Identifying Mystery WM Boiler
I probed about this some years ago but came up empty. Family friends replaced this monster of a boiler years ago but we could never figure out what it was. At this point, Weil McClain doesn't seem to keep any trace of information for boilers made before 1990. I'm assuming this is a WM boiler because it looks a lot like a 94 series, but is evidently a lot smaller (and older) than a 94.
House was pretty large - on the order of 8,000 square feet, built around the late 19th century. The system was two pipe vapor-vac steam.
A couple of clues about this boiler:
- Flue breaching was 18", and as evidenced in the photo, insulated in a manner similar to commercial boilers
- Jacket was green/blue. Can't quite recall, but it can be seen in the back of the photo, piled up near the outboard motor.
- Fuel was oil, some big old greasy Carlin burner.
- I recall the boiler sitting on legs, but more than likely, it sat on a separate firebox/pedestal. This is an important clue. Note how the sections have an open bottom and are dry-base, indicating a product that was designed to burn a solid fuel like coal, in addition to oil/gas. The 94 series was never dry base, to my knowledge.
Was this a WM 77 boiler? Again, WM has no info on anything truly "old".
Comments
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No way to tell from this. Are there any names or numbers cast into the sections? Do you still have the jacket?
All Steamed Up, Inc.
Towson, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting
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Is it being used for a boat anchor or thrown overboard.
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A little refresher
Mystery WM Boiler? — Heating Help: The Wall
One way to get familiar something you know nothing about is to ask a really smart person a really stupid question1 -
I think it was scrapped, though many boilers wound up as moorings. They live on an island, so this was the only way to get it out.
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Unfortunately this was years ago. Upon closer examination of the jacket, it does appear to be blue.
Nothing was saved.
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blue? burnham? utica?
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Could be Burnham. Probably not Utica. Sections look like WM to me.
All I know for certain is that it was put in in 1962.
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Before Weil McLain started to archive their discontinued boilers online, (back to the 1960s) there was a series of coal fired boilers that were marketed as oil fired boilers after 1946. You could still purchase the model 57 or 67 boilers as hand fired boilers with the big front doors for the coal shovel to fit into the fire box. But the demand for oil heat was increasing in the late 1940 and through the 1950s. Many manufacturers were not able to retool to make oil fired boilers so they made some modifications so the existing designs were fuel oil compatible. Here is an example of such a boiler with the addition of a vestibule to cover the oil burner and the fire and cleanout doors to give the appearance of a modern 1950’s appliance.
This Weil McLain No.57 boiler was clearly a dry base boiler made to be placed on a base that formed the ash pit for the hand fired models. I would place the manufacturer date between 1940 and 1954. Your barge mounted boiler sections are from the same era and were most likely the next size larger (Perhaps the No. 67)
Edward Young Retired
After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?
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the 40's and 50's were also a time when people would buy whatever was available after the depression and wwii shortages along with foreign competitors having been bombed out of existence in wwii so there wasn't much incentive to invest in new technology.
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Those are Weil McLain for sure. I was wrong in my post in the past as I said it looked like a #94. But the #94 was wet based
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