Question?

NYC007

I have this Boiler used for a Laundromat. Hot Water Only To Wash Machines.

It is now leaking water
into the gas chamber where the Flame is, seems its coming , dripping from the Tubes Shown.
Is the Problem with the Tubes or Above that where the Water Feed
pipe is connected/?

Worth To Repair or Get a New Boiler?

Thank You

BTW: Pieces of Paper is Where The Water is Leaking Out of

Abracadabra

You can try having someone replace the leaking tubes. You can also plug them, which will reduce your efficiency. The boiler looks old enough that you'd see a singnificant efficiency improvement if you went with a new one.

NYC007

Thank You AB, the Thought of Dealing with Dept. of Bldg, Boiler Division erks me, and I believe the costs for filing are huge....Hmmm

icesailor

Most of the hot water boilers like that can be "Re-Tubed" and made like new. I doubt that there are as many issues having it re-tubed as there would be in replacing the whole boiler. One is a repair, the other is a replacement, like new.

It is in a Laundromat? Do they use steam for the dryers? If they do, re-tubing is a good thought. And careful water treatment makes the tubes last a very long time.

NYC007

IceSailor Thank you -Just for Washer Machines Only

icesailor

If they are just for washing machines, they are usually a steam boiler that is really only using a submerge coil with water way over 212 degrees. Depending on the steam pressure. Water treatment is critical and you can't have any water leaks.

My son's father In Law owns a construction and concrete plant. To make spec'ed concrete in the winter, you have to be able to provide vast amounts of hot water to remove the cold from the aggregate. If the OAT is 20 degrees, all the aggregate os 20 degrees. Add 50 degree water to the mix and the water will freeze while the cold aggregate sucks what available heat out of the water. If it freezes, the concrete won't set properly. He filled the boiler toward the end of the last century, and put additives in that made the water sort of purple, It hasn't had a drop of water and still has the same purple water in it.

I did some work on a retired USCG Lightship. When built in the 1930's, it was all steam powered. In the mid 1950's, it was converted to Diesel. But they put two steam tubular boilers in for steam heat. They had DC voltage oil burners. They started to leak in the tubes. We made arrangements and two guys came out and re-tubed the boilers. No big deal. The hardest part was for them to get their specialized tools down the ships stairways. But a lot easier than cutting a hole in the deck and taking them away for scrap.

You never know what's available until you look. Those tubes aren't welded in place. They are peened and rolled into place.

NYC007

Ahhh Very Cool Info, My Question is : Is the water leaking from the Coil into the Tubes? or are the Tubes submerged in Water which heats the Coil ?

icesailor

IMO, If you look at the pipes on top and their location in relation to the gauge glass to the left, the coil appears to be submerged.

If the hot water coil is leaking into the boiler, it will overfill the boiler and you will need to keep draining it to lower the water level.

If the boiler tubes are leaking, the boiler should be loosing water and you have to keep adding water to maintain the proper level on the gauge glass.

RobG

I would replace the boiler with a properly sized mod-con and a reverse indirect. Save some space and save some gas. Re-tubing that dinosaur would cost a ton of $$$. You could even do a standard CI boiler with the reverse indirect and still be much more efficient.

icesailor

In a Laundromat?

How many Mod-Cons and Indirects will it take to make enough hot water for a Laundromat?

How many BTU's is being inputted to that boiler? This os posted in Oil Heating. Is it Gas? Oil? Or Gas/Oil? Are you the owner or the mechanic?

I always first look at the cheap/easy way out. Then work my way up to the full thing. New is nice. New can entail lots of upgrades and big costs. Repairs don't usually trigger these needs.

That's a specialized application. Car washes, Laundromats, Concrete Plants, etc.

Money is ALWAYS tight. Offer things that people can decide what they want. Not what YOU want.

Abracadabra

I just installed a Laars MightyTherm2 on a job. I think with the changes they made to this boiler, it should last a bit longer than the original MightyTherm. Can get them up to 2000Mbtu and there's an option for a 2 stage burner.

Zman

You need to determine the needs of the machines.
That boiler looks pretty big for 2 machines.
If the load is small enough, you may not be under the jurisdiction of the boiler inspector.

Don_197

To the OP.............if someone offers to roll new tubes into that beast only on the ones that are leaking DON'T EVEN CONSIDER IT. the rolling in of new tubes actually stresses the tube sheet on the ones that are left...and the adjacent ones are likely to start leaking SOON......it might do for a "temporary fix" to get a heating boiler by for the rest of the season until the whole tubesheet can be done (which actually never happens.....owners figger its fixed.... why bother? and never call the boilermakers back to retube the whole sheet) but if you are going to bother retubing it RETUBE THE WHOLE SHEET. It actually can be quite cost effective if the back of that boiler is accessible at all. I tend to agree with Icesailor here..................the temperatures required for sanitizing are usually high enough that a ModCon may not be a "great" fit (although often can be a "good" one in my experience)

Empire_2

Replace it. Not even a consideration to repair as it would most likely be throwing money literally down the drain...

Mike T.

icesailor

Empire said:

Replace it. Not even a consideration to repair as it would most likely be throwing money literally down the drain...

Mike T.

You'd say that without even knowing all the facts and costs?

I'm not going to make any money personally in re-tubing it. If the owner is cheap and only wants to fix the leakers, I wish them health, happiness and long distance.

Does that boiler have easy access? If you condemn it, can you get it out of the space without a serious demo and repair?

The OP came here not even knowing where the water was leaking from. Those boilers are designed from the beginning to be re-tubed. That's why they are cheap, relatively. They can be re-tubed. And to company's that do it, it's no biggie.

AlCorelliNY

I'm having flashbacks to my younger days when I was the one small enough to crawl into the still very warm chamber and hold the tube roller on the shaft.

Ugh.

icesailor

AlCorelliNY said:

I'm having flashbacks to my younger days when I was the one small enough to crawl into the still very warm chamber and hold the tube roller on the shaft.

Ugh.

I feel your pain.

I had an account that was a hotel with two cement lined hot water storage tanks. One was 400 gallons, powered by two HB Smith 2500 series hot water boilers with a minimum of 12 sections each. With big tankless coils in these oil boilers. Over time, and a lack of knowledgeable maintenance I ended up with the problem and figured out that the mortar was falling off internally and had piled up on the bottom the tank over the hole that the pump pushed the colder water through the tankless coil. I found out that it is a common job in large use hot water places in Boston and there were companies that specialize in re-parging the inside of the tanks. I always thought it was a joke to call that opening in the end of the tank, a "Manhole". Until I saw one of the guys crawl through the hole, knock off all the loose cement lining, and reparge it. They told me that some of the tanks they re-line in Boston are 100 years old. As long as they are on a 3 year repair schedule, and the water never comes in contact with the steel, the tanks last indefinitely.

When I worked on that Lightship, both heating boilers were steam. They were tube boilers. They let go. I never saw the guys that fixed them. It didn't take them long to do the job. I wish I knew then what I know now. That steam heat system must have been fascinating. When the boat was built, it was steam powered. Steam powered air compressors and generators. Steam Heating. When they converted it to diesel in 1956, they left the radiation and just put new boilers in. How do you pitch returns in a boat that hangs out in storms with 60' waves?

Empire_2

Icesailor, I digress.... You have a point and are correct. Dang,...It was an opinion based on sight of a picture, a guess at the age of the equipment and yes I do not know all the facts, but I will be sure to check out every job site before I comment. I am truly sorry for my opinion. I did not mean to actually comment at all and will be more careful in the future.....Please forgive me.....Please...?:-)


Mike T.

icesailor

Empire said:

Icesailor, I digress.... You have a point and are correct. Dang,...It was an opinion based on sight of a picture, a guess at the age of the equipment and yes I do not know all the facts, but I will be sure to check out every job site before I comment. I am truly sorry for my opinion. I did not mean to actually comment at all and will be more careful in the future.....Please forgive me.....Please...?:-)


Mike T.

IMO, everything written here is a form of a question. Right or wrong, there are questions and answers.

Answers are never simple.

I don't even know what you said that you thought I might be offended by. I wasn't. Whatever it was.