Plugging up a boiler leak question....
a_g...@yahoo.com
Greetings,
Two years ago, we bought our new home in northern NJ ... one unit in a
5-unit condo with shared heating, that had a 15-20 year old
Weil-McLain MGB6 boiler. This is a low pressure, 850K BTU (input)
gas-fed steam boiler that I thought worked quite well, until a few
nights ago.
Anyways, it apparently had a small leak in the steam side, well
above the water line (just below where the overflow valve would
let water out). The autofiller broke, and caused the system
to overfill, dousing the ignition, damaging it beyond repair.
The cost of the ignition repair was substantial: $1,800. To prevent
this from happening again, we switched to filling the system by
hand.
My question is: Can this leak be repaired? It's not in the
guts of the boiler, where it's out of reach. In fact, I can
see where the leak is when the water trickles (which shouldn't
happen now since we make sure not to overfill).
I heard of the following repair suggestions:
1. Welding, but it seems impractical since the leak is in-between
boiler sections, and the clearance between the [rusting] peices
is at most 1 inch.
2. Oatmeal. This sounds crazy, but I've heard it from so many
people, that it's beginning to sound that it may work. Some
suggested that because it's too high up in the very top part
of a section that we risk clogging other parts of the boiler.
3. Plugging up the hole(s) using some high-temp epoxy. I got this
suggestion from only one person, who himself has never done the
repair procedure. But, what the heck? I might as well ask about
this also.
I'm looking to repair, at least to get us through the winter. All the
heating people that came in were basically interested only in selling
a new boiler, and all the bids were in the stratosphere. I thought
that if we made it to warmer weather, we'd have more realistic cost
estimates. Does anyone have any suggestions? Are there any
boiler leak repair kits out there? I hope that there is, because
I don't know how we're going to get a new boiler installed in
short order. Now I just heard that it'll be snowing hard tonight.
Thanks in advance.
Alex
PS. When responding, please CC: me a copy so that I won't miss it.
Thanks.
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ernstp...@my-dejanews.com
Do the right thing and replace the boiler. If you must try a repair, have a
properly trained welder make the decisions and determine feasibility.
BTW, do you mind if I pin this one on the board at the shop? Oatmeal?
Buck153
>Do the right thing and replace the boiler. If you must try a repair, have a
>properly trained welder make the decisions and determine feasibility.
>
>BTW, do you mind if I pin this one on the board at the shop? Oatmeal?
A proper trained welder? I didn't know they welded cast iron sections. You
replace them don't you?
While your pinning the oatmeal fix at the shop.
My uncle who would be 100, if still alive, ask me what I used to temporarily
stopped leaks. I told him "Boiler Seal" and he nodded.
He told me he used horse shit, and made sure it was fed oats. Of course I
thought it funny, and asked him how much pressure did the steam boiler operate
at. He said 140 lbs, and sometimes more if the fireman wasn't careful.
He told me they would two scoops of horse shit in, and wait until slow time to
fix it. One time it went two years before they got to it.
I thought my uncle was full of it.
Of course I was young then and knew a helluva lot more than I do now.
Buck
HMB11446
it.
As For welding cast iron. Better check the STATE BOILER CODE before you WELD.
Also, If the locations has insurance that includes Boilers. Get the Insurance
Company involved they can advise on the proper Codes and Laws. Something that
not all repair shops remember to review before repairs take place.
Signed a Insurance Boiler Inspector
J. S. Nunes
the only draw back is that the car occasionally sneezes :-)
Steve @ NOON-AIR
Heating and Air Conditioning Service
Purvis MS
jsn...@netdoor.com
Noon...@hotmail.com
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
HMB11446 wrote in message <19990126022708...@ng-fw1.aol.com>...
Danny Bolt
sections, new seals might fix it. Still a big job though. The oatmeal
thing isn't that far out, I've heard of it many times before but I don't
think it would help above the water line.
Dan
a_g...@yahoo.com wrote in message <78iidr$4ts$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>...
>PS. When responding, please CC: me a copy so that I won't miss it.
>Thanks.
>
>
John Gilmer
boiler. He had a business so he purchases the unit and arranged for a
plumber to install it.
The thing was too big to take down the basement stairs! So, he took it
apart! Took it down to the basement! and Put it back together!
Naturally, it leaked a little. He put some kind of commercial leak stop
and that was that. As far as I know the boiler gave to trouble up to the
time the house was sold about 12 years ago.
Frankly, leak stops do work! I have nursed more than one automobile
radiator along with various leak stops. The best looks like Al power. I
don't know what is in it.
Because of the thin wall construction of a car radiator compared to the flat
seals of a "boiler" any leak stop that works in a car should do just fine in
a home boiler.
Danny Bolt wrote in message <78l3i4$e...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>...
AllTemp
as AL Powder... I used this in a V-6 and shortly after had
to tear the entire engine down... I found on the intake
manifold gaskets the water ports were sealed shut with this
stuff...
Mel
Jim
John Gilmer wrote in message <36ae5904$0$25...@mojo.crosslink.net>...
>Because of the thin wall construction of a car radiator compared to the
flat
>seals of a "boiler" any leak stop that works in a car should do just fine
in
>a home boiler.
>
I would be careful here. You can run the risk of breaking down rubber or
other seals and may cause leaks in other spots.
Only use an approved compound in the boiler. Silver King is one that has
been around for years.
Jim
a_g...@yahoo.com
About a month ago, I posted a question about a leak in a 15-20 year old
Weil-McLain (model: MGB6: 850KBTU) boiler, which was being used to heat a
5-unit condominium. The boiler developed a leak in the steam side.
We live in northern NJ, and It's the worst time to get boiler problems
during the winter, since all the contractors were trying to gouge us
for money that we couldn't afford. I called several Weil-McLain distributors
in the area, and they all quoted a replacement price of well under $10,000
for equivalent model boilers (LGB7: 780KBTU or LGB8: 910KBTU they don't have
the exact replacement; one has a slightly higher btu rating, and the other
slightly smaller).
I'd figure a crew of three max would remove the old boiler, and install the
replacement, taking a total of 3 days. I estimate this cost to be between
$4 and $5 thousand max. Thus, the top cost that I estimated for this
replacement is approximately $15K . How naive of me! So far, not one
has quoted a price less than $25K! When I asked about the material costs,
all were in agreement on the cost of the replacement boiler unit, but couldn't
explain why a 3-day job would cost about $15K in labor for a crew of 3.
Basically, I'm trying to buy time, and see if I can get fairer quotes in
the warm weather, where we're not at the mercy of the contractor.
In any case, my question is, can anyone tell me how to use a stop
leak to plug up a small water-side leak? I know that it's a small water
side leak because when the boiler is cold, it doesn't lose a drop.
However, once it builds steam pressure, the added pressure forces water
through the leak, causing the boiler to empty out.
1. Where do I get the stop leak?
2. What brand to get?
3. How do I use it?
I know this sounds real bad, but again, all I'm trying to do is
last until the warm weather. If someone knows of an HONEST and
RELIABLE (licensed, of course) boiler contractor in northern NJ (Bergen
county), please email me, because if they come up with a reasonable
price, I'd be happy to replace the boiler.
Thanks
Alex