Corrosion/Rust on elbow located around the base of my steam boiler. What is my best plan of attack?

ihoop88

Hey guys,

It seems as though steam heating season has arrived once again ! A big thanks to all the forum members here who helped me get a grip on my steam system last year when I moved into my home.

This season I have noticed some corrosion around an elbow on the main line of my American Standard steam boiler. I'm not too sure when this corrosion began....I didn't notice it last year but perhaps I wasn't paying attention.

Anyway, water isn't leaking from the joint, but a serious amount of rust has accumulated, leading me to believe it is only a matter of time until the joint begins to fail. What would be the best way to take care of a problem like this? Is it possible to do some sort of "temporary fix" on this joint to get me through the current season? Pictures are attached

The strangest part is that the rest of the pipe is fine -- I don't know why it began to fail in this one spot.

Jamie Hall

Looking at it I'd say the problem actually isn't at the elbow, but at that darker blob about halfway up that pipe.

And that being so, I'd be very much inclined -- unless there are some handy unions which I don't see -- to take a Sawzall to that pipe and cut it out and replace it with two nipples and a union. You may have to get creative with one of the nipples to get it to join up properly...