Boiler leak?

Unknown

How can I detect and fix boiler leaks? Our 80 year old boiler won't build any steam pressure at all - the gauge sits on zero. Inside the clean out area above the combustion chamber, there are many globs of material crudely pressed in place over what I suspect were leaks. Some of these have fallen off. How do you locate and plug boiler leaks? I know it's not a permanent solution, but this is a really bad time for a new boiler.

Weezbo

putting bandaids on a steam boiler is not a great idea.

there may be problems in the "field" and as crazy as this may sound ,fix one leak you create another. it could turn into a full time occupation. You may have to consider what your time is worth and employ yourself at something your good at in trade for the new heat plant and check on the existing field.

Keith_8

flood the boiler

Geoff if you overfill the boiler the leaks should become evident.

Now is the perfect time to replace the boiler. After 80 years why not retire the boiler and save some heating dollars at the same time?

With the current energy prices the ROI has become another compelling reason to update. Do you have a heating contractor you trust? If not,now is the time to locate one.

Most likely a new boiler will be considerbly smaller if matched to the radiators being served. The safety, comfort, peace of mind, increased value to your property and energy savings make it a no brainer.

Ask some questions,do some research, select a contractor and do yourself a favor.

It may not be what you want to hear but it sure beats having this conversation in January.

Keith

Unknown

Yeah, but...

It's really important to not have to lay out cash for a new boiler this season. The patches were here before us, and we've been here 5 years. If new patches would last even one season, then we could put in a new boiler on a relaxed schedule next summer.

So, is flooding the best way to find leaks? What about infrared or dye? Once I find the leaks, what to use: JB Weld?

Steam Bunny

Cow Dung????

Complete unadulterated novice here, who has gotten considerable help from the Wall & habitually lurks for a never ending source of great tips.

If you can locate the source of the leak as per Keith’s suggestion, this might help:

We recently and reluctantly removed our mammoth 1913 boiler. She had finally developed a leak in her steaming chamber. For a number of years I was able to patch successfully with my own concoctions which I’ll not go into. Best I can determine the steam slowly worked the boiler cement loose and -over time- progressively “grew” more active. I’ve heard many solutions from stuffing cow dung between leaking sections to pouring oatmeal into the boiler. But a retired still living old timer magically appeared at just the right time and got me & my boiler through her last year. Joe talked me into climbing into the boiler to stuff fine (I used xxxx) steel wool between the leaking sections. I used a putty knife & whatever to stuff it as tight as possible to create a matrix of sorts. Then I got Boiler Solder made by Hercules, brought the boiler to a simmer, opened the safety valve, poured it in, closed her up & ran the boiler full speed ahead……(we suspiciously smelled like an oatmeal factory for several days). May have had to raise the water level to get it closer to the physical crack, don’t recall, but by the end of one heating cycle she was dry as a bone.

I suspect the water in the boiler no longer qualified as being clean (read efficient), but we bought another winter, I proceeded to read “Lost Art”, began learning a bit about 2 pipe vapor steam systems from Joe and the Wall, and the whole exercise will hopefully result in a far superior steaming system than I would have blindly purchased a year earlier.