Emf 520 1981 Duel Fuel Sprung a Leak

jayseidel wrote:how long will it take for the boiler to drain down, its still going 6 hours later since I opened up that hole

Did you valve off the make-up water supply valve? It will never stop draining without that turned off.

Are there any other valves you should close so you don't drain your whole system?

stoker-man wrote:I developed a long crack at the square frame of the door before last Winter. I bought some boiler sealer at home depot and it sealed it right up and doesn't leak yet. It would have been an impossible weld because it's also cracked on the inside at a butt joint. Your leak doesn't look like it's too easy to fix and you could have a larger area of corrosion to fix.

Its would be all but impossible to fix that leak without replacement of that Pipe (or a large portion of it at least), to weld that requires grinding to some clean "meat" so to speak and by the looks of it to me their is not going to be any clean "meat" to get to Im not sure if these tubes are replaceable (like buying new burners for your BBQ grill?), but unless I could do those other ones (which also appear to have signs of rot/moisture weeping in the same area as the current problem pipe) I think you might be putting good money after bad (Its one thing to use furnace cement, welding, brazing on doors, grates, etc. but on parts that are pressurized with hydraulic water pressure inside them a quick/cheapo fix is just not wise).

Take out a dremel or even better a 4 inch grinder and start grinding away that area! (it has to be done anyways!!!), grind and keep grinding to clean steel (put some googles on as this is a tight area and sparks will be ricocheting on you), then after you do that take a wire wheel and start going at all those other pipes in the same area to see what your dealing with their as well (ping, ting, tap those areas looking for week/rotted spots). A welder can take slighter larger pipe dissect that pipe in half then 45 one end of the two dissected pieces and cover that entire area (but he needs to be able to solid weld these pieces around the entire perimeter and across the 45 joint). and those areas are forever going to be at risk for rot to continue around the outside of those welds even though it might get you some more seasons.

first thing to do is pull out your grinder and wire wheel to see what we got (it has to be done!!!)

And that my friend is the reality of your situation---not to be the bearer of bad news, but you've got way more then just a lil leak problem there---sorry:(

jayseidel wrote:emf 520 1981 duel fuel sprung a leak on the bottom of the 1st coil on the left hand side. What could be the issue. is it repairable or is my boiler toast? it a very slow leak, someone mentioned stop leak, but I don't want to shut down in the middle of winter. Responses is appreciated, thankyou.

Two choices at this point, locate a replacement boiler or find and hire a knowledgeable welder to diagnose if leaks are repairable.

Like you said, you don't want to shut down in the middle of the winter

This is a serious issue. Do not waste any more time. Unhook the boiler piping, roll the boiler free. Take out the stoker, and take off the covers. Tip the whole thing over onto an old tire. There is no way that you can fix that properly with all the water pooling in the bottom plate area. You are causing way more damage to your unit overall by letting that water get into the base and mix with the ash. It makes a potent metal dissolver. First thing you do, is take the base outside and hit it with the hose to get all the old ash out. let it air dry and maybe just prime the bare spots with some cheap primer. The angle plate will be real easy to fix if it's laying on it's back all exposed. Cut out all the old bad metal and weld in some new. Doesn't have to be perfectly like the others. It just needs to be welded by an experienced welder. Cut it off at an angle if it needs to get at some good metal. You might be able to cut it that way when it's still together if your welder has the right tools.

scrap yard material SCRAPPER

Just Curious where this ended up? Repair or Remove?