Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

Combustion chamber got wet...

Victor9107
Victor9107 Member Posts: 2
Hi,  I had a small flood in my basement today, and had some water intrusion into the combustion chamber of my boiler. (And possibly burner motor wet, but haven't checked that yet) do I need  to replace the combustion chamber liner? I'm going to replace the blanket on the bottom because it was saturated,  but the hard pieces on the back, and door of the chamber look ok.  If I let it dry thoroughly,  will it still be serviceable? It wasn't wet for long, and I have a portable heater blowing on it to dry it, and I'm going to pull the burner and check that next.

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,164
    Sorry, but anything that got wet will have to be replaced... (well, not the boiler block or shroud, but liners and burner if it got wet.)
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 7,715
    Did the water reach any electrical components? The burner is an electrical component. Replace the burner

    The hard sections of the combustion chamber may look OK for now, but once you fire the water in the chamber pieces, will start to deteriorate the soft and hard parts of the combustion chamber. I have fired the water out of combustion chambers with limited success. Time consuming on off process to cause the water to steam out of the parts gradually. But the price of a new chamber is less than the labor to save the old one.

    Is this an insurance thing or are you on the hook for the repairs? Is this a DIY Job?
    Edward F Young. Retired HVAC ContractorSpecialized in Residential Oil Burner and Hydronics
  • Victor9107
    Victor9107 Member Posts: 2
    This is a DIY, out of pocket.  I'm not worried about firing the boiler for now. I currently have an electric heater blowing on the combustion chamber to dry it out.  It only got about an inch of water in the chamber.
    Only the blower motor got a little wet, so I'm looking into replacing that.  It's a beckett AFG burner and the blower motor is a 21805E,  but all the replacements I can find available are 21805U all the specs. seem to be the same,  can I use the 21805U?
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,453
    I am sure the motors are the same. Dry the chamber as you are doing and try it you have nothing to lose.
    Victor9107MikeAmann
  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 4,775
    How did it get wet and with what?
    Most insurance company’s will replace the boiler. 
  • MikeAmann
    MikeAmann Member Posts: 996
    pecmsg said:

    How did it get wet and with what?

    Most insurance company’s will replace the boiler. 
    And how many times over will you pay for that new boiler once the insurance company raises your rates?