Burnham boiler trouble

S.D.

Gary,
I have had several problems with Burnham push nipples and sections leaking, and I know there are a lot of Burnham fans out there but I will never install another as long as I live, and I rip them out every chance I get. The main reason I have soured on them is because of two customers that I lost When Burnham flaked out on thier lifetime warranty of thier cast iron sections, by telling my customer that the P.H. was to high in the town water that fed the make-up. Both were right here in Mass.

Gary_2

Burnham boiler trouble

Any body have trouble with Burnham's V-11 boiler. I had alot of trouble while tring to replace a rear section. Also having problems with leaking in between the sections on the push nipples. Thanks for any feedback

ta finnegan

Piping

How is the header piped or is there a header? Copper or Iron pipe?

Copper expands at a different rate, without an offset, it can split the sections.

Also, how about raw water into the boiler, any issues there?

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Al Letellier

burnham trouble

Good advice on the offset. If there is no swing joint on your header you could be getting uneven flexing of the boiler sections and this will surely start leaks or worse, crack the sections.
This is a good arguement for boilers with elastimer seal instead of push nipples.....more forgiving and a whole lot less work to replace.
We recently installed a Weil 4 section steam boiler on a single pipe counterflow system that worked great until the owner removed the pipe covering and refuse to re-insulate because the cellar was warmer. I broke down the boiler and added a new section and jacket and re-piped it in less than two hours.....alone. Thanks God for rubber gaskets!!!!!!!

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Unknown

Gary

I'm sorry to hear that you are having difficulties with the V-11. I would assume that if you have changed the rear section that you have indeed already spoken with one of our representatives regarding the problems you are having and what the possible cause may be. If not, e-mail me with your company name and number and I will put you in touch with the proper person to discuss this with. Hope this helps.

Glenn Stanton

Burnham Hydronics

Bob Cat_2

I've put in a lot of these boilers. You should put swing joints on the header regardless of material. Burnham shows this in their manual. Anyways I always clean the surface real well and make sure the nipples are set to the correct depth. I use plenty of the lube that they give but there is a tool that will make your life a lot easier, if you dont allready have one, a brass or aluminum hammer. I got a brass one from Grangers to the tune of $40 or so. I made life a lot better. I always set them according to the guage they send with the nipple packs.I also put the boiler sections together one at a time. I draw each section up seperatly(with the power packs). I've put in 10 or so in the Boston area in the last 5 years and only had one that leaked. There were two of them side by side I showed the guys how to put them together after I finished the first one I left. Well the first one didn't leak but the second one had 6 leaks I think the were 12 sections.

To spit them we used a combination of pressure from the draw rod(we put the nuts and washers on the inside and spread them that way)and chizels(driving them between the thick parts of the castings.

I'd like to know if you used the power packs to put it together(hydrolics).

Bob Cat

Unknown

Shawn

I am sorry to hear that you had difficulties with our boilers. Based on your post, I would assume that you had some difficulties with a couple of residential steam boilers that suffered from internal corrosion. Residential steam boilers only carry a 10 year warranty on the section assembly. All residential boilers that are configured as hot water boilers carry a limited lifetime warranty on the sections. This warranty policy is more or less the same between all boiler manufacturers.

Four to five years ago, we conducted a series of field tests of the water that was in residential steam boilers that had developed leaks at or above the normal water level. We obtained water samples from the failed boiler and from the taps of the residence in an effort to determine if any common denominators existed between the boilers that developed the corrosion. The independent laboratories we used to test the samples determined that various localities do indeed have some imbalances of PH in their water that could contribute to premature failure of the section assembly. I can only deduct that you are situated somewhere in the proximity several miles west of Boston where the highest imbalances were found. If indeed this may have been the case, it would not and should not have hindered the ability for you to obtain a replacement section assembly if in fact it was within the 10 year warranty period.

Bear in mind that Burnham is not the only cast iron boiler manufacturer out there that encounters internal corrosion of steam boilers. We all, as manufacturers, suffer the consequences from the causes and the causes are many. One of the major causes is excessive amounts of makeup water to the boiler due to steam or condensate leaks within the system piping and radiators. This would generally be caused by the installation of an automatic water feeding device. Although they certainly have their advantages for elderly and absentee landlord situations, they also tend to make the owner totally unaware of a system leak somewhere. Unfortunately, the boiler manufacturers suffer the consequences of this. We advise installing a water metering device before the automatic feeder to at least give someone the ability to monitor water usage during various time periods.

The feelings you express toward Burnham and it's products are totally under your control and it is certainly your right to convey them. I would hope that you would be receptive to discussing this situation with some of our folks in your area and to try to work out your difficulties. On behalf of Burnham Hydronics and all of it's employees, I sincerely hope that these difficulties can be overcome. If I can be of any help in the future, feel free to give me a shout!

Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics