Help me keep this old bugger running until spring!

diynot

Hi all,
I bought a house in New England about a year ago and it's got an old oil heater. There's a natural gas line running down the road, so my long-term goal is to switch to that. Unfortunately, it requires digging and the gas company won't do it in winter.

The furnace has cracked and it slowly leaking water. The oil company stopped by and filled it with some boiler fluid to try to stop the leak. It worked briefly, then started leaking again. I added two more quarts myself, and it lasted another few days. Both times, I went away for a few days and let my system run in "eco" mode, keeping my house at 50F. (Maybe this is why it started leaking again?)

Anyway, the crack very small and accessible. So I'm thinking of turning the boiler off for a day, scoring the surface with a wire brush, then hitting it with JB Weld.

My main question: If my system normally runs at 20 PSI and is radiant baseboard heating, would it help to reduce the pressure in the boiler (Weil-McLain P-WGO-4) down to something like 5 PSI to lower the chance of another leak? Or would that screw up the flow to the potable water heater and radiators?

Any advice you can throw at me would be awesome. I hope ya'll are having a toasty winter.

HVACNUT

Stop Leak used to work pretty well on a cast iron boiler with a small crack. Were the directions followed correctly?
And no Eco mode. Keep it hot.

A 2 story home with the boiler in the basement, the pressure should be 12psi. Don't go lower even with boiler seal.

I don't use boiler seal anymore for many reasons, one being small pex lines and radiant manifolds getting clogged up. Another is, once the HO sees the leak stopped, they feel it's fixed even when you tell them its temporary.

Never used JB Weld, but guys here have, with good results.

diynot

It is 2-story with a basement, so perhaps I should leave the pressure where it is.

The oil co put the boiler seal in the first time, and to their defense, they sent a sales guy out to quote a replacement boiler. They didn't give me any real hope that it'd be a permanent solution. I added the boiler seal the second time but followed instructions.

Thanks for the help.

Steamhead

Put in an oil-fired boiler that you can convert to gas later. Here's one real nice example:

http://boyertownfurnace.com/residential/solaia-boilers

Icarus

Or...consider a L/P mod con that can be converted to Nat gas. Mod cons have some advantages and some potential for more efficient operation.

Icarus

STEVEusaPA

Or just stick with oil

diynot

Icarus said:

Or...consider a L/P mod con that can be converted to Nat gas. Mod cons have some advantages and some potential for more efficient operation.

Icarus

Sorry, what's an L/P mod con? You bring up a good point. I'm concerned with getting the same high efficiency rating out of a converted furnace as I would out of a new install. I'd hate to pay for the next 25 years because of a couple of months of old boiler issues. For forced water, I'm hoping to get 95%.

Icarus

Mod/con= modulating condensing boiler. Older fashion cast iron boilers can’t/don’t generally “dial their flame” down to suit the load, They need to run at proper design temps to prevent condensing in the boiler. A mod/con can dial down, and run at lower temps, grabbing waste heat from the condensation in the flue, energy that is not available to a conventional boiler.

Mod cons make a fair bit of sense when coupled to outdoor resets, especially in well insulated buildings and in moderate climates.

Icarus

Steamhead

The WGO will run well with a properly-installed Carlin EZ-Gas burner, and should be a bit more efficient than a standard atmospheric gas boiler. If equipped with a Hydrolevel HydroStat or Beckett AquaSmart control, it can adjust the boiler's water temperature to the demand without using an outdoor sensor (though these controls can use this too if desired).

ctregan

Maybe you can find a used one to hold you over til spring. Check craigslist... you never know.

STEVEusaPA

STEVEusaPA said:

Or just stick with oil

Hey, who disagreed with me...lol

I'd stick an EK oil in there. Then if/when you get the gas hooked up (and you don't enjoy the savings, or after crunching the numbers gas is still cheaper) you can switch the oil burner for a power gas burner.

rick in Alaska

Hey I have a used WGO4 that I will sell really cheap! You just have to come pick it up. The weather here has been crazy warm, so the drive should be good.
Rick