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Condensate Line Still Streaming Water...Hours After Boiler Shut Down?

Sorta
Sorta Member Posts: 46
edited March 2023 in Gas Heating

Hi all. Just when I think I had made some great progress in fixing my heating situation (which I posted for help/advice here:

I noticed a new issue. See included photos.

  • Constant & steam stream of water from the condensate line 3 hours after turning the boiler off (boiler has completely cooled down). The condensate is also a steady stream when the boiler is turned on.
  • I also see a wet area under the fiberglass insulation inside the boiler.

The boiler had been running at high 60+ psi, which we talked about in the other post. But a tech manually "jostled" the safety drain valve…some water came out & the pressure dropped back to an acceptable psi. I thought this somehow was the "magic fix".

But now I see this. What things could be causing the 1) constant flow of condensate and 2.) wetness under the boiler fiberglass insulation?

As alwasy, thank you for your insights & replies. I'm very grateful for them.

Comments

  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042

    Assuming that is the drain tube out of the back of the boiler??

    There are two ways water comes out of that tube; one is when the boiler is firing and condensing gases, producing a small stream of water.

    The other is when the internal heat exchanger has sprung a leak and is peeing into the heat exchanger…..this is the sign of death of a Munchken (or any boiler of this design).

    This is not a repairable part, replacement of the heat exchanger is impractical.

    It means time for a new boiler.

    Whoever you had there and allowed/said that you are operating at 60 PSI should not return.

    If truly at 60 PSI, the 30 PSI relief valve inside the cabinet should have opened.

    If you locate the cold water supply to the boiler and shut it off, the flow should stop.

    The pressure will also drop. If it drops below 12-13 the boiler should not fire and give you a PRO lockout or some version of that.

    HomerJSmith
  • Sorta
    Sorta Member Posts: 46

    JUGHNE, thank you my friend. Yes, that is the drain tube out of the back of the boiler.

    Damn. Seems like it actually IS time for a new boiler then. I will certainly not have the knuckleheads back who allowed the 60+ psi operation. No chance.

    As far as a new boiler, any experience on the Bradford White, Brute CF199 combi ?

  • dko
    dko Member Posts: 575
    edited March 2023

    The Bradford Brute is a Kiturami combi, identical units to the following:
    Laars Mascot FT
    Noritz CB199
    HTP EFT
    Rheem Pro Prestige

    They are all the same aside from color and branding.
    In case you wanted to research more online and in forums regarding experiences from other owners/installers.

    Though with combis, I'd wager a majority of complaints/issues are ultimately due to incorrect installations.

    if it were my house, it'd be a Viessmann.

    Sorta
  • Sorta
    Sorta Member Posts: 46
    Thanks very much for this great info, dko!
  • Sorta
    Sorta Member Posts: 46
    @dko , is Kiturami that actual manufacturer of all the ones you mentioned? I see they are a Korean manufacturer. I was under the impression that the Bradford White Brute was made in the U.S.A. ?

  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042
    Lochinvar is considered a pretty fair brand, common in my area anyway.
  • dko
    dko Member Posts: 575
    edited April 2023
    Sorta said:

    @dko , is Kiturami that actual manufacturer of all the ones you mentioned? I see they are a Korean manufacturer. I was under the impression that the Bradford White Brute was made in the U.S.A. ?

    It really depends on the definition of Made in USA you are willing to compromise on.
    Legally most companies cannot claim Made in USA for this reason,

    "According to the Federal Trade Commission, “Made in USA” means that “all or virtually all” the product has been made in America. That is, all significant parts, processing and labor that go into the product must be of U.S. origin"

    There's a reason Bradford White can only say "Bradford White is American Strong" and not Made in USA.
    They also can not use the actual American Flag (reserved only for Made in USA) so they use a similar looking one with a single star.




    They do not hide the fact that it is the case and they do manufacturer a bunch of components such as the jackets. But because not all significant parts are sourced from strictly USA they cannot say Made in USA, even though it was assembled with US labor.

    BUT.
    As for the Brute - it is a completely Korean unit. No other US labor has gone into that unit aside from trucking and paying the guys in the office to negotiate with Kiturami.

    You can search all imports/exports from companies with sites such as ImportYeti. If you search Kiturami, you can see all the manufacturers they export to. It is tricky with multi-branded companies as they may be importing through other names.

    In Bradford's case - they import from Kiturami via Laars, their subsidiary. If you check Laars' imports you will see Kiturami and description Combi Boiler. The Laars Mascot and Bradford Brute are identical aside from the sticker. And in the early combi manual revisions, you can actually ctrl+f Kiturami and find hidden text they forgot to remove.

    That said, the only reason I went into depth to point it out is to respect your wishes to buy American. Personally the korean units are fine. They are used throughout Korea on a normal basis and run like a charm. The only problem was educating and acclimating the people in the US to these new[to us] style of boilers/water heating. From user expectation to proper installation. And a big case for the importance of water quality. Been around for a while now, but hasn't been making waves as they are now especially with utilities offering significant rebates to the end user, contractor, AND distributor.
  • psb75
    psb75 Member Posts: 828
    Very informative and helpful. Also very diplomatically stated. I'd always assumed that Rinnai mod/cons were Japanese, but when I installed them I saw that they were mfd. in the Netherlands! Keep in mind that mod/con boilers became "the standard" in countries OTHER THAN the U.S.A. i.e. countries (Europe and Asia) that have majority HYDRONIC HEATING as opposed to U.S.A. where the majority of heating systems are "scorched air". So, Korea (South) probably has a good track record with its equipment. One of my plumbing supply houses is now owned by by Hajoca--a HUGE Korean company.