helpful.



I'm hoping to plan a lot of the near-boiler piping and so on myself with help from The Wall. I surveyed my radiators the other day and found - no surprise - that my existing boiler is significantly oversized. I'll put up a post on my measurement of EDR later today.



Thanks again,

Kyle