Boiler repair or replace?

David_8

In my 75 year old house in Michigan, I have a Weil-McLain boiler (for radiator steam heat), 250,000 BTU, that is about 15-20 years old. I have lived here 7 years and just learned that the boiler should be flushed every year. It now leaks, and the seals in one of the eight cells (right word?) need re-sealing. It still produces heat but does not hold a vacuum, so the burner is on way too long and I had to turn off the automatic water feed to avoid flooding the boiler. Repair is $2100 with no warranty. Replacing boiler is $6000 with warranty, installed, though I still will shop around for better prices. Has anyone had a repair like this done? I hate to spend $6K when I can spend $2K and get it working right, but if other seals go bad I will lose the value of my $2K repair. I understand that if I had it flushed every year I probably could have avoided this, but it's too late now, though if I had it repaired I would flush each year afterward. I would appreciate any thoughts from someone experienced with this. Thanks.

MikeB34

at that age

At that age, I'd replace it. The fuel savings could pay for the 6K over time. Get a heat loss done, you're probably oversized to boot. A smaller more efficient boiler could cut your fuel bill in 1/2, and well worth the investment

Mike

gary_6

replace the boiler

have piece of mind and replace the old boiler.