Radiator Repairs

jerryb

Steve,If the pinhole is accessable i would drill and tap a 1/8 pipe plug then grind it flush,done it many times.

Steve Murray

Radiator repairs

Anyone have a good way to repair a pin hole leak in an irreplacable cast iron radiator? We have checked wwith several welding shops with no luck and have tried to find a savaged radiator to match it. It is and 8 section 5 tube 38" high 8" deep radiator. It sits in the same small room as a match for it and the building is finished. Changing the rough in would be very diffucult and destuctive but no impossable.

DanHolohan

how about

J-B Weld? It's worked for a lot of people. There's an article about it in Hot Tech Topics (An Old Radiator Q&A).

Paul Pollets

Just fixed...

a HW riser in a large gravity system with JV Weld. The repipe would have cost $5K-$7K to fix a 2" thread leak on a 4x2 tee since the main was in an impossible location. Prep is essential: we drained the system, heated, wire brushed and acetoned the area. Applied the epoxy and waited 2 days before refilling. It worked fine!! $6. solution.

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chris smith

radiator repair

steve
its not easy but you can braze cast iron effectivly, an air fuel [turdo torch] torch works ok but if you have oxey acetalyne thats way better because you can focus the heat to a smaller region i do this 3-4 times a year and use j.w. harris Safety-Silv® 50N with Stay-Silv® Black Flux. its a little tricky but you can do it
chris smith
paradise
porter maine

Mike T., Swampeast MO

JB Weld on tube-type rads

Have repaired quite a number with perfect success. Have tried on numerous column-type rads with zero success.

If your rad has threaded rods running across at top and bottom it can be easily disassembled.

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

salt

i saw a plumber using salt one time on a new boiler job on the i.p.s. fittings that leaked. and it worked. i sprinkled a little on a radiator that had a small leak at a push nipple. it hasn't leaked for least 5 years now. no disassembly or draining. bob

j_4

stop-leak liquid

ever try this stuff?

Jeff Krawic

leak

The old timers used to "peen" any sand holes on new cast iron sections of boilers. I cannot see any reason why you cannot peen this radiator unless it is at an in-accessable location to strike the spot. We have done peening on different jobsites with sand holes or weeping in the castings without any problems. And incidentally, peening is recognized by ASTM.

Unknown

reapair a radiator

Steve,

Years ago we used a product called "Black and White." You heated the surface and "melted" the product into it by rubbing it in the surface. Holds forever, works great. Unfortuately I have not seen it for years. Check with some of your "old time" suppliers and hardware stores.

wheels

Paul Zind

Radiator Repair

I've got the same problem and apparently holes can be welded. Cronatron Welding recommended burring out the hole and heating the area before welding and letting it cool slowly. They said to use either Rod 211 or 270 for welding cast iron.

I haven't tried it yet....

Jeff...dumb question, what is a "peen"?

Paul