Why did this Buderus break open?

bruce_21

A good client called me with a big problem 1 1/2 in. of water in the finished basement. I told them to shut off the water at the pump. We found the Buderus Logano G 215-5 boiler had popped a big (see the pic) piece out of one section. The unit was still a bit warm. According to the wholesaler who researched the serial # the unit is 13 years old. It looks to be needing a regular service cleaning but otherwise seems fine. Any ideas why this happened? I thought that Buderus was a high end boiler from an ancient foundry company, so this event seems strange to me. Anyone had problems with these units?

Bob Bona_4

That looks like a freeze up situation happened.

Ironman

Agreed. Looks like freezing.

Buderus' flexible siliconized cast iron is the best on the planet. Any manufacturer can have bad casting, but for that to break cleanly like it did after 13 years - I'd say freezing.

icesailor

I don't know. Sounds like some sparse information here. It might have been cold and frozen, and the owner came to a frozen and cold house. Maybe turned the heat off not expecting it to get cold enough. They found it cold and fired it off. The rust and oxidation on the bottom of the break and the streaking looks like it leaked for a bit.

What's the size of the cellar? With 1 1/2" of water? That's a lot of water. It had to run for a long time. The last thing to freeze in a cellar floor is a boiler because it is the warmest thing. The floor is 55 degrees or colder.

kcopp

It had to be a freeze up.... more info please. Maybe it froze and then when they arrived back home turned on the boiler. Then it split when the fast change in temp happened.... true thermal shock.

billtwocase

looks like no water and no LWCO. I don't think this froze, especially if it is a basement below grade. Upstairs would be a total loss if the house froze

Robert O'Brien

Doubt it dry fired,would be discolored not to mention the distinctive odor!

icesailor

Ditto.

They were probably there for the big bang. Then, they heard water running after a while.

There's a story behind every freeze up or broken boiler.

billtwocase

I would say casting flaw if not dry fire. Every baseboard, toilet, pipe, etc upstairs would freeze and split loooong befor a boiler below grade, that is if the original poster meant "finished basement" that is actually a cellar or basement.

tim smith

If unit was still warm, does not sound like freeze up to me. Maybe cold water shock with is being down low maybe right near the return connection. I can't see where return ties in but that's my guess. Did the owner say it was quite cold in house when he found this? Is odd how it lasted 13 yrs. Did they just do some new zoning on the house?

Paul48

...

Bob Bona_4

The return ties in on top on the 215, right under the supply connection, to mitigate possible thermal shocking. If the boiler room was possibly on grade, or a window was open...or who the heck knows...I've seen quite a few cracked boilers this season.

AlCorelliNY

Sure looks like freeze damage.
Maybe when the boiler was delivered, it took a bounce or two and it just showed up now.

It could happen...

kcopp

a little JB Weld and it will be as good as new.....

icesailor

kcopp said:

a little JB Weld and it will be as good as new.....

More like an old car with good tires.

Jack up the car, take off the tires, put another newer car in place, bolt on the good tires, and drive away.

icesailor

Usually, when boilers freeze, they just crack at some point where there is some joining of the casting. Like on the bottom. I don't think I've ever seen one with a porthole blown in the side like that. By looking through the new porthole, it has an unusual internal arrangement. If it was off on being cold, or just turned off because the residents were away, and came home and just turned it on cold to start heating up, all those internal triple pass sections could get hot and be expanding at a much faster rate than the outside of the boiler and the inside water side. Never seen that happen with a "Pinner". Those pins suck the heat right into the water. Triple pass boilers do it with more smooth surface area. Why they put fins on a pipe. Whenever I found a super cold or maybe frozen boiler, I always fired it off for a few minutes and let it rest. Then fire it some more. Once I felt the top of the boiler start to feel warm at the SW outlet, I let it alone.

Need some CSI investigators on the scene to figure out what happened. We aren't getting the full story.

Never see a Pinner do that.

4Johnpipe

Buderus has a siliconized cast iron...never saw one do that! Get in touch with buderus they will want the section or piece back to test.

Abracadabra

icesailor said:

... By looking through the new porthole, it has an unusual internal arrangement. I..

The "internal arrangement" is to designed to control/circulate water when boiler is firing. It also gives the sections additional stability. HB Smith uses a similar arrangement on their boilers. I'm sure other manufacturers do the same.

icesailor

Abracadabra said:

icesailor said:

... By looking through the new porthole, it has an unusual internal arrangement. I..

The "internal arrangement" is to designed to control/circulate water when boiler is firing. It also gives the sections additional stability. HB Smith uses a similar arrangement on their boilers. I'm sure other manufacturers do the same.

I wasn't criticizing the design. I know that it is common. My comment was pointed at how if the boiler was REALLY cold, and the boiler was fired continuously, it might be the cause of the crack. I described my method for firing off a very cold, possibly frozen up boiler. Carefully. For short periods.

I installed and worked on a lot of Smith and Weil-McLain boilers way back when I worked for my old dead boss. I saw a lot that had ice issues. I never saw one with a window in the side like that.

We just don't have the whole story. We need Tony DeNozzio on the case. Give Abby enough giant cokes, she'll come up with an answer.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Love the "porthole". Maybe that's the answer. Epoxy a pc of glass over it so we can see inside. LOL

Fred

It looks more like stress from the block twisting or something when it got hot, poping that section out. Almost like what happens when you put too much torque on a section of cast iron pipe, trying to break it loose from a fitting. I wonder if one corner of that block may have been up off of the floor?

4Johnpipe

Looks like the next section back has a crack also. I notice what looks like rust on one of the legs. This may have been a longer occurring issue...

billtwocase

I hope the original poster lets us know what the outcome was. Maybe something we should be looking for out there.

kcopp

I do remember a few years back my salesman saying something similar happened w/ a Buderus 205 boiler in Salisbury Massachusetts... never did find out what happened. Ill ask again.
update.... Buderus insisted it froze but the oil company said that it did not.... so who knows..

RobG

kcopp said:

I do remember a few years back my salesman saying something similar happened w/ a Buderus 205 boiler in Salisbury Massachusetts... never did find out what happened. Ill ask again.
update.... Buderus insisted it froze but the oil company said that it did not.... so who knows..

Are you saying that a manufacturer claimed that it was not their problem? I find that hard to believe!

unclejohn

Remember all those TEV's we messed up last year with our improper installations?