Leaking Boiler

kelchm

Recently moved into a new home which has a 1977 Weil-McLain boiler. Turned off the boiler for the summer earlier this week and came home to a leak on the floor. I know that older boilers can/will leak from the seals after coming down from operating temperature, but I'm concerned by how much oil I'm seeing.




Any thoughts? Should I just clean up the mess and plan on replacing the boiler before fall?

Fred

Is the boiler leaking or just one of those pumps or a pipe?

nicholas bonham-carter

If it’s leaking oil, the boiler may be OK for now; however the oil delivery system of pump, filter, and burner needs to be checked.
My guess is the ignition control is pumping oil before verifying a flame.—NBC

Steamhead

Someone probably over-oiled those red B&G circulator pumps. Clean it up and see if there are any more leaks.

Where are you located?

EBEBRATT-Ed

Looks like the header under the pumps is leaking or the pump seals are leaking and dripping down. Probably not the boiler. They should not have mixed galvanized and black pipe on that header. The oil is probably coming from the pump bearing assemblies as @Steamhead mentioned.If the pumps are leaking replace them with wet rotor pumps like the green Taco pump you have. The B & G bearing assemblies are $$

HVACNUT

Push nipples and gaskets will leak on an older boiler. From seeing the 1 piece top cover, it's a 66 series WM. And she's at least 40 years old.
Dont turn it off. Lower the aquastat setting to 140. Flue passages get wet and clogged when off for long periods on an oil fired boiler.

STEVEusaPA

I'd recommend getting a competent pro in there-you're going to need one eventually. Best to not wait until first cold snap and find out you need a new boiler.
Actually the worse part about that picture is the 2 nozzle containers under the boiler-I hate sloppy workmanship.
As the top pros mentioned above, it's possible it just leaks when it's cold. It's also possible that it was over oiled as Bob mentioned.
I'd bet it at least needs a new combustion chamber as no one as ever pulled the front of that boiler to properly clean it.
It's age, 3 huge energy wasting B&G's, low efficiency-I'd think about a replacement-like a triple pass (if you don't need domestic) and/or an Energy Kinetics. But you need a competent pro first.

kelchm

Fred said:

Is the boiler leaking or just one of those pumps or a pipe?

It's honestly hard to tell what is coming from where. It seems to like the water is coming from under the boiler while the oil could just be coming from the circulator pumps.

nicholas bonham-carter said:

If it’s leaking oil, the boiler may be OK for now; however the oil delivery system of pump, filter, and burner needs to be checked.
My guess is the ignition control is pumping oil before verifying a flame.—NBC

How would that happen if the power was off, though?

Steamhead said:

Someone probably over-oiled those red B&G circulator pumps. Clean it up and see if there are any more leaks.

Where are you located?

I'm located in central PA, north of Carlisle.

HVACNUT said:

Push nipples and gaskets will leak on an older boiler. From seeing the 1 piece top cover, it's a 66 series WM. And she's at least 40 years old.

Dont turn it off. Lower the aquastat setting to 140. Flue passages get wet and clogged when off for long periods on an oil fired boiler.

Not turning off the boiler over the summer seems like a huge waste of energy.

STEVEusaPA said:

I'd recommend getting a competent pro in there-you're going to need one eventually. Best to not wait until first cold snap and find out you need a new boiler.
Actually the worse part about that picture is the 2 nozzle containers under the boiler-I hate sloppy workmanship.
As the top pros mentioned above, it's possible it just leaks when it's cold. It's also possible that it was over oiled as Bob mentioned.
I'd bet it at least needs a new combustion chamber as no one as ever pulled the front of that boiler to properly clean it.
It's age, 3 huge energy wasting B&G's, low efficiency-I'd think about a replacement-like a triple pass (if you don't need domestic) and/or an Energy Kinetics. But you need a competent pro first.

Thanks. I'll plan on getting someone out to look at it sooner rather than later. I was hoping to get another year or so out of it so I could focus on adding some multi-splits to cool the house this summer.

kelchm

I never did definitively find the source of the leak that this thread originated with. I had the boiler serviced back in September and it's been on and off several times since then without the leak returning. Glad I had it serviced (thanks @Harvey Ramer!) as it seems it hadn't been properly cleaned in years and the wrong size nozzle was installed.

The boiler will definitely get replaced within the next few years, but I think I will be focusing on a multi-split system first. Based on the numbers I've run so far, I have a lot more to gain by minimizing my use of a boiler at all.

Thanks for the help and advice everyone.

HVACNUT

> @kelchm said:
>
> The boiler will definitely get replaced within the next few years, but I think I will be focusing on a multi-split system first. Based on the numbers I've run so far, I have a lot more to gain by minimizing my use of a boiler at all.
>
> Thanks for the help and advice everyone.

Glad everything worked out for you.

You mentioned multi-split system. Did you mean a mini split ductless system?

Depending on where you live, some claim heating to sub zero outdoor temps but if it gets real cold where you are... I wouldn't want it as my only heat source.

kelchm

HVACNUT said:

Glad everything worked out for you.

You mentioned multi-split system. Did you mean a mini split ductless system?

Depending on where you live, some claim heating to sub zero outdoor temps but if it gets real cold where you are... I wouldn't want it as my only heat source.

I have not, yet -- but I still plan to. What I meant was a multi-head mini-split system with a single outdoor unit.

I live in central Pennsylvania, so while we don't get brutal winters, it can get pretty cold. I don't plan to completely eliminate the boiler -- my hope would be to only run it during the coldest part of the year.