Boiler Corrosion

JWalsh32

Hey guys, I’m trying to figure out what type of corrosion this is and/or the cause. The initial call was for no heat in which I found the pilot assembly very corroded and several holes in the pilot tube. The boiler is a Weil McLain CGA about 8-10 years old. The heating application is all in-floor radiant zoned with Tekmar radiant manifolds and electronic actuators. There is a boiler loop, an injection loop, and a main system loop which are working with supply and return strap-on sensors to inject hot water into the system loop to achieve a mixing valve effect . The corrosion is all over the iron boiler piping, the boiler sections, the inside and outside of the boiler jacket, and mostly everything iron. It is a hard, white, scaly, bumpy buildup. The room has little to no fresh air and a brine tank in the corner which I’ve attached a photo of. There is also a green semi-transparent paint on the wall which I’m unsure of what it is. I’m thinking salt is getting into the air and causing this corrosion but I’d appreciate any and all opinions. Thanks!

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Jamie Hall

Alost certainly the salt. Not sure what the exact chemical composition of the deposits is — and it may not really be as evil as it looks. But you have arranged pretty close to a perfect situation for corrosion…

SuperTech

Little to no fresh air is bad, brine tank is bad and the boiler probably requires a buffer tank to be used for a radiant floor injection pumping setup. It probably never heats up enough to get the flue temperature above the dewpoint for the fuel and you end up with condensation in a boiler that is a non condensing model.

Just my guess based on your information. Interested to see what everyone else thinks.