steam boiler leak repair

[Mikepier]

I have a Weil Mclean steam boiler about 11 years old. It's been a workhorse and never gave me a problem up until last night. I noticed water leaking from the bottom. Upon further inspection I found that the end section has a small leak at a seam where it bends to an inside 90 degree angle. The leak is not at the joint where the sections meet, it is on the one section. Seems like when this section was formed at the foundry they might have not have closed the seem good enough. I can gain access to the point of the leak. Do they make some kind of repair epoxy or something else that is high-heat rated to fix this? It is below the water line.

[Dr. Hardcrab]

I've seen guys "patch" them, but you are just putting a band-aid on it doing that. Best thing to do is get a new section and replace it. It may still be under warranty, too. Contact Weil McLain.....

[Edwin Pawlowski]

The bad new is that no, if it is cast iron it cannot be properly welded and no sealant is going to provide a proper seal.

I think the good news is that only a section has to be replaced. At least on their larger boilers you can remove and replace a section as opposed to replacing the entire boiler.

You may also want to double check the date installed and if a protection plan was purchased. W-M offers a 10 year deal but it has to be bought within the first year of ownership.

[Ed Clarke]

I tried the patch and yes indeed, it failed. I did have a protection plan from W-M, but it only covered a new boiler. Still cost me about $1200 for labor.

[Mikepier]

I called Weil Mclain and they said warranty is 10 years only for parts, labor is extra. So even if I was covered, I would still have to pay someone to replace 1 section of boiler. I am going to try the boiler liquid sealer and some kind of epoxy to try and get me throught the heating season. Then I'll decide what to do. This is a 360,000 BTU boiler for a 6 family Apt building, so it's kind of hard to shut it down in the winter for repairs.

[Bubba]

Thats a waste of time and you might just find that the liquid sealer and epoxy voids your warranty. Check first. Your unit can be torn down and back up in a day. Do it. Do it right. Do it right the first time. Your tennants will love you. Bubba

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Holy crap! I actually agree with Bubba.

[Dan]

I recommend going to heatinghelp.com and asking at the wall. At this point in the winter I'd try boiler stop leak just to get through the season and then examine alternatives. With a steam boiler, I suspect poor water chemistry control and if one section is leaking, the others may not be far behind. The old guys would sometimes put oatmeal in for emergency stopleak. At this point about anything is worth a try just to finish the heating season. JB Weld is sometimes somewhat successful at these kind of repairs, depending on flame exposure. Good luck!

Dan

[HeatMan]

JB Weld won't work on the boiler sections. It won't take the heat from the burners.

It works great on the radiators.