push nipples or o rings

ronLD

When buying a boiler ,which is better? cast iron push nipples or o rings for joining sections together? O rings I was told will allow movement when a boiler expands and contracts vs. nipples.also do you recomend hydronic antifreeze in a o ring boiler?

Mark Eatherton1

Conversation overheard...

in back room of local supply house. "You keep your hands off of my push nipples, or I will kick you square in the "O" rings buddy..."

If the fluid (antisleeze) is maintained properly, the rubbah's will be fine. They will however, eventually need to be replaced. Rubber continues to cure over time, and heat moves its aging process along quite nicely. Think about the rubber hoses on your car. They all eventually fail.

If the boilers near boiler piping is done to the manufacturers recommendation there shouldn't be much stress (read swing joints).

ME

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ScottMP

Put me

in the push nipples group.

The nipples will expand and contract very close to the movement of the cast iron block and have a proven track record over many years.

I know o-rings work, but if I had my druthers, I'd take the nipples everyday. Come to think of it ...

Scott

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Brad White_2

I agree with Mark and Scott

something about compatible materials seeking harmony and unity in the universe we call a boiler, grasshoppa.

After years of happy firing, the push nipples may become One with the Universe. (Just a bit of Budherus Philosophy, -sorry!) But point is, you may never get them apart. That is the downside.

Rubber and its derivatives (EPDM, Nitrile etc). just seem so "temporary" in geologic terms, and the anti-freeze (anti-sleaze- is that a Freudian Slip, Mark?) issue is always in the back of my mind.

Besides, you cannot call a gasket a nipple and what fun is that?

DaveGateway

Old boiler leaking posts

Always start with "my Weil-Mclain ....". Probably the King of most gasketed boiler models.

Ray M

H.B. Smith has gaskets on there 28 series. If you have ever changed them you wonder why they would use them. Push nipples are the way to go with any boiler. jmho Ray m

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Al Letellier

O rings

First of all, they ain't made of rubber. Secondly, I've repaired far more leaking boilers with nipples than O rings. Third, it's alot easier to "make a boiler bigger" when it's a gasketed boiler. We did a single pipe counterflow job a couple of years ago, and a 3 section Weil SGO matched the connected load perfectly, and it worked fine for two seasons. Then the owner removed the remaining asbestos pipe insultion, and then came call..."my house won't heat".....In less that 2 hours work, he had a four section boiler (One man, two hours)....do that with push nipples.
Much research and development has gone into these gaskets, and I'll take them over push nipples any day....properly installed and maintained, they can't be beat in my book!!!

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ronLD

thanks for all the advise

thanks for all the advise,I'll stick to the push nipples.

Unknown

All things being equal

In a perfect home with no chance of leaks or need for chemicals in the system , push nipples and O rings should last a long time .

Since we don't have that type of situation , ever , I prefer to go with the material that is much less succeptible to a prolonged time being hit with makeup water , or the use of wrong thread sealant or chemical cleaner , which you have to be careful with when using O rings .

Not to say that our Weil Mclain installs have failed prematurely . On the contrary , we have thousands of the 68 series out there , still running great . But we do replace a few occasionally , and every single one fails at the O rings .

Josh_2

Take it from someone who builds and rebuilds a ton of cast iron sectional boilers. You don't want to be rebuilding a push nipple boiler. However push nipples will last a little longer. Which brings me to my next point. On a 1 million btu plus boiler you want to rebuild it every 5-10 years because there is alot of pitting that can occur if not looked at. I am an o ring guy all of the way. But on my house I would prefer push nipples because residential boilers aren't worth re-building for the home owner.

Biged

push nipple

I have a Utica sf3100 oil fired steam, last year during very cold spell by lwco malfunction and boiler overheated, my wife call me,said she smell something burning in the basement sure enough the boiler looked like somebody turn a red light on in it. so I turned it off finished my service calls and at about 11pm filled it again, cleaned my lwco and i'm back in business. try that with gaskets.

Robert O'Connor_7

You can't say nipple with a straight face..

Josh, I couldn't of said it any better...Robert O'Connor/NJ

Boilerpro_3

Rebuild every 5 to 10 years? Pitting?

Not sure whats happening to your boilers. Please explain.

Boilerpro