Burnham Steam Boiler

emodi

Hi,

We have 2 concurrent problems. In 2008 we had our old steam boiler replaced with a Burnham model PIN75NI-ME2. We've had a cold winter in NJ and we have heard the water filling often which we were told we should rarely hear. On 2 occasions since January, we have found sandy water on the floor in the basement. We are having a room added on the back of the house and when I showed the contractor the water on the floor (thinking the foundation was disturbed) he suggested I call the boiler people. Sure enough when they arrived (the same people that installed the boiler), they found the cast iron block inside the boiler was corroded and now has holes in it. We are shocked this could have happened so quickly when our old boiler was ancient! The concern now is why and how to avoid it moving forward??

Secondly, one of our guest rooms on the second floor has always been a bit chilly. We are careful to replace the valve air vents as needed (Varivalve) but the original pipe was downsized in a renovation prior to our ownership. It went from 2" (throughout the house) to 1-1/4". During this recent work, that same pipe had to be relocated so I mentioned it to the heating contractor. They assured me the 1-1/4" should be ok. We closed the door to the room last night to "test" and although the radiator was hot this morning, the room was at least 10 degrees colder that the others and the hallway outside the room. I'd appreciate any feedback, suggestions, comments you have.

JohnNY

Tell your heating contractor to show you calculations. You can't downsize steam piping without doing the math. A 2" steam main carries nearly 300% the amount of steam that can be delivered through an 1-¼" pipe.
I'm in Orange. Who is your contractor?

STEAM DOCTOR

Boiler might be under warranty (good luck getting warrenty honored). Most likely cause is adding to much water to boiler. Adding lots of water to boiler can prematurely rot out boiler. Either eliminate auto feed or get auto feeder with digital readout(so you will be aware if there is excess feeding). And of course, find and fix leaks.

nicholas bonham-carter

An automatic water feed, and a system leaking steam could be the cause as so much fresh oxygenated water can rust out the boiler.
Another possibility could be excessive chlorides in the water, or in cleaning products stored nearby causing graphitic corrosion.
Yet another cause could have been an improperly piped boiler causing excessive water level movement, and associated thermal shock-Can you post some pictures of the boiler and its piping?
As long as the boiler was properly installed, piped, and skimmed, there may be a residual warranty on this, but probably for parts only.
Check the slow radiator by firing the boiler after a rest, and making sure that steam is arriving at all radiators at the same time on the floor. Whether the pipe size is adequate depends on the radiator size.--NBC

lchmb

how about pictures of your current boiler and close boiler piping? To include the top and rear of the boiler...

the_donut

Also not a huge fan of varivalve vents. They vent radiators fast, but you want steam mains to vent fast and radiators to vent slow.

Issue could be that 1-1/4 supply, or more likely, when they bushed that line down, they didn’t use an eccentric bushing (or reducer coupling) and now water pools in the 2” section of that horizontal run. This water condenses steam.

Another possibility is poor venting on the steam main in that direction. Pictures of near boiler piping, steam mains and risers/runout will be helpful.

As others have said, auto feeder shouldn’t run. If it is. You have a leak somewhere. Find it, or it will kill your new boiler even faster than the last one.

PhilDavid

Are there two risers coming off the boiler? There should be and is often not the case. I see it a lot. Steam rushes out of the boiler carrying water with it and tilts the water line toward the single riser. With the water line tilted, cast iron near the burner that is normally wet is now dry and very vulnerable to cracking.
Please post pics of the near boiler piping.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Probably because I am old I think there is no way an 8 year old boiler should fail unless it has been very, very severely neglected which I doubt

ChrisJ

> @EBEBRATT-Ed said:
> Probably because I am old I think there is no way an 8 year old boiler should fail unless it has been very, very severely neglected which I doubt

Most modern boilers rott in 8 years if you look at them wrong. This is why I use water treatment.

Previous owner of this house had a V8 rott out twice in 8 years.


All of that said....you do realize it's not 2016 anymore right? We're all two more years older than that.

newagedawn

warning anything Burnham is prone to defaults, STAY AWAY !!!!

New England SteamWorks

Send us some pics of your boiler and the near-boiler piping please.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@ChrisJ , LOL guess I slipped a gear!!

Mark N

Newagedawn, what defaults are anything Burnham prone to? What about the MegaSteam?

Fred

My 35 year old Burnham defaults to "RELIABILITY"

Dave0176

The Burnhams depend on water quality and proper maintenance. I’ve just seen in our area the NJ coast I guess with the very salty water being this close to the ocean here you need to to pay close attention to the maintenance and water, Burnhams neglected here just rot in up to 10 years time.

Steamhead

We have this problem with Burnham Independence boilers in the Baltimore area too, and the water around here is pretty good. As it stands, the only Burnham steamer we'd install is the MegaSteam.

New England SteamWorks

Mark N said:

Newagedawn, what defaults are anything Burnham prone to? What about the MegaSteam?

The MegaSteam is excellent.

Otherwise, we don't go near Burnham...

Fred

So strange that they can put out a quality product like the MegaSteam and can't do the same across their other product lines. I guess I'll be looking elsewhere when mine fails. keeping my options open.

newagedawn

the gaskets are prone to leak, could stay here for days an tell stories of leaking burhams, but hey keep installing them, wont be long before you see it yourself, im not a fan, can you tell, lol