water leaking burnham v-14a-t

[jarhead143]

I have water leaking from my furnace and I am not sure if I will need a new one or not. Do I have to take the whole cover off to see where it is leaking from and if I do what can I use to fix the leak ?

[Ed Pawlowski]

one or not. Do I have to take the whole cover off to see where it is leaking from and if I do what can I use to fix the leak ?

You just have to take the cover off of where the leak is so you can see it.

I never saw a furnace leak water. Do you mean a boiler? Furnaces heat air, boilers heat water.

Not knowing what you have, it is difficult to diagnose the problem. It may or may not be repairable. If it is 15 or more years old, it is probably smarter to replace it with something more efficient rather than throw money and more money at the old one.

New heating units can save from 10% to 50% on your heating bill, depending on age and fuel you use. I got rid of my 30 year old oil boiler and replace it with a System 2000 and save 40% on my oil use.

You can usually remove the side panels fairly easily. Take off one at a time and see what you have. Not sure? Post some photos and perhaps someone with a similar unit can guide you better. You're going to need a pro at some point anyway.

[Hench]

one or not. Do I have to take the whole cover off to see where it is leaking from and if I do what can I use to fix the leak ?

How much is the leak? alot or a little trickle?. Could it just be the condensate from a modern furnance and maybe the pump or the drain line is plugged?

[Tony Hwang]

one or not. Do I have to take the whole cover off to see where it is leaking from and if I do what can I use to fix the leak ?

Hi, Is your furnace high efficiency one? Condensate drain could plug up or drain hose can be loose or whatever. Take a look with cover off. Amount of water produced is not negligible in this case.

[nestork]

Normally, the word "furnace" is used for a forced air heating system, and "boiler" is use for a hot water heating system.

I'm presuming that by "furnace" you mean a "boiler".

If the water leaks a little bit and then stops, it could just be condensate dripping down from the chimney.

If it drips continuously, and it's coming from the middle part of the boiler, it might be a leak from between two segments of the boiler. If that's where it's coming from, then you're gonna need a heating contractor to take the boiler apart, fix the leak and put it back together. See if you can stick a mirror under the boiler and look around in there to identify the source of the leak. If I were you, I'd find out which of the heating contractors in your are deal with Burnham. They would have the most experience with this kind of boiler and know whether this kind of a leak is common with Burnham boilers, and if it can be fixed without taking the boiler apart.

In the mean time, maybe get a heating contractor that deals with Burnham to see if he can find the source of the leak. You might be best off to wait until summer to have it fixed.

[trader4]

d a new one or not. Do I have to take the whole cover off to see where it i= s leaking from and if I do what can I use to fix the leak ?

Amazing how an obvious troll can be taken seriously.

[nestork]

What makes you think this post isn't legit?

A Burnham v-14a-t is an oil fired hot water heating boiler. As such, it CAN leak water. Check out the following link:

'Heating Help'

[hrhofmann]

Well, the OP didn't furnish enough information to believe he really had a furnace/boiler, and didn't seem to know enough to even open the unit up, so the troll idea seemed plausible.

[Vic Smith]

one or not. Do I have to take the whole cover off to see where it is leaking from and if I do what can I use to fix the leak ?

Somebody here posted a link to that boiler, but it didn't open for me, so I forgot about this. In case you haven't called in a pro boiler guy, I'll say this. Very doubtful you can economically fix a leak in the boiler water jacket. Mostly likely caused by age/corrosion. Many reasons to get away from an old oil-fired unit, and get a new gas unit. One thing you can do is examine all pipe fittings attached to the water jacket, including the gauge fitting if it has one, It's possible for a leak to originate there and flow down to the firebox or other area within the casing (what you called "cover.") Like a roof that shows up a distance from the actual leak. If you can't see the leak in a fitting on the outside, you'll have to remove the casing. The residential ones I've removed are easy enough. Just sheet metal screws hold it together. Not even a real dirty job unless you clean the jacket fire passages. Good chance you'll have to pull the vent from the chimney, and re mortar that back in. You really should get some reputable HVAV guys to look at it. Just beware of chimney shakers.

.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Sure, if you can. They wanted $10,000 to run a gas line to my house and that was 30 years ago. I still burn oil.

[Vic Smith]

Checked the cost lately? About 1968 my ma was still burning hopper coal - in Chicago. When that hot water boiler sprung a leak she went to oil, because gas lines were too expensive. Didn't go to gas until about '80. Can't remember the details. Seems by now most gas utilities in densely populated areas would have worked out the service line costs. This glut of NG is real good.

[krw]

'Bout fifteen years ago a neighbor asked the gas company what it would cost for him to convert (from LP to natural). They told him that if he got everyone on the street to convert (everyone else had oil) that it wouldn't cost anything, except the cost of the burner. He convinced everyone but one, so the gas company did the street. I paid $25 because my chimney didn't have the required clean-out (which it should have had, by code) and $10/month, I think (or $850 for a new burner). They plumbed the street, and the houses, set everything up, and even planted grass seed the next spring. Well worth it!

[Ed Pawlowski]

The nearest line is a several hundred feet away and I'd be the only house using it. No payback for them or me.

[bob haller]

you might want to check the current cost. 30 years ago everything was special steel pipe.

today the lines are plastic rated for natural gas. in addition if you had a buddy with a backhoe you could have him do the digging saving even more

[Ed Pawlowski]

Would not be worth it. 30 years ago I was burning 800 gallons of oil a year. With a more efficient boiler, it is now about 450. I'd have to convert the boiler to gas too. Even if I save 50% on that, $800 a year is going to take a long time to pay it back. Maybe if I was 20 years younger.

[trader4]

While the price of pipe may be relatively less, the cost of everything else involved, eg labor, benefits, has skyrocketed. IOn my experience with plumbing, absent actual fixtures, the materials are not a major part of the cost. It would be interesting though to know what the cost would be today. I'd bet it's more than the $10K from 30 yearss ago, unless the utility has a new policy of eating more of the cost themselves. Which is possible. They are regulated and if pressure or mandates are put on them by regulators, anything is possible.

That would depend in part on where the digging has to be done and if the utility is OK with it. If it's along a road for example, that's probably out. And the buddy is probably not going to dig it right up to the gas main. Which means the gas utility may have to bring out the eqpt anyhow to do the last 10 ft. Then, what do they CLOSE it with? I doubt the utility is going to be OK with someone else backfilling. If they have to do part of it, may not be that much cost diff for the utility to do the whole thing.

[homeowner]

need a new one or not. Do I have to take the whole cover off to see where it is leaking from and if I do what can I use to fix the leak ?

Quick, call the hospital. You're wife's water broke!

[Ed Pawlowski]

I use it for cooking, but for heating, the cost benefits are not there. I also would have tank placement problems with a larger tank.