WOOD BOILER PIN HOLE

lenray

Well-known Member
I have a very small wood boiler---BUDERUS---German made. Have used it for many years to heat our home. It will hold a fire all night. Going to try and put up a pic.
Right in the back where the wood will hit if shoved into the door--it has developed a tiny pin hole. See where it is marked in chalk and where the magnet is sticking.

Any chance that could be repaired??????? a magnet sticks to it....Have a professional welder in the neighborhood. The hole is VERY tiny and the area around it seems to be solid...
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We had a ~20 year old HS Tarm wood boiler that got a pinhole in almost the same spot in 2012. I had a welder come out and weld it up but when i filled the boiler again a new hole had opened up. There are structural members that suspend the firebox in the outer case that holds the water, I can't think of the proper terms for these parts. The pinhole opened up next to one of those cross members and the new hole was next to another one. We ended up buying a new boiler but the welder paid us a few hundred for the old one and replaced the entire firebox in it, and last I knew he was planning to use it for a backup boiler at his house. He works at a boiler factory so he knew how to do it. It would not have been cost effective for us to pay him to do the work.
Zach
 
I watched/assisted a guy repair a small hole in the side of one a few years ago. He just used a grinder to clean up the area real good, and put about a 4 inch square patch over the area. The guy with the stove is still using it years later.
 
Is this an "open"/non pressurized system? If so, it MAY be very corroded/eaten away from the inside out due to dissolved
e oxygen in the water, and making a lasting repair and having no other leaks develop might not be likely.

Also, having any type of plastic pipe in the system that is not special "oxygen barrier" tubing will do the same thing.
 
Don't laugh but put carnation instant milk in the water. Seen it done several times,kinda like pepper in a radiator.
 
It is all copper piping and it has about 12-14 lbs. of pressure. It is also hooked into our oil fired boiler so if one goes down we just turn a couple valves and use it that way. Using the oil now. Looking at getting a propane boiler as a back up for the oil boiler, but have a LOT OF WOOD CUT---So if we could get a little more life out of the wood boiler that would bee great....
 
Fixing the hole would be like fixing a hole in an air compressor tank. It's a sign the boiler is worn out and needs replacing.
 
That is not a good sign for the overall life of your boiler. I would assume that that is pit corrosion caused by poor water quality or lack of treatment or possibly just bad luck and age. You will need to drain the water below that level and weld to repair.

I fixed a pinhole like that in my storage tank on my old boiler with a self tapping screw but in the firebox I am not sure that is a good idea.
 
From the picture, the other tubes look real rough to me, so would probably not be prudent.

If the boiler has ASME sticker, then welding on the tubes would be prohibited unless the welder had a stamp.
 
The name you are looking for is a Stay bolt . The small 15 lb. Boilers i work on do thus after quite a few years of use but what will save the boiler right from the start is water treatment. An in line cartridge with crushed lime in the line works wonders. Inside of the boiler we hang a descaler. This is nothing more than a zink anode. I would buy a new boiler. Bet if he wacks it with a hammer it will make one heck of a big hole in paper thin metal! If he goes with a new boiler and there is a extra pipe plug or "TEE" it in, use a water heater zink anode and that should keep things from corroding. Check the rod once a season.
 
Does the pin hole start on the fire side or the water side? If it comes from the water side it could be due to cavitation caused by a hot spot on the water side. Either way I would expect more pin holes to show up soon. I would start saving for a new boiler next heating season if not now.
 
Take a welding chipping hammer and tap on it around the hole and several places that look poor with the pointed end to see if you can poke holes in it. If you can't poke holes with a reasonably sharp chipping hammer you can likely just weld it shut and get a year or so morebout of it. If you get holes from the hammer it is beyond repair. I have repaired several like that. Sometimes it is just from a flaw in the steel or from som type of electrolysis or something and is just a limited area.
 
Agree on the canned milk. Sweetened Condensed Canned Milk is what our local boiler service guy recommends. 4 cans per 100 gallon capacity. Might get you on through the winter.
 

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