super heat, catch fire, then crack

Mark Hunt

As long as we are sharing!!

Got called to a home that had an original coal fired marshmallow that had been converted to natural gas. Only thing that never got installed was a LWCO!!
HO went away for a few days and came home to a cold house that "smelled funny".

He went into the basement and could see that the boiler had no water in the gauge glass. So he opened it! LUCKILY it was an old galvinized line that was plugged solid from lack of use and no water went in. Upon closer inspection we discovered that at some point the mains and some of the run outs had been replaced with DWV copper and soldered with 50/50. 20' away from the boiler the solder had been melted and the pipe was black! Now that was one hot baby!!!! I told the HO that God was watching over him that day.

Or the old Weil-Mclain at the nuclear engineers house. He would go down and add water daily. Of course he never told me that so when we went into the basement on my initial visit and I saw him turn on the feed to an empty behemoth I dove for cover.

He gave me a funny look when I popped up from behind the engine block to his personal airplane. When I explained why I did it he understood. Even a guy who designed power plants for nuc subs needs a refresher in the basics of steam!!

I'll save a few for TG! To be honest, I learn more from listening to real life experiences. Dan could have another book in the workings if he wants!

Listening Dan? "Used stories II" or how about "War Stories: Life in the trenches(basements)"

I split the royalties with ya!

Mark H

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Dave Yates (PAH)

Why oh why don't they listen?

Met with HO in June. Explained the operation and stressed maint. on the LWC. Stressed the importance of blowing down the #67. Repeated advice twice just to be sure.

She's cracked all the way across! Ran dry, dry fired, toasted the jacket, ignited the packet of instructions lying there (where they don't belong), fire sets off smoke detector - possibly saving lives, owner shuts off boiler at breaker. Thank God the LWC remained inactive & didn't kick in the #101 during the glowing cast iron phase.

Why don't the various manufacturers keep at least one of each residential size IN STOCK & ASSEMBLED at the factory??? I wish somebody would explain the reasoning behind that thinking, especially at this time of the year. None of the supply houses stock these larger residential sizes either. If we go through several of these sizes for steam boilers each year, and we do, we can't be the only ones.

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Unknown

Hi Dave,

> Met with HO in June. Explained the operation and

> stressed maint. on the LWC. Stressed the

> importance of blowing down the #67. Repeated

> advice twice just to be sure.

>

> She's cracked

> all the way across! Ran dry, dry fired, toasted

> the jacket, ignited the packet of instructions

> lying there (where they don't belong), fire sets

> off smoke detector - possibly saving lives, owner

> shuts off boiler at breaker. Thank God the LWC

> remained inactive & didn't kick in the #101

> during the glowing cast iron phase.

>

> Why don't

> the various manufacturers keep at least one of

> each residential size IN STOCK & ASSEMBLED at the

> factory??? I wish somebody would explain the

> reasoning behind that thinking, especially at

> this time of the year. None of the supply houses

> stock these larger residential sizes either. If

> we go through several of these sizes for steam

> boilers each year, and we do, we can't be the

> only ones.

>

> _A

> HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=

> 98&Step=30"_To Learn More About This Contractor,

> Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A

> Contractor"_/A_

Mark Hunt

Thank God


I would prefer to keep boiler explosions safely within the tattered pages of my L.A.O.S.H.

Had a similar experience a few years ago. If the feeder had kicked in I hate to think of what would have happened.

Mark H

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Dave Yates (PAH)

typically

Mark,

We'll see somewhere between five and ten cracked steam boilers each year from failed LWC's. Large row homes needing boilers over 300K input is not out of the ordinary.

Had one one time where the HO had opened the bypass valve during a dry firing. You could literally place your fingers up to the third knuckle in the crack that ran all the way across the 20 sections! Said it made one hell of a noise. He was lucky it cracked.

I've seen em glowing cherry red and gingerly shut off the water feeder inlet line valve, all the while sweating bullets. Belly crawled across a steam filled basement on a run-away steam boiler that was blowing off to shut the gas vlave. Baby sat HW boilers that were superheated to maintain pressure while they cooled below 212 F! Me & the boiler would have gone away if the relief valve had decided to open.

Then there's the CO filled properties, the dead shorts caused by knuckleheads who used 18/3 instead of 14/2, the gas leaks, the "I only pushed the reset once" folks, delayed ignitions that burn off your eyebrows & a host of other dangers - the CIA would be tame by comparison(G).

But mostly we don't get a look until it's too late.

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J.C.A.

Question for you guys......

Will there EVER be a smell to replace "cooked boiler " ? I worked for an oil co for 17 years and can't tell you how many boilers were condemned upon walking into the house to "that smell" . All you can say at that point is See you in the morning . Although waiting till morning did actually save a couple , I doubt they lasted or will last much longer after a "save" from dry fire .The only other smell that can wreak havoc with my sinus passages is a "running saturation" on an oil boiler . Another memory opener ,memories of being in 1 house for up to 6 hours servicing a boiler and trying to prevent a call to the fire dept. AHHHH , the things we learn ! Chris.

Mark Hunt

ooooo that smell


I know the smell you're talking about. The only times I have actually smelled it was when the boiler was obviously shot.
The boiler that I posted about before was cracked, but we couldn't see it until the "white insulation" was removed.

I was in another house on a no heat call and found a similar situation only this time it was a hot water system. Again the HO was away and came home to a cold house that "smelled funny". The burner relay must have gotten a shot of higher voltage because the contacts were welded shut. The burner could NEVER shut off. The system cooked and cooked and the pressure rose and rose.

Where was the pressure relief valve you ask? Well, when the boiler was installed the contractor pushed the boiler as close to the wall as he could get it and subsequently jammed the relief valve stem into a stud! So the pressure rose until things started coming apart.

The pressure reducing valve on the feed was siezed shut so no water could get in when the baseboard copper started bursting. The only thing that put the burner out was when the boiler block dropped onto the burners due to the base box melting!!!

The linoleum was beginning to blacken and curl near the boiler.

I would never condemn a boiler because it smelled funny, heck they all smell funny when you first fire them up. (Except Burnham. I have been driven from mechanical rooms by them when they first fire up. MY EYES!!!!!)

A side note. The customer I just mentioned balked at my price and said he had gotten two other bids that were much lower. I told him, as I pointed to the pile of boiler, that this was a $xxxx.xx job. If he wanted another one of those all he had to do was say so. He chose me!

How's the back?

Mark(you smell sumptin?)H

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J.C.A.

Didn't Lynrd Skynrd write a song about that ?

The back is fine . Still wrestling with sitting anything over 15 minutes but I WILL MAKE TG or passout trying to get there ! Chris.(I'll bring the cell phone and call for any needed assistance )
P.S. The welded contact usually is a result of "almost enough voltage" rather than high voltage . Lower the voltage, raise the amperage . Low amperage makes for a hot spark ! Combined with dust from a unkept boiler romm , this will result in the welding you describe . Saw a lot of that where I worked for the first 16 1/2 years . The town was their own power supplier . When they switch from one source to another , you can see it in the lights . 1 time during a "brownout " , I had my meter on a stack relay and watched the voltage drop from 104 down to 85 volts and man did that puppy have a hard time pulling and holding ! Things were turning red that really shouldn't have been .After a few minutes (really , 3 minutes) the voltage climed to 109 and everything worked fine .

ed wallace

hot boiler and strofoam coffee cup

about 15 years ago boss sent me on no heat call just after lunch condo under rehab i had a head cold at the time walked in saw service switch off and no water showing in glass gauge put coffee cop down on jacket before my eyes strofoam cup melted 3 yr old w/mc steam boiler was toated one of the carpenters had shut off boiler and than had called in a no heat call made for an interesting afternoon

ed wallace

hot boiler and strofoam coffee cup

about 15 years ago boss sent me on no heat call just after lunch condo under rehab i had a head cold at the time walked in saw service switch off and no water showing in glass gauge put coffee cop down on jacket before my eyes strofoam cup melted 3 yr old w/mc steam boiler was toated one of the carpenters had shut off boiler and than had called in a no heat call made for an interesting afternoon

tim from Reed Wright

lack of stock

absolutely agree, We are waiting 3 weeks to get a steam boiler here in Seattle, thank goodness that we are in seattle and not in colder parts, but customer still getting cold.