boiler leak question?

[stumper]

I am concerned I may have a leak in my Eclassic 2300.  The boiler will no longer heat the house and the creosote is liquidy.  I have not been loosing and water but this is the first time I the boiler has not been able to heat the house.  Sure this is the first time this winter the temps have dipped below -10 F, but certainly not the first time in the life of the boiler.  It also seems like there is a slow stream of creosote running down the rear of the boiler from the by-pass. 

When others have had leaks did they loose water?  Did they have trouble heating?  Did the creosote change?

The weather will be turning very warm (up to 40) later this week so I will burn it out and perform a full cleaning.

Thoughts and areas to look?

[Roger2561]

Stumper - I would imagine that if you had a leak somewhere you'd notice a drop in the water level.  Do you have guages on the boiler before the pipe enters the ground and again on the water lines inside the house?  If not, find a way to measure the water temp at the OWB and again water inside the house.  Do you know if the circ is operating properly at the OWB?  Maybe your underground water lines have been compromised or they are waterlogged, sucking every bit of heat out of the water before it gets inside the house.  I am not by any stretch a professional but I have learned a lot from others on this and other sites what to look for.  Good luck and keep us posted.  Roger   

[r.man]

If you are not loosing reservoir water then the liquid creosote is probably volume caused by low fire conditions. Is your tank coming up to its set temperature? If your tank temps are below normal then you have either a lack of combustion air, a lack of chimney draft or greener wood than usual. Check to see that  your combustion fan is running at full speed and I believe you have solenoid doors for full air that I am assuming you can check while running. How your fire reacts with the door open can also be a clue to what might be wrong. If the tank is reaching its set and cycling you may have it set too low for the outside conditions.

[VTwoodworker]

Unfortunately, I have experienced a few leaks in the water jacket in my eclassic.  Small leaks will not affect the water level very dramatically but you will notice some steam from the moisture when you open the door and the steam will actually clean the creosote from the sides of the firebox.  But the creosote mostly just burned up when that happened.  A small leak will affect the burn significantly and a moderate size leak will result in no fire and standing water in the reaction chamber.   When it  warms up let your  fire burn way down for a few hours.  If there is a leak into the firebox the ashes will be damp.  Also, look for orange rust streaks on the walls of the firebox.  These have been visible with very small leaks and before other symptoms have shown up. 

I am waiting for the welder to show up and do some repairs now before I can refire mine. 

I think you can do everything correctly and it is just a matter of time before all eclassics leak.

[stumper]

The boiler was not coming up to temp.  It was definitely adding heat but just not enough.  During the day today it did come up to temp.  I have thermometers on the in bound and out bound lines and they had a similar spread in temp as when things were operation well.  The wood was all put up at the same time and all stored in a shed.  Solenoids were operating correctly.  The reaction chamber was not full and had a nice roaring flame.

I will preform a full cleaning on Wednesday when spring temperatures arrive.  That will mean a full burn out and ash removal.  Hopefully, I will not find a leak and just a cleaning will solve it.

[stumper]

Full cleaning today.  No sign of any issues?  Boiler up and running at temperature.  Creosote normal.  I have no idea what was wrong.

[milkie62]

What I had noticed was my wood filling times were lasting a lot longer but the house seemed to not be as warm. Apparently the leak in mine was keeping the fire at bay.Never thought to check water level.

[E Yoder]

I've seen a clogged chimney or air intake choke the burn down to where it sweated profusely and dripped water everywhere. You'd have thought a leak for sure, then dried right up when proper airflow was restored.
Not saying yours isn't leaking, just another thing to check.