My boiler died young!
Enjoyed the delightful news today that my Weil-McLain boiler–a brand that everybody seems to think is so great–has a crack between two of its sections. You can see the steam coming out of it. Which certainly would explain why I was having to top it off every couple of days or it would shut down….
Enjoyed the delightful news today that my Weil-McLain boiler–a brand that everybody seems to think is so great–has a crack between two of its sections. You can see the steam coming out of it. Which certainly would explain why I was having to top it off every couple of days or it would shut down.
Why would such a well-regarded brand crap out so early? I’ve only owned it for a year; does this mean previous owner allowed it to burn dry frequently or something?
And does anybody have an argument for Burnham over WM? I’m somewhat disinclined to give WM any more of my money at this point. Muchas gracias.
lah … i hope you had the near piping rationalized, or you have the same failure in 7-10 years
weil mclain is an excellent boiler ..it is a testament to the brand that it lasted 15 years with an inept installation and poor maintenance…
Ah, we had the VERY same issue in October–found out our 15 year-old Weil-McLain had cracked in almost the same place. This after our engineer told us the boiler was in great shape…”like finding a Mercedes in the boiler room” (we just bought the house in April, so October was the first time we tried to use it). We also suspect bad maintenance, but worried that there was something about the brand itself. So when we replaced it, we didn’t get another one. Bad karma…I feel your pain!
Rehab, what model boiler is your Weil-McLain?
EGH-(?) or EG-(?)
maintenance on a boiler is like getting a yearly physical… if the guy doing maintenance is decent, he can catch problems before they become catastrophic, and save you a ton of money in the long term
Thanks, Eman. It sounds as if you may be on to something.
The crack is, indeed, all the way on the left side of the boiler (viewed from the front) and the outflow pipe (yes, one-pipe steam system) is on the far right. And the left side is plugged. The site of the crack is startlingly corroded–chunks and flakes of rust just crumbling off.
Also, I have strong reason to believe previous owner did not maintain, because he didn’t maintain anything.
But how does not maintaining lead to this sad outcome? Letting the boiler burn dry? Overheat?
You perform a valuable service answering these posts, and I’m sure it is excellent for your business. Depending on timing, I will definitely consider taking you up on your offer of a consult. Many thanks.
okay its upstate, but my oil guys are heavy burnham fans with the “riallo” burner option. I replaced a nearly 30 year old boiler that looked like shit and worked great, but something about being told these things were designed for 25 cent a gallon fuel oil made me want to increase efficiency
Where did you get the boiler?
And if it was a used boiler that you purchased and had installed, did the person who installed it disassemble the cast-iron sections to transport it to your site? Is the leak coming from between two sections, or is it actually coming from a crack?
it sounds like a lack of basic maintenance, coupled with a cheap installation job…i am assuming a one pipe steam system, and i would lay odds that the installer plugged one of the steam takeoffs on the top of the boiler, leaving only one steam feed out of the boiler…this has depressed the water level on the plugged side, causing it to overheat and crack..a lot of old boiler replacements are done this way, because that was the existing layout for the old boiler…near piping is really important on a steam system, but a lot of homeowners get bids on boiler replacement, not reworking the steam pipes…btw weil mclain, burnham, and smith are the preeminent american steam brands.. if you want me to give a free consultation, this is aservice that i offer , you can reach me @ errol832000@yahoo.com