Ask TOH

John Mills_5

Few weeks ago Richard went out to a guy's house. Steam boiler losing water. His dealer's solution was add an automatic fill. After checking everything else, Richard pulled the top off and found a 1.5" diameter hole in the top of the heat exchanger. Looked like about a 15 year old boiler. How common is that? What would cause such a hole, all exposed piping, no buried wet return so probably not leaking taking on fresh water.

BobC

It happens more than it should, what kind of boiler was it?. Do you know if there are any water quality problems in the area, chlorides will kill cast iron as will any fumes from some kinds of cleaners and solvents stored near the boiler.

Bob

KC_Jones

I saw that episode. I would guess the same as Bob, but also add lack of proper maintenance. The "pro" solving the water usage by adding an auto feeder shows a HUGE lack of knowledge. Also it took Richard about 10 seconds to find that hole that had been there for how long? The hole was under the flue connection which would be removed on yearly maintenance since this was an oil boiler that should have been serviced. So either the homeowner wasn't having it serviced or the service company was doing a crappy job. Either way I think maintenance was a factor on that one.

BobC

i don't think Richard is a steam guy, he usually just touts the latest and greatest when we know the most reliable system is a gas boiler with a millivolt system. It's not the most efficient but when you factor in the lack of required maintenance, it looks pretty good.

Bob

DanHolohan

Here's my take on this.