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[loneryder]

Went out this am to load the boiler and heard water dripping.  Water was running out the back from the flue area.  Water did not register on gauge so I added a good amount and the leak just increased.  This is my second full winter with this CB.  WTF!!  I called my dealer who installed it and of course it's New Years Day so heard nothing.  Hoping for tomorrow am.  There's some bitter cold weather coming in and I don't want to be on heat pump.
Background:  I've been gone for a week. The fire had gone out and the water temp was 55.  The house 58 where I set it.  I cleaned out the ash and built a small fire.  It took over an hour to go up 10 deg.  I kept the fire small (3 logs) and the pump running.  Several hrs later I loaded it for the night when it was finally at 180.
Bad/broken weld at the flue???  Does CB honor their warranties?

[Sprinter]

Is there a possibility it froze? That's a long time to bring water temp up too. Chimney is the easiest place for blowing wind to enter and freeze.

[loneryder]

So here is the latest.  My dealer/installer came out today and took the flue and back off the 5036 trying to find the leak.  If I can attach a pic, you will see.  Turns out this thing has been leaking since the day I put water in it.  Leak started small and water stayed behind the foam corroding the 3/8 steel from the outside.  The inside is spotless because of the chemical and proper ph.  The area you see discolored is sheet metal thin and the big hole was enlarged with a screwdriver.  Where did they get this steel???  We took pics, emailed them to CB and the dealer called reporting it was the worst he had ever seen.  CB wants to pick up the boiler and take it back to the factory and repair it.  I get to pay for the repair labor and freight back and re-installation.  So I get to go without a boiler for the rest of winter and pay for them to rebuild my boiler that is in it's 2nd winter of use.  I burn nothing but dry hardwood with some occasional cardboard.  Between the steel and foam was over an inch of corrosion.
I have emailed them with good quality photos and requested that if I send the boiler back, I want a brand new one with a new warranty.  Their warranty says they only cover parts and materials but when they use such substandard steel, I don't think I should have to pay for that.  If this had been several years down the road, I could understand but it's still on it's original fill by the dealer who knows what he's doing.  They won't even pay him for todays labor.
So when you buy a Central Boiler there really is NO warranty.

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[loneryder]

On the first pic you can see how clean it is inside.  No rust or corrosion at all.  Here is a pic of the back of the boiler.  The discolored area is sheet metal thin when it should be 3/8" steel.

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[hondaracer2oo4]

Is that the thickness of the entire water jacket? Jeese it looks like 1/16", any idea what the actual thickness is? The fact that you have to ship these things back to the factory is ludicrous. No reason why they can't send a welder to you to fix it. I would suggest that you call a welder and have him cut the 8"x8" section out and weld in a new piece. You will be good to go in a few hours and for short money. Forget the warranty. Plenty of mobile welding/fab guys out there that would be happy to do it.

[willieG]

why would they send out a welder to fix their stove... a decent welder  with a portable rig would likley be  30 to 60 bucks an  hour...they would have to pay this and it is gone....if they entice you into paying the frieght to get the stove back to them (it cost them nothing) and if it is on their truck they are making money....they then charge you for the welding and labor to get to the problem and then again to put it back together (again making money) and they tell you they pay for the material (under warranty) if they install a patch they used a piece of drop off from something else that has allready been paid for.....if they give you abrand new end in the water jacket it may cost the around 28 to 30 cents a pound... the money they make off the  labour and trucking pays  for everything including the new steel.....they can now say they stand behind their warranty and fixed their customer up promply and under warranty....aint they swell

[loneryder]

Is that the thickness of the entire water jacket? Jeese it looks like 1/16", any idea what the actual thickness is? The fact that you have to ship these things back to the factory is ludicrous. No reason why they can't send a welder to you to fix it. I would suggest that you call a welder and have him cut the 8"x8" section out and weld in a new piece. You will be good to go in a few hours and for short money. Forget the warranty. Plenty of mobile welding/fab guys out there that would be happy to do it.

That whole rust colored area is thin and would need to be replaced.  An experienced welder is supposed to come out tomorrow to see if he can fix it.  I may do that rather than fool with CB.  That's some crummy steel in there.  Either that or they don't use what they state which is 3/8" mild steel.

[loneryder]

Is that the thickness of the entire water jacket? Jeese it looks like 1/16", any idea what the actual thickness is? The fact that you have to ship these things back to the factory is ludicrous. No reason why they can't send a welder to you to fix it. I would suggest that you call a welder and have him cut the 8"x8" section out and weld in a new piece. You will be good to go in a few hours and for short money. Forget the warranty. Plenty of mobile welding/fab guys out there that would be happy to do it.

If you look at the edges of the pic, those dark areas, that is more normal steel.  The rust colored area can be punched thru with a screwdriver and hammer.  It is no where near 3/8.

[Sprinter]

Wow .... Yeah that is. Really bad. If it were me I would get ready to go full bore on the Internet. With full details and excellent documentation. Do it thru email not on the phone, that will keep it all well documented responses. Including purchase receipt and all other details, so you maintain your credibility. That's an exterior leak, right? So nothing they can say about your part, unless there were install, handling damage. So a pic of the cover sheet metal too. After you have hit every website with a nice thread , see what they say. If they leave you hanging then let out all the info and details.
No way I would ship it back unless they have one there ready to put back in on the spot.  A local welder would be far cheaper and they know it. Please find out how thick the outer jacket is, a good welder will be able to tell you how good the metal is too. This is getting rediculous on these manufacturers problems and their CYA warranties, and I'm only referring to the ones that are  fully documented and shown to be manufacturer fault. Cause there are plenty of owner caused problems as well. There is big money in this industry, yet no one here in the states has taken a great proven design and copied it. Look at several of the indoor models that last way longer and some like Tarm for 30+++ years! then sell for a couple grand used still. Those cast iron exchangers are pretty tuff, but all we have are lousy steel box in box construction with cheap metal. Pretty sad that you spend 10-20 thousand on a system, to save a bunch of money if it last 10-12 years then have to buy another. No wonder there are so many for sale, or people getting away from it. The long term happy wood boiler owner is getting more and more rare.

[pwdiver]

I wish you the best for a repair that will be acceptable to you not CB, I think they should replace the whole unit with a new one sort of like the lemon law when you buy a new car thats got issue's.

[loneryder]

I wish you the best for a repair that will be acceptable to you not CB, I think they should replace the whole unit with a new one sort of like the lemon law when you buy a new car thats got issue's.

Thanks guys.  I'll keep you posted.

[woodywoodchucker]

well? how did the repair go?

[loneryder]

I had to leave town for 6 days so here is the latest.  Had a welder come out and put a 6x6 steel patch on the area of the holes.  I plan on cleaning it up real good and spraying it with hi temp primer and then with the foam spray insulation.  I'm just wondering if I should get the welder back out and replace the whole back of the water jacket because I don't know how much thinning has taken place.  Right now it's not leaking.  I really want to get it going asap because the cold weather is going to get colder and heat pumps suck.  Problem is it is not the proper temp range for spraying paint and foam.  I found a source for the spray foam insulation. http://www.sprayfoamkit.com/
BTW, Neither the dealer or myself have heard a word from CB.  So much for "customer service" and "warranty"!

[loneryder]

I had to leave town for 6 days so here is the latest.  Had a welder come out and put a 6x6 steel patch on the area of the holes.  I plan on cleaning it up real good and spraying it with hi temp primer and then with the foam spray insulation.  I'm just wondering if I should get the welder back out and replace the whole back of the water jacket because I don't know how much thinning has taken place.  Right now it's not leaking.  I really want to get it going asap because the cold weather is going to get colder and heat pumps suck.  Problem is it is not the proper temp range for spraying paint and foam.  I found a source for the spray foam insulation. http://www.sprayfoamkit.com/
BTW, Neither the dealer or myself have heard a word from CB.  So much for "customer service" and "warranty"!

Forget about this website.  Stuff doesn't work.  I bought 3 kits which are supposed to cover 12 sq ft each.  One arrived broken.  Another blew up in my face and made 1 hell of a mess.  The third simply wouldn't work.  I put some R19 faced insulation across the back and filled and fired the boiler up last night.  So far it's working until I can get the thing properly insulated and put back together.  I had sanded and painted the back with engine primer to stop corrosion.  This has been hell with this cold weather.  Hard to paint etc with the temps.  Now it's not going above freezing for the next 10 days.  Global warming my ass!

[Scott7m]

This is the main problem I see with spray foam issues as ive said for years on here, they can hide simple fixes and then by the time you find them, a lot of damage has taken place