# I needed a project



## eugene13 (Oct 8, 2017)

Summer's over, the garden is harvested and I began thinking about a new project.  Then we had a cold snap and I decided to fire up my heating system, but my boiler wouldn't start due to low water level.  Fearing the worse i crawled into the firebox with a flashlight, and observed a small stlagtite of calsified material hanging down from one of the tubes.  "Perhaps it's just a pinhole", I silently prayed.  The pressure washer quickly knocked down all the ash and slag, and I could do nothing as all my boiler fluid (50/50 water and propolene glycol) ran out and soaked into the ground.  The first pic is in situ, at first I thought the damage was caused by fuel erosion but a look on the outside of the housing indicates a hot spot caused by too much insulation and the close proximity of the the liquid lines.  Now I have a project: pull the water jacket out and make repairs, before it gets cold.


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## kvt (Oct 8, 2017)

ouch,   I would make sure none of the others had any problems while I had it apart.    What a was that you could not catch the fluid, as I know it is prob a bit of cost to refill it.


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## eugene13 (Oct 9, 2017)

The rest of the tubes are OK, we whacked them with a soft hammer and they sounded good.  Why didn't I catch the fluid?  I wasn't set up with a pump and a barrel, I will be if there's a next time, $800 for a barrel of glycol and $120 for 2 gallons of corrosion inhibiter, ouch indeed.


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## eugene13 (Oct 14, 2017)

AND THE HITS KEEP COMING:  My first option in this deal was to buy a new waterjacket and drop it in but the folks who made this unit have none in stock, OK, and they're not going to be building any in the near future.  My guess is that's because the EPA won't allow them to sell them in the US without a bunch of expencive testing.  CAREFUL, WE'RE STRAYING INTO POLITICS AND THAT'S NOT ALLOWED HERE.  Nuff said.  After consulting with my engineer and my welder we decided that the best repair would be to replace the tube, here's the location for the window laid out on the side of the water jacket.  Here I am all PPEd up and ready to cut, and heres the window.  because this unit is stainless steel I"ll do all my cutting, welding and grinding outside as I don't want to contaminate my shop with Hexavalent Chrome.  Once the window was open the plasma torch made short work of the tube, the hard work was getting the ends of the tube seperatred from the tube sheet, here's a picture, all cleaned up and ready to weld, one down and one to go.


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## eugene13 (Oct 17, 2017)

In my last post I neglected to mention that the company who built this offered to sell me the plans for the waterjacked for a mere $500.  I declined their offer, Bill (my engineer) and I have decided to reverse engineer their product and perhaps improve upon it a bit.  Cutting a window into the side let us see how the internal piping is arrainged.  Meanwhile our repair effort is making good progress;  New tube installed in firebox, I used 304 stainless 3' at $42.23 per foot.  Parbuckeling the waterjacket over to give the welder optimum possition (downhand).  I havn't done this kind of work since I retired, I'd forgotten how much fun, and how much work it is.  I don't like to use a choke uneiss I have to, but when I do I always use a shackel so the sling slides smoothly and pulls tighter.


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## eugene13 (Oct 22, 2017)

All welded up and ready to close, once the welding was finished everything went pretty fast, my welder son had to work me in between his working overtime, chasing high school football games and celebrating his birthday.  Pad welding where the tube sheet was thinned out.  The water jackefailed it's first hydro, here's my son Bryan, trying to pick up a weeper.  We ground out the weld and second time was a charm.  This turned out to be a neighborhood effort, the 'A' frame belongs to my neighbor Jeff, the other gent is my neighbor Lander, and my other neigbor Dave helping me erect the chimneyFinally, fire in the hole, one day before the cold front.  Thanks for watching, everybody.
	

		
			
		

		
	

View attachment 244909


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## kvt (Oct 22, 2017)

Glad you got it back togther in time,  An d to have friends in the are to get the help with it.   
NOw  to take care and have fun instead of repair.


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## eugene13 (Oct 25, 2017)

Yeah, now I need another project.


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