I have had the boiler off for about a week, with the spring like weather we have been having. Once it started to get cold again, I noticed a small amount of water around the base of the boiler. I saw this once when I started it up, early in January, then it stopped once the boiler was up to temperature. This time, I was cleaning it out real good, and noticed a lot of real cold air was coming down from the chimney and into the smoke box of the boiler. The metal was real cold to the touch, as it was down to 24 last night. Once I fired up the boiler, I noticed water dripping, almost like in JA's video, but once the boiler heated up, it stopped. I think there is way too much contraction and expansion from real cold boiler to it starting to warm up. I think I will remove the exhaust stack the next time I have it off for a while so it doesn't get real cold again, and try a little Stop Leak in there, in hopes to seal it.

I also noticed water (which was the first time) coming from around the outside of the water jacket, and seeping out of the bottom pan. I many need to check the 4 other port holes to make sure they are sealed good.

But, this morning, dry as a bone. Still think it has to do with cold air coming down the chimney and making the boiler freezing cold.

I think Mike at State Line Cornburners has boiler tanks if you need to replace it. Maybe it will stay dry when in use. Have you needed to add water to your system? Good Luck! -CC

I have a fresh water feed always going into the boiler and an air scraper to remove any bubbles or air in the water. Once it heats up, it stops leaking, but this is the first time when I fired it up that I noticed a little water dripping from the tube. It may just be condensation from the boiler being so cold???? The outer jacket, I hope, is just one of the four caps that go in to cover the 4 non used ports. This spring, I will drain the tank and remove and re-install the caps. The boiler is too young to do this (I hope) and I never let the boiler temps get down below 140 degrees.

Just an update, still no leaks. Sting warned me about running to cold, and the only time it gets below 140 is when it's being shut down.

Thats fine -- just don't let the fires tubes remain dirty - when you shut it off - if you don't plan to immediately bring the vessel back up to temperature - clean it and treat it like you would for a seasonal shutdown.

Kind Regards
Sting

Sting wrote:


Hey stranger, good to see you lurking around. I am a little too fanatical about keeping the vessel clean! Even if I shut down for a couple of days, first thing I do is give her a good cleaning. After next week, I will be shutting her down for the season, and may dismantle since we are looking to move. Speaking of which, did you ever sell your place?????

Got the boiler shut down (actually ran out of fuel) so I decided let's put her away for the season. Low and behold, no leek. I am really guessing having the black iron vent to the chimney attached in way below freezing conditions had a major part of the dripping I saw. Still half tempted to fire her back up for a couple more days, but will resist. Don't want to have to re-clean all over again. So all is well.