S S hot water wood boiler

Have a chance to buy a hardy hot water wood boiler . But it
has a crack in the outer jacket. Can it be welded and hold or
should I leave it a long. It stainless steel. What would be the
best way to weld it stick , mig , or tig. Thanks
 
The Hardy stove is an open pressure system. So you could weld it without worrying about it blowing up.

As far as what to weld it with. It would depend on where it cracked. They have a 16 gauge inside layer and a 26 gauge outer layer. So that is some real thin stuff to weld. The thin stuff is just about going to have to be welded with a TIG setup. The thicker inner layer could be welded with MIG easily.

I used to have a wood water boiler. I looked at the Hardy stoves. I thought they where too lightly built. I know they claim that the Stainless Steel makes they last and the thiner firebox is more heat efficient. I just did not think the stove would hold up.
 
On one of the fire wood forums there was a discussion a year os so ago abut the welds on the SS boilers cracking. I have the all steel Woodmaster and when we bought it I almost bought a SS steel one
 
I'd think the "outer jacket" would be pretty easy to fix - so easy I'd suspect there's more to the story. The outer jacket of the boiler is easily accessed, simply by removing the “skin” and insulation, something easily done with only two people. Mine is 15 years old, and trouble free. If the boiler you’re looking at has the square door opening, it’s one of the earlier designs, and I’m told, it’s more prone to cracking from the square corners at the top of the door opening. I have a friend who had the old style, with the square door opening. It cracked, and even though he’s a good welder, he opted to buy a new boiler, rather than weld up the old one. His old one was approaching 20 years old, so that was a factor in his decision.
 
You notice he isn"t talking about how the one he bought years ago is still operating like brand new. He is telling us that the Hardy he is looking at is already broke. Just think, this thread could have been about your cracked Hardy wood boiler.
 
I have repaired a few of these heaters. I have had one myself for 9 years and have had no problems with leaks. Most of the ones I have worked on have been 15 to 20 years old. The water jacket is 16 ga T304 stainless. It all depends where the leak is as to how easy it will be to repair.I have replaced whole sides and have seen a few cracks around the door area where wood has been dropped on the door frame. You won't have much luck repairing it with anything but TIG. If it is a good deal, I'd buy it, they are good heaters.
 
Welded lots of wood boilers over the years. Yes you can weld it and make it hold. Depending on where the crack is it's best to plate over the crack if you can, rather than just weld it up. Outside cracks are fairly rare tho and I would really want to know why it's cracked there. A picture is worth a thousand words. As for what to use to weld it that would depend on how thick the material is. According to their website the water jacket and firebox are 16ga. stainless. For that use wirefeed with .023 wire.
 
I worked for a company that made large heat exchangers-air to air-that some were stainless. Had problems with cracking on stainless but not on mild steel. Stainless will move more during the heat-cool process, hence the cracking problem. I have 2 outdoor boilers from Central Boiler and would NOT buy a stainless heater.
 
I've patched up a few SS boilers but some I've looked at I refused to touch as previous repairs were attempted. What surprises me is the times a qualified welder has made a weld on stainless without back gassing the weld. Most previous repairs were not back gassed and as such the weld and weld zone were compromised. I quote my price based on doing a back gassed Tig repair. Most times I'm told "well so and so will do it for less", I just say well have at it. Stainless of any grade in a 450 degree or higher temp exposure for extended periods is dicey at best. Welds that are not back gassed typically are considered only 30% as strong as they could be due to carburization (boiling the carbon out of the stainless) on the backside of the weld due to the presence of oxygen. Stainless is a different animal than regular steel or cast in these respects.
 
The foreman at a factory I worked at early in my welding career used to like to tell the perfectionist welders that worked there that the best weld is one that meets the criteria for the job. More than that is just more, not better.
 
Still going strong and it's been 25 years since then. Schlagel Inc. in Cambridge Mn. They did a fair amount of SS food handling equipment there, maybe 25% of the total for the place.
 
I do the warrenty work for the local central boiler dealer. Have welded a lot more leaks in them than I have in the Hardys, but Taylor is #1 for leaks in my part of the country.
 
that's what I am wondering....over heated, ran out of water? I had a royall stainless I junked it....went with www.nationalstoveworks.com thermal-control boiler in the insulated jacket model 2,000 and put it in my shop...now I am getting hot water for shop heater and runs to house to heat that plus get conventional heat off boiler and pipe....in shop I know the owner real well that's help as well....back with 20 year nonprorated warranty and is a closed system...not open one...
you can tig or mig stainless, mig you need special mix gas we call mix 52 at haun welding supply....you can purg it with nitrogen as you weld it.....like what was mentioned above.....
kelly

kelly
 

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