There is a fair amount of seepage around the edges and the bolts of the faceplate on the tankless coil on my Burnham V14 boiler. When the boiler comes on regularly for heating, the moisture evaporates and just leaves a lot of mineral deposits, but in the summer I have the boiler on a timer so it only comes on three times per 24 hours. Things get pretty wet that way.

I had the same problem about a decade ago, pulled the coil and replaced the gasket. That held for a year or two. I'm about to give it another shot.

Is there a better than the standard (rubber IIRC) gasket material available? Is there any sort of goop-in-a-tube that could be used with the gasket, or by itself? I suspect to find quite a bit of pitting on the boiler where the coil plate is mounted and on the surface of the matching surface of the plate as well.

The bolts look badly corroded. Any advice on how to get them out with the least chance of their snapping off?

Would I be better off just leaving the thing alone and put up with the wetness till I need to replace the 18 year old boiler with a new one and a hot water tank?


Thanks

 

There is a Loctite product, I don't remember the name or part number, that is essentially a silicone "gasket in a can" that you could use to seal that up, pits and all. It is like a silicone caulk and you would first thoroughly clean both mating surfaces with a wire brush (power wire wheel) and then wipe with a solvent before running a bead of the sealant.

Of course this first requires that you get the silly coil out and that may prove to be difficult.

My preference would be to find another way of making hot water, either an indirect heater (which could be used on a new boiler when that day comes) or a stand-alone water heater. I think that in-boiler tankless coils are about the worst way on the planet of making domestic hot water.

 

Furd,
I totally agree and I'm looking into my options in that regard (I'll probably be back with more questions once I've learned enough to ask them more or less intelligently), but I would still need to seal off that tankless coil to get rid of the wet mess I have now.

I'll look into the Loctite product. I think you may be referring to the high temperature silicone gasket maker I've used on the cooling systems of old car engines I've rebuilt.

Thanks for the response.

 

Is a 'rust buster' that is the absolute best I've found... forget stuff like "liquid wrench" or "wd40" ... might as well spritz water on the bolts, that's how good those work compared to PB Blaster. You should be able to find it at auto part stores, I've even seen it at WalMart...

The stuff STINKS! so don't go crazy with it, you only need a little bit. spritz the threads on the bolts and let it sit for a while... do it again, and let it sit again... then try to loosen the bolts... once the bolts are loose, put another spritz on, and let it get down in the threads, then 'wiggle' the nut, tight/loose/tight/loose before backing it off... start backing the nut off and if you feel it tighten up, STOP! and run the nut back down... wipe the threads with a rag to get the rust crud off and another spritz of the blaster... bring the nut back up again and each time it feels like it's binding up on the rust, 'wiggle' it some more, and run it back down and wipe the threads clean again.

If you wire brush the rust off the threads before you back the nut off, that will help also...

Basically, just take your time, and you should be able to get the nuts off without breaking any of the studs...

I would be inclined to use a new gasket with a thin layer of the high temp silicone on both sides of it.

When you reinstall, put anti-sieze on the threads (another loctite product). I like the 'lipstick' container that it comes in now, much less messy... and after the boiler is reheated, tighten the bolts again. Then, after a few thousand miles, retorque them again. (if you have a torque wrench, use it, and get them all the same tightness, much as you would with a cylinder head)...

 

Thanks, Trooper. I use PB Blaster regularly working on my clunkers. It would have been my choice potion for this job unless you boiler gurus had a better alternative. I'm also an anti-seize fan, so, if I had my wits about me the last time I had this thing apart, I may actually have put it on. I can't remember, but I can hope.

Would going to stainless bolts be a good idea?

 

I don't know that going to stainless bolts would really help anything... the studs are regular steel, they're still gonna rust. I don't think it would hurt though, but if you use the anti-sieze you shouldn't have a problem getting them off again ten years from now.

Don't use gobs and gobs of the sealant either... more is NOT better! unless it's Beer 4U2 . Remember that when you tighten the flange bolts, that stuff is gonna compress, and the bolts will feel tight, your torque wrench will 'click'. But then the stuff will sloooowly ooze out under the pressure, and the bolts will loosen again. This is why I would recommend re-torquing them over the course of a few days/heating cycles, until they stay at the proper torque.

If you are able to get a good leak free seal when you re-do it, and check the tightness of the bolts periodically, it should never leak again...