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jarhead143 January 1st 13 07:44 PM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 
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 ?


--





Hench January 1st 13 09:33 PM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 
On 1/1/2013 3:04 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:44:01 +0000, jarhead143
wrote:

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 ?


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.


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 January 1st 13 10:16 PM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 


jarhead143 wrote:
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 ?


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 January 1st 13 10:47 PM

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.

[email protected][_2_] January 1st 13 11:20 PM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 
On Jan 1, 4:16*pm, Tony Hwang wrote:
jarhead143 wrote:
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 ?


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.


Amazing how an obvious troll can be taken seriously.

nestork January 2nd 13 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [_2_] (Post 2988936)
Amazing how an obvious troll can be taken seriously.

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

hr(bob) [email protected] January 2nd 13 10:26 PM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 
On Jan 2, 12:00*am, nestork wrote:
[_2_ Wrote:

;2988936']
Amazing how an obvious troll can be taken seriously.


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' (http://tinyurl.com/bakp8dc)

--
nestork


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 January 3rd 13 12:06 AM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 
On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:44:01 +0000, jarhead143
wrote:

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 ?


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.

..




nestork January 3rd 13 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hr(bob) [email
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.

Geez, man. The guy was able to give us the make and model number of his boiler. Like most people, he probably got that info off the boiler itself. And, for me, that's good enough proof that the boiler exists... ...and is probably leaking water.

Ed Pawlowski January 3rd 13 12:05 PM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 
On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:06:56 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:



Many reasons to get
away from an old oil-fired unit, and get a new gas unit.


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.

Ed Pawlowski January 4th 13 04:38 AM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 
On Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:06:46 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Thu, 03 Jan 2013 06:05:26 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:06:56 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:



Many reasons to get
away from an old oil-fired unit, and get a new gas unit.


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.


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.


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 January 4th 13 05:04 AM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 
On Jan 3, 10:38*pm, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:06:46 -0600, Vic Smith





wrote:
On Thu, 03 Jan 2013 06:05:26 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:


On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:06:56 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:


*Many reasons to get
away from an old oil-fired unit, and get a new gas unit.


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.


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.


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


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 January 4th 13 11:57 AM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 
On Thu, 3 Jan 2013 20:04:14 -0800 (PST), bob haller
wrote:




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


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.

[email protected][_2_] January 4th 13 04:07 PM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 
On Jan 4, 5:57*am, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Thu, 3 Jan 2013 20:04:14 -0800 (PST), bob haller
wrote:



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



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.



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


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.




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.



[email protected] January 5th 13 05:17 AM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 
On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:44:01 +0000, jarhead143
wrote:

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 ?

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


Ed Pawlowski January 5th 13 05:27 AM

water leaking burnham v-14a-t
 
On Fri, 4 Jan 2013 15:10:35 --0800, Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds
wrote:

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Thu, 3 Jan 2013 20:04:14 -0800 (PST), bob haller
wrote:




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


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.


what about propane?


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.


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