Leaking Near Boiler Piping

Once you buy all the coper fittings to do what you suggest i don't think you're going to save anything over doing it properly in black iron if the manual allows one 3" and you do it in 3". the expansion of the copper is likely the cause of the leak. The horizontal section in the equalizer can cause hammer.

I’m President of our local Historical Society, so I understand budget issues.

Just to be clear on what I see in the picture.

None of the steel piping is headers, they are mains. The copper piping is the header, with connections going up to the mains. The issue I see is one main takeoff is between the riser connections which is improper. The order (with 2 risers) should be riser, riser, main, main, drop to return/equalizer.

I think we need more pictures to fully understand what you have going on there. Such as the return piping. The copper drops to the return, there should be a Hartford loop connection there. If not, it might be a counterflow, but more pictures will help determine that.

For fun here’s a link to the mansion we maintain, it has a hot water radiator system.

https://hanoverpahistory.org/warehime-myers-mansion/

Hello danee,

Is the top of the Left hand riser leaking too ? With the re-work idea, does the older iron header have a pitch to it ? If so maybe let that determine which is the steam end and which becomes the equalizer / drain / drip end, however that may require more or just a different re-work strategy.

Looks like they built a bad copper header under a bad iron header. In general did it otherwise work OK ?

oh, i thought it was 2 mains. that is the header from the old boiler that they failed to remove.

Those pictures paint a very different picture for me and definitely clarifies what you have.

That looks like it might be asbestos insulation on the pipes, it would be worth having that tested prior to doing any work. I don't see any solution that won't disturb that.

If you are trying to be as budget friendly as possible, this is what I would do. Cut/remove the nipple at the blue line. Install a nipple and reducing elbow (black arrow) and go down to the return piping. That equalizer piping can be copper after the turn down, and smaller per the manual, which will make it easier to work with. You can tie into the existing copper drop from there. Bring the riser up from the boiler on the opposite side and tie into that end of the old header. Remove the existing elbow that's there. For the riser connection it appears you have a little wiggle room to move the boiler a bit and get it lined up, that you would have to decide being there in person. Napkin calculation it should be a few hundred in fittings to do what I show. I'd contact supplyhouse.com directly, tell them you are a non profit (I'm assuming) and see if they can work with you. They are the cheapest for me without discounts, so if they work with you might be even better. They are a good company they have helped out here before, worth a shot in my opinion.

Taking another look, if you can get the elbow off of either end of that header, you could reuse them and save the cost of 2 3" elbows. Not sure how long they have been installed, but I promise they will be stubborn. Like 4' pipe wrench type of stubborn. Most don't try as time is money, but as a volunteer we don't get paid so….

I'd say the biggest expense may be the tools, but see if anyone local will lend them to you, or perhaps lend some labor to the cause, bringing tools along. Like I said I'm very familiar with running these non profits and full feel your pain. Historical Society isn't the only one I'm in, some are school related and we pinch pennies like crazy.

I would do it all in black pipe on the header because that will be WAY cheaper than copper, based on a couple quick searches on supplyhouse.com like half the cost when discussing 3" fittings.