Options for hole insteam boiler

Unknown

First of all, did you contact our Customer Service Dept. about this as I stated above?

Second, you just stated that the original owner was away for quite a while. That means that there is more than likely some sort of automatic water feeder on the boiler to replenish boiler water that is lost as steam though air vents, valve packings, leaking pipes and any number of other sources. Steam boilers are not something that get plugged in and forgotten about. Before the days of water feeders, the building owner or whoever took care of the boiler, was aware of how much water was added to the boiler because they did it manually. The system (piping and radiators) in a steam system are always very old. There are always possible sources for steam to be lost into the atmosphere with these systems. Lost steam is directly related to lost water and the end result can be excessive makeup water being added by an automatic device that doesn't know that there may be a leak in the system somewhere. Add to that the violent internal action that occurs within a steam boiler as it is operating and you have the result of internal corrosion.

Third, internal corrosion is NOT a manufacturing defect. If it were a defect it certainly would have leaked from day one. It is the direct end result of either a boiler water quality issue or excessive makeup water usage issue. There are now automatic water feeders available with digital water usage indicators. These devices make you aware that something has changed and that you may have a possible leak somewhere. If internal corrosion of today's lower water content and more efficient boilers was not an issue then the manufacturers of the feeders would never have developed this type of control. It is an issue with the entire boiler industry and not just Burnham.

Fourth, as I already stated, the warranty is to the original homeowner and that is clearly stated in the paperwork supplied with the boiler. As I also stated, contact Customer Service about it anyway if you have not done so already.

Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

U.S. Boiler Co., Inc.

Audrey_3

Options for hole in steam boiler

Hello,
I bought my house last winter (Dec 2005) and immediately found that I was adding water to my steam boiler almost daily. NSTAR is the only gas company for my area so I bought their deluxe maintenance plan and had a technician come out to look at it. At the start of the season this year I had a technician come and prepare it for the winter and asked about the frequent adding water. He told me I just needed to keep adding water. By January I was adding water every 6-8 hours so I called the gas company again. This time he took of the front panel and looked in with a mirror and flashlight and declared that there were no cracks so I must not be adding enough water. When it got to the point a few weeks ago that I was running home on lunch to add water just to keep the house from freezing I called a plumber. He lifted off the top and found a dime sized hole in the cast iron boiler. The previous owner had had the gas company install the boiler in October of 1999 with a 5 yr warranty. So now I am stuck.

At least it is not as cold now and I can probably make it through until spring but I need a better solution. The gas company offered to replace it for a discount that would cost still me $4100.

Suggestions?
Thanks,
Audrey

gerry gill

you need a new boiler..

sorry..better find out why it failed this quick tho..or your next one will follow suit...probably have a system leak someplace..

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John S.

check...

with the manufacturer of the boiler. The warranty you gave may have been for controls and workmanship. MANY steam boiler manufacturers offer up to 10 years on the cast iron sections. With some luck and cooperation, maybe your situation isn't that dire.

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Nick L. in Vt

holy sections batman

sounds like a weil mclain

Audrey_3

Update on hole in boiler - have you heard of...

... a recall on model# PIN4SNI-ME2 from Burnham. I had a Sears steam boiler professional come to talk to me about replacing the boiler that I mentioned in my above message.

As soon as he laid eyes on it he said,
"did you know that this model was recalled around 2003?"

Is this the case? Does anyone know if Burnham boilers from around that time with model # PIN4SNI-ME2 were recalled?

Thanks,
Audrey

Unknown

No Recall

Audrey,

Your Sears heating specialist is wrong. There is no recall on the IN series boilers or any other boilers that Burnham manufactures. The warranty that is provided with the boiler clearly states that boilers configured for steam applications are warranteed for a period of ten years to the original owner. If you wish, you can contact the Customer Servive Dept. regarding this at the toll-free number posted below. Hope this helps.

Burnham Customer Service - 1-800-722-0720



Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

U.S. Boiler Co., Inc.

John S.

Hi Glenn,

I know it's not your area, but I'm curious... it sounds like the warranties are NOT transferable to a new owner?

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Unknown

That's correct

That is pretty much an industry wide policy on boilers regardless of the brand. Has always been this way for as long as I have been in the business....which is about 34 years now.

Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

U.S. Boiler Co., Inc.

Rob_25

weil mclain

nick l in vt did you have a boiler leak on steam side

Audrey_3

So I'm stuck?

The plumber said this was clearly a manufacturing defect and that a cast iron boiler should not have a hole (note: not a crack) in the top so soon. I've posted somewhat blurry pictures here:
http://urbanstrings.org/boiler06/Picture048_07Mar06.jpg and http://urbanstrings.org/boiler06/boiler049_07Mar06.jpg .

The previous owner of the house had been stationed in Iraq for the past 5 years or so and apparently he was never around, also since the water heater is separate (and working!) I suspect he never noticed any problems with the boiler. So because I bought the house with this trouble I'm stuck with replacing it?

Is Burnham really proud of this policy? It does make me wonder if it was a known defect.

Dale

Take the deal

Unless you can get someone to give you a warranty I would take the gas co. deal. the price for another choice would be at least 1K higher. Before the install I would confirm the size needed based on a sq foot edr rad analysis and I would find out what was going to be installed and get a picture of the near boiler piping and skimming recomendations from the manufacturer, that way you can make a point of the new one being piped and skimmed correctly and may get the correct install and cleaning. If you don't have any return pipe below the floor you shouldn't have any problems with the new boiler failing from too much makeup water.

Unknown

Dale

There's more to it than just leaking wet returns. It's vents that don't open or close, it's valve packings that leak, it's main vents that don't function causing carbon dioxide that can't vent to interact with returning condensate forming Carbonic Acid and it's uninsulated mains that used to be insulated just making too much condensate all the while the boiler is running and changing the PH of the boiler. You have to take a real close look at the whole system and not just the wet return piping. Hope this helps.


Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

U.S. Boiler Co., Inc.

Audrey_3

Thank you all

First, Glenn, I must say a big thank you for all of your advice. I do not mean to offend, and I hope I haven't. I did call Burnham customer service first and the person said that I shouldn't have called and that they would not be able to help me. Then they "kindly" suggested that I should call the gas company who installed it. Also, the only water feeder is me so I confess I don't know how the previous owner kept the house from freezing when he was away.

I got Dan's book and I see what you mean about the whole system. I noticed that the plumber did not check on anything but the boiler. While the Sears rep took measurements of ceiling height, number of radiators and sizes, and square footage. After calculating with the help of a book he said my home only needs 50,000 btus while my current boiler is rated at 87,000 btus. Moreover, Sears only offers a 95,000 btu steam boiler now.

From Dan's book I think my whole system does need a looking at, there is no visible leaking from radiators or obvious visible problems but I do hear hissing at the start of the heating and some quiet pinging.

The list of local professionals does not really give a clue to who might know how to address a whole system when deciding on a replacement boiler. Nonetheless, I think I have a problem since the gas company rep said that they do not offer a payment plan and I don't happen to have an extra $4100 around. Glenn can you recommend a more appropriately sized Burnham model?

Thanks to everyone.

Unknown

Steam Boiler Sizing

does not involve taking the dimensions of the rooms. A steam boiler has to be sized to the load that is connected to it. The boiler has to be able to generate enough volume of steam to fill the connected radiators and piping. In some cases an extra amount may be neccessary to overcome unusually long piping runs.

Sizing hot water boilers does involve taking all of the room, window and door dimensions as they are needed to calculate a heat loss of the house. Hot water boilers only need to generate enough btu's to overcome the existing heat loss of the house. If the connected load in a hot water system is greater than what the existing heat loss is, it doesn't matter. The hot water boiler wants to be sized to the heat loss and the radiation can be operated with lower water temperature to match the output to the heat loss.

I can't recommend a boiler size without knowing what the connected load happens to be. That involves measuring the radiators (in each room), determining what type they are and counting the number of sections that each one is made up of. It also requires a look at the system piping to determine if extra pickup allowances are needed. If the person that you had in your house sizing a replacement boiler did this, then they were doing it correctly. If they sized it based on the heat loss of the house....they did not do it right. Hope this helps.


Glenn Stanton

Manager of Training

Burnham Hydronics

U.S. Boiler Co., Inc.