Large commercial hot water heat exchanger leaking

[Louie]

I'm the property guy for the church. We sprung a leak in one of the large heat exchangers in one of the building air handlers. It is fed by a gas fired hot water boiler. The local mechanical contractor came by to look it over today, and pronounced it dead. They said the leak can't be repaired. To make matters worse, the 1960's vintage air handler is somewhat built into the building in a small mechanical room, so they will have to dismantle the unit, and take out the refrigerant coil to get to the heat coil. Yeah, lots of labor cost coming our way on a tight budget. Any suggestions on an easier fix or saving some money - besides telling the congregation to wear their coats all winter?

[Zyp]

Sorry;

Looks like you all are going to have to have a lot of cake sales to make up that cost. Your congregation should have thought about the replacement while the unit was up to snuff all those years. If you would have "put" some of those plate offerings away for a rainy day, you'd be ahead of it.

[Bubba]

Louie, C'mon. Enough is enough. Its time to break the church piggy bank open and spend some bucks. Do a little planning. Get something efficient and make sure it fits easily in the room this time. Make it accessable and serviceable. Done correctly, you might find that it will pay for it self in fuel savings in a very short time. Otherwise, I hear bubble gum and duct tape work wonders. Bubba

[Tekkie®]

Louie posted for all of us...

Bars Leak is heavenly...

[Louie]

Update: I got a quote for fabricating a new hot water coil $1,500. Now I need to get it installed. I think this can be done by dismantling the top of the large air handler (remove the motor and two blowers) and then lift the old hot water coil out and over the refrigerant coil - the goal is not to have to disturb the refrigerant coil. Labor will be steep...