Old Leaking Boiler

Post by **fizban** » Tue. Jan. 17, 2023 3:04 pm

Hi Everybody,
I have a property with an old, probably 1940’s, coal sectional boiler gravity to water boiler. Doesn’t look to have been used in decades. I put some water in the system and with only about 2 lbs of pressure it has multiple dripping leaks. I assume this unit likely isn’t reasonably repairable. It has a jacket and also looks to have a quite a bit of that white stuff under, some of which is in poor shape.

I imagine it is either remove it or replace it with another unit if I want to use the system.

Post by **tsb** » Tue. Jan. 17, 2023 4:22 pm

Put some heat to it and see if it stops leaking.

Post by **Idlorah** » Tue. Jan. 17, 2023 4:22 pm

The unit could be fixed. You would have to pull the jackets and see where the leaks are coming from. Depending on where the leaks are at that is.

Post by **Lightning** » Tue. Jan. 17, 2023 5:14 pm

It may have rotted thru. Hard to say if it's repairable.

Post by **davidmcbeth3** » Tue. Jan. 17, 2023 5:36 pm

Capture chek.JPG

What ? No Pics ? Russians invented pics.

Post by **carlherrnstein** » Tue. Jan. 17, 2023 10:50 pm

Pictures help a lot. As stated by others maybe it's repairable maybe not. Asbestos is usually but not always grey/brown. It possibly could have been replaced with a non-asbestos material.

Before deciding on repairing or replacing look at the whole thing not just the leaks. If it's just a leaky drawbolt but the grates are used up it might not be worth it.

Regarding leaks there was a product that worked like automotive "block sealer" that can seal largish leaks. Don't just light a fire in it that could be bad depending on the situation.