Finally got that old boiler back online after 3 days of headaches

Been fighting with a 20 year old Cleaver-Brooks in a warehouse downtown since Tuesday. Took me forever to track down a cracked tube in the rear pass, thought I was gonna have to replace the whole section. Found a guy at a supply shop who tipped me off to a weld repair trick that actually held. Any of you ever tried brazing a hairline crack instead of cutting it out?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancygrant21d ago

Funny you mention crossing fingers, because that's kinda how a lot of life goes when you're fixing something old. You try a shortcut because the right way would take twice as long and cost three times as much, and sometimes it holds and sometimes it doesn't. It's like patching up a worn out pair of jeans for one more season instead of buying new ones, you know it's a gamble but you take it anyway. That boiler's probably got a few more years of that kind of thinking left in it. Just keep an ear on it for the next few cycles and you'll know if the luck held.

terry_carter159d ago

Hold on, when you brazed that tube, did you drain it completely or try to work on it hot? I've always heard that's a mistake because even a little bit of moisture left in there can mess up the braze. Just wondering if that's why yours held better than what kimr10 is saying about.

kimr1021d ago

Hold up, you brazed a cracked tube on a Cleaver-Brooks? I'm honestly shocked that held, those old boilers are notorious for cracking worse under heat. I've seen guys try that trick on a firetube once and it just split open again after a day. If you got it to stick on a rear pass, you better have crossed your fingers and said a prayer. Ngl, I'd be checking that weld every shift for the next week.