Vindication
Dec. 18th, 2009 02:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fitzwSo, here's the deal with the feed door on the boiler.
It's plate steel, with an insulation layer between the plates. Creosote builds up around the ends of the inner plate during normal use. This creosote is supposed to be cleaned out on a regular basis, especially at the end of the heating season, because creosote will absorb and hold water. Combining creosote's hydroscopic character with steel produces rust.
The door rusted through from the inside.
We're going to be patching the rust holes with furnace cement for the short term, and then welding a plate over the face of the door at a later time.
The brother (who will be handling the welding) agreed that my response last night (shutting down the furnace) was reasonable under the circumstances. Now that we know what the problem is, we can continue to use the boiler, making interim repairs.
It's plate steel, with an insulation layer between the plates. Creosote builds up around the ends of the inner plate during normal use. This creosote is supposed to be cleaned out on a regular basis, especially at the end of the heating season, because creosote will absorb and hold water. Combining creosote's hydroscopic character with steel produces rust.
The door rusted through from the inside.
We're going to be patching the rust holes with furnace cement for the short term, and then welding a plate over the face of the door at a later time.
The brother (who will be handling the welding) agreed that my response last night (shutting down the furnace) was reasonable under the circumstances. Now that we know what the problem is, we can continue to use the boiler, making interim repairs.
