Emergency steam replacement

Dave0176

The old boiler was a Weil-McLain EG50 and they unfortunately had sprung a leak on the wet return, this time the LWCO probe had failed due to lack of maintenance. In fact the old boiler not only was never skimmed, it was never properly cleaned. So the dry fire caused a gasket to burn up and the boiler was leaking. After measuring the radiators it was determined the old boiler was quite a bit oversized 300 EDR compared to the boilers 454 sq ft rating, so I installed an EG40. Took 16 hours but it’s done. I forgot to take before shots because I just jumped in, but the header was 2-1/2” but the main connections were done in copper, and one main was 2-1/2” but they downsized the supply to 2”, of course I ran it full size from the header.

gfrbrookline

The first two pictures look like an amazing steam organ, the third confirms another perfect install.

Well done!

ethicalpaul

Awesome job Dave! Do you carry all those fittings with you, or do you make a trip to the supply on your way there?

Intplm.

Some very nice looking work there. And done in a emergency. Sixteen hours! Did you do this non-stop?

Looks great.

mikeg2015

Lots of pipe is a small space. Great work.

Dave0176

ethicalpaul said:

Awesome job Dave! Do you carry all those fittings with you, or do you make a trip to the supply on your way there?

I have multiples of everything, mostly cast iron fittings except for some of the 3” fittings for the header. A job like this requires me bringing the big guns, the Ridgid 141 and stuff for pipe larger than 2”.

Dave0176

Intplm. said:

Some very nice looking work there. And done in a emergency. Sixteen hours! Did you do this non-stop?

Looks great.

Worked straight through, it’s the nature of the beast!!

RayWohlfarth

Wow nice looking project!

clammy

Nice work Dave I remember the 16 hours days from my younger days now we only do 1/2 days 12 hours no more then lol great looking job keep it up Peace and good luck clammy

ethicalpaul

> @Dave0176 said:
> (Quote)
> Worked straight through, it’s the nature of the beast!!

At least this time of year!

ethicalpaul

> @Dave0176 said:
> The old boiler was a Weil-McLain EG50 and they unfortunately had sprung a leak on the wet return, this time the LWCO probe had failed due to lack of maintenance.

Wait! You mean the Hartford Loop didn’t do its job??! 😅

Sorry I couldn’t resist

Dave0176

ethicalpaul said:

> @Dave0176 said:

> The old boiler was a Weil-McLain EG50 and they unfortunately had sprung a leak on the wet return, this time the LWCO probe had failed due to lack of maintenance.



Wait! You mean the Hartford Loop didn’t do its job??! 😅



Sorry I couldn’t resist

Actually Paul it did do its job of keeping water in the boiler, however with the low water cutoff inoperable there was nothing to shut down the burner, which in turn kept steaming off the water until it was bone dry.

ChrisJ

Dave0176 said:

ethicalpaul said:

> @Dave0176 said:

> The old boiler was a Weil-McLain EG50 and they unfortunately had sprung a leak on the wet return, this time the LWCO probe had failed due to lack of maintenance.



Wait! You mean the Hartford Loop didn’t do its job??! 😅



Sorry I couldn’t resist

Actually Paul it did do its job of keeping water in the boiler, however with the low water cutoff inoperable there was nothing to shut down the burner, which in turn kept steaming off the water until it was bone dry.

And that has been the point the entire time.
Loop or not, 99% of the time the boiler will eventually dry fire anyway because no one pays attention until the house is cold.

ethicalpaul

I'd say the Hartford Loop's job is to prevent dry fire but I've been known to have odd opinions

Could you tell from the condition of the pipes (or maybe you had a chance during your install to see it) how fast was the wet return leak? Did it go right down the drain, or did it pool on the floor and they saw it?

And sorry for all the questions, but this topic interests me for some reason: How did they discover the failure? Did the dry fire cause smoke?

If you're too busy to answer I totally understand, I'll ask you about it next time I see you

Hap_Hazzard

ethicalpaul said:

How did they discover the failure? Did the dry fire cause smoke?

I imagine when the boiler ran out of water to make steam with, the house started getting cold.

ethicalpaul

Hap_Hazzard said:

ethicalpaul said:

How did they discover the failure? Did the dry fire cause smoke?

I imagine when the boiler ran out of water to make steam with, the house started getting cold.

Not sure about that this time of year and during a heat cycle. It must not take very long for a dry fire situation to turn ugly. There's no control to stop it, right? I wonder if it starts to make strange sounds.

Hap_Hazzard

It would take a few cycles to go from the level of the Hartford loop to bone dry, and I imagine it might make some interesting noises. Maybe when the sections started getting red-hot the jacket started flexing and buckling.

ethicalpaul

I don't think it would necessarily take a few cycles, but even if it did, the boiler would keep generating heat and working fine until the water just about ran out so only the last cycle really matters (I say never having tried it).

JUGHNE

Tstat would not get satisfied so that would stay closed/on.
No water to make steam pressure for P-trol operation so that would stay closed/on.

Smoke detector is next.

Dave0176

@ethicalpaul
The HO told me they were aware of the return pipe leak because it had been going off on low water. Apparently the leak got bigger and unfortunately the last instance the probe failed to sense the low water. She said she began to notice a smell of “fire” and called the fire dept. When they show up they noticed the boiler dry firing and shut it down. She said we’re going to try and use a pipe clamp to stop the leak temporarily, however it was too late. We’re actually going back in the spring to replace the entire wet return.


@Hap_Hazzard
Since it was a Weil-McLain it basically just burned up the return gaskets, I could not find any visible cracks in the boiler sections

Fred

Looks Great!

ethicalpaul

Thanks @Dave0176 sounds like she acted fast and was very fortunate. Don't ignore those leaks, folks!

BobC

Forty years ago I notice a "hot smell" in my back hall one summer day. so I went down the basement to see what was going on. The landlord had divided the basement with a wood wall with a doorway so you could access his side for the fusebox, etc.

Everything seemed fine on my side but I could see a red glow on the other side of the wall. I went through and saw a large red spot on the back of his old Delco steam boiler. I killed the power and the boiler shut down, 5-10 minutes later a heard a load crack and that was the end of that old boiler.

This was in 1979 and those 30-40 year old boilers did not have a LWCO safety on them. The boiler was used for hot water as well as steam so I assume it fired up to heat the domestic hot water.

Bob