H.B. Smith - Smith Mills Model 24 - pinhole leak - HELP!!

John C. Sullivan

As described, I have this old Smith boiler (currently N-gas) and it has deveolped two tiny pin hole leaks in the first segment (near the clean-out doors). No water leaks when it is cold - OR - we it is finally HOT. Is there a boiler additive/sealer I can put in (via the blow off valve?) to stop them? I really don't want to spend 10K right now! College tuition(s) are killing me!

John (jcg)

There is a possibility

That this boiler may be able to be repaired. I have on occasion been able to drill out a pin hole and replace it with a pipe plug. It all depends upon where it is. Your best bet would be to get a hold of Smith rep for your area.

jcg

Boonierat

Pin Hole repair

Learned this from my grand-father.................but it's gotta be a real pin hole, nothin' bigger.
"Peen' the damn thing shut.
I've done it; it works.
First off; it's gotta be a 'weeper' a true 'pin-hole'. Anything bigger, yur-outta-luck
Second. You need a small 'peen-hammer' and a flat-nosed drift pin.
assuming that the iron around the 'pin-hole' is good quality grey-iron, set the drift-pin over the pin hole and peen it shut. Iron/water/oxygen will take over. THE KEY IS A 'SMALL-PEEN HAMMER'. Stay away from the 2 Lb ball peen hammers we use to caulk soil pipe with. I've done a few that way, one I did in 1959 as a snot-nosed brat on my way to my first year of high school.
PS: The high school is gonna get re-built this year; the boiler is still runnin'. No leaks.
Good luck sir, Nels

Joe at krahezfoo@aol.com

Repairing pinholes in boiler sections

The old timers used to use a combination of waterglass and oatmeal. One of the owners of our company told me about this trick, used by his predecessors. Don't know where to get waterglass, though. Don't know if instant oats or the ones you put in the microwave nowdays will work. We ended up puttihg a boiler sealer manufactured by Hercules Chemical Co., and it got us through the cold spell until the replacement boiler came in. This was in a Catholic School, and one of the nuns placed a statue of the Virgin Mary on top of the boiler to get us through those crucial weeks. Something worked; Hercules or Mary? Maybe there are some old timers out there that know where to get waterglass. You have to be careful though, because leak sealer plugs up anything that leaks water or steam through it,including traps, valves and vents. Have seen numerous failures of sections in H B Smith Sectional boilers on the commercial end of the business in the last three years. Don't have much experience in the residential end. The cracks are always in the return, bottom of the sections. Factory claims low water return temperature caused the failure.

rick in Alaska

boiler leaks

When I was a fire sprinkler installer,I fixed small leaks in cast iron fitings by jamming a pencil lead into the hole. (usually sand holes from the casting process). We would have to pressure test to 200 pounds and it would allways hold the test. I believe that it would seal up the hole long enough for the water to eventually rust it over a little,but don't really know the exact way it does seal. All I do know is that it does work. If it might be a temporary fix anyway, why not? Also, a toothpick jammed in will usually do the same thing. When the hot water hits it, the wood will swell up and seal it off.
I know these are all crude fixes, but they will get you by.

Jacob Myron_2

Repair pin holes

If the holes are in a good location drill a hole into the boiler. Tap the hole with a 1/8" pipe thread and screw a 1/8" Plug into the new tapping.

Jake

Joe at krahezfoo@aol.com

To John- pinhole leaks in boilers.

Another temporary solution to fixing the pinhole leak is to take soft solder and pound it into the pinhole. Several other responders agree with this. I have seen plumbers do this on a domestic water leak; with some success. Remember that this is only a temporary fix. I've done temp. fixes on steam boilers that blew out days later and extinguished the pilot lights and took the boiler down in the middle of the night; the coldest night of the season; and got called in to fix it after 3 hours sleep; working a 16 hour day. Always happens that way!

Vernon P. James

Base Hit

system sealer from Hercules works very good. I have used it for temporarily sealing many boilers and leaking coil gaskets. It is not permanent but I have had it seal some pretty good leakers

Earthfire

section cracks

from the description sure does sound like boiler shock . Most common time is monday morning after weekend shut down . Hey night setback saves money ? Depends if you design the system to cope with all the gremlins. Most value engineer the safety factors out to cut initial build price.