does damaged heat exchanger require new boiler?

luke

I have a 300,000 input 240,000 output gas steam boiler in a NYC townhouse. Over the course of the past 2 heating seasons, I have had to turn down the flame because it "licks" the side of the boiler cabinet. I measured the but input at the gas meter and it is running at 160,000 btu per hour, approximately 53% of the boiler rating. At this rate, the unit runs near 100% of the time, which is very comfortable but probably not ideal efficiency. I just had a heating guy just look at it and he said the cast iron heat exchanger is damaged and that the unit needs to be replaced. What are the consequences of a damaged heat exchanger--does this need to be replaced immediately? Will it eventually leak steam everywhere?

Also, when I do install a new boiler, what size can I downsize to? I measured the square feet of the radiators and they are only 400 sq feet, but I have alot of expoed pipes. Even at a 50% addition for pipes, that puts me at 600 square feet and based on that I should have 144,000 but of output or approximately 180,000 of input but this seems bery small compared to my exisiting unit.

any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

LEAD PIPE

When he tested for co

was there any problems?

luke

co test

there is no co leaking when the boiler is running with the reduced flame. when the flame is up high, it "licks" over the side of the cabinet and it creates soot on the cabinet and co builds up.

[Deleted User]

makes me wonder

if the units even venting? or is its inside passages sooted up?

kevin coppinger_4

Just replace it....

it sounds as if it has outlived its useful life...plus when I hear "flame licking up outside of cabinet" it would get me pretty scared...get a couple of heating contractor bids to size up the boiler to the radiation and start saveing fuel bucks...kpc

Unknown

Sounds to me like

your internal boiler sections are damaged which can cause problems with proper flue gas travel. By reducing input 50% you may temporarily solve the problem. I would bet you are still making Carbon Monoxide. You can have CO without having soot by the way. Soot usually occurs because you have the flame impinging on cooler surfaces.

Think about this also you are running a steam boiler at 50% of its input which means you are spending a lot of money and not getting much for it.

It is possible that some radiation was removed at some time in this situation. I would suggest you hire a professional and have them give you a good breakdown of radiation needed and boiler sizing relative to that radiation. Get that pro to cover your pipes and get you the best efficiency he can. Definitely time for a new boiler and I would do it quick.