How successful is repairing old leaking OWB's?

[FlyingDutchman]

Dad had a couple leaks this season in his Johnson OWB he's been running since 1998. Hes a welder by trade, and we've had warm spells where he's been able to drain, repair, fill and continue life unscathed. A couple years ago we had a bad leak at 20 below and that wasn't nice.

He was possibly talking about replacing it, but i know they can't afford it and I doubt they will ever be able to successfully run a newer catalyst type stove with what we burn.

Has anyone rehabbed a rusty boiler before? The rust is specifically in the firebox around the door where snow gets on it every time you load it and the water in the wood condenses in the air because the door acts as a bit of a radiator. I checked: my Natures Comfort has accumulated a large amount of rust there, too since 2008.

I guess I know it can be done, but was wondering what level of success and longevity people had with it.

 

[NSMaple1]

It's a rolling the dice kind of proposition, IMO.

 

[Marley5]

If the water jacket is rusting from the inside out from lack of rust prohibiting additives then any fix is temporary.

Did you check the color of water or test the water ?

20 years is a reasonable lifespan for most OWB's......more if you follow a strick regimen of raking the coals daily to prevent condensation build up, scraping interior walls of creasote build-up,testing water several times during burn season and preventing drastic temperature fluctuations which causes exterior rust behind the insulation, spray-on insulation is more prone to rusting from outside in.

And finally.....thoroughly cleaning and coating the lower section of firebox with oil when shutting the stove down.

With your Dad's welding skills, he may get a few more years out of it but rust is like a cancer.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

The water is fine and clear, he maintains the boilers where he works and tests the water and never had even cloudy water come out or really had it test out of spec very much.

Surface rust is on the inside of the boiler on the door frame area, so it could technically be plated/patched. Just looking towards other people's experience with a similar situation to see how it panned out. This is where the other leaks have been. No idea of the real condition of the rest of the stove.

 

[motoman3b]

We purchased a used timberwolf unit off craigslist about five years ago, it had been leaking the bottom was rotted out from sediment over the years unit was atleast 10 years old and who knows if the guy used water treatment after tearing it down found there was also rot around the chimney, luckily the firebox seemed fine we had a plate bent for the lower portion of the unit welded it and patched the upper portion around the chimney, still going after 5 years so knock on wood, would I do it again probably not since its hard to tell what your getting into but in your case go ahead and try patching its worth a shot!

 

[cantoo]

At this point you have nothing to lose but time. I did a bit of research before I bought mine and most guys that fixed old ones that leaked just kept chasing leaks. I bought a stainless one that the owner had bought used and had no idea if it leaked or not. I got lucky, got it for a good price and no leaks Yet . Newer ones that leak are usually just a bad weld or 2 so maybe a one time fix.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

Dad and I both had read that the stainless ones cracked, and were usually a thinner material for more money too, which is why the ones we have are not stainless.

Good to hear some success, but we are def afraid of endlessly chasing leaks.

 

[NSMaple1]

He was possibly talking about replacing it, but i know they can't afford it and I doubt they will ever be able to successfully run a newer catalyst type stove with what we burn.

That makes me think that leaks will keep happening.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

That's gotten way better too, I've been working my butt off to help dad get and split wood so its dry and ready to go, and we recently upgraded to a splitter instead of hand splitting so stuff will have more dry time. Trying harder to get the wood covered and off the ground too.

 

[Ikeholt]

My Central Boiler is 18 years old. It's been pretty good, but started leaking from the outside a few months ago. Boiler stop leak stuff has been getting me by.

Getting close to Spring so I decided to open up the skin to see what was happening. Pulled the siding and removed some insulation. Looks like it got a couple pin hole leaks in the weld up high on the back corner. Water from there leaked down behind the insulation and started rusting the bottom corner. The rest of the steel looks pretty good.

I'm probably going to cut into it this summer and maybe weld in some patches. Even if it just buys a few more years, it's probably worth the trouble. I'd buy a new stove in a heart beat, if I knew for sure I would go 18 years. Trouble is some people have been buying new stoves that leak after just a few years. Kind of a crap shoot.