Need New Gas Steam Boiler-Which Ones Are Good?

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i have a 23 year old slant fin gas boiler it is 225,000 btu's and i need to replace it because of a cracked tank.Which are the better ones and what should i watch out for. Some of these plumbers here in New Jersey are shady and all the ones i know do oil burners and not steam gas. I had a few estimates from $4500.00 to over $8000.00 but i dont know that much about boiler quality and which ones last the longest. Any help would be great thanks!
 
I've been told that most of the name brand boilers are very good and actually have many of the same parts.
When I replaced my 30+ year old Peerless a couple of years ago I asked the guy about putting in another Peerless and he suggested a Dunkirk to save me money.
The Dunkirk has been very good and far more economical....


PS: It's a gas hot water (not steam) unit...
 
Around here it's mostly Burnham. Have you tried Boiler Liquid? It's about $9 at Home Depot in the plumbing aisle. It's sorta like stop leak, but for boilers. I've used it in my steam boilers and it works. I had replaced two other boilers a while ago that had leaks, but never tried the boiler liquid til another landlord told me about it. You can also find them being sold online, but I was able to get a 105k BTU one for less than the online price, but I had to call a few places to get a good price. Once I found a low one, I had my plumber call and he got an even lower price as he got a plumber's discount.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Wasn't this question asked a few weeks ago?


Yes, I think so. I also told the guy to try the boiler liquid, but never heard back from him. There's also lots of used boilers on craigslist. The really big ones that are 200k BTU+ tend to stick around for a while because most people don't need one that big so the discount is greater.
 
Yes i did ask a while back but i forgot, Sorry...
I still don't have any answers as to which ones are the better ones it seems the plumbers all have their favorites and most go with cheap boilers to look like they are giving a better price. I had 5 random guys giving me estimates and they were all shady except one.. Only one had a business address that was real.
 
I would suggest a Buderus. They have an excellent reputation. A Slant Fin is what HomeDepot sells and not as high a quality as others like Buderus.

A secondary question, how large is the building to need a 227K BTU boiler? That's huge, commercial size.

Unless the building is 8000 to 10,000 SQ FT, I would look at an energy audit.
 
I would suggest a Buderus. They have an excellent reputation. A Slant Fin is what HomeDepot sells and not as high a quality as others like Buderus.

A secondary question, how large is the building to need a 227K BTU boiler? That's huge, commercial size.

Unless the building is 8000 to 10,000 SQ FT, I would look at an energy audit.
 
Many boilers are in sections made of cast iron. They add sections to get more BTU at the factory. Can someone just replace the section? I am sure its not too easy to rip out a section.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Many boilers are in sections made of cast iron. They add sections to get more BTU at the factory. Can someone just replace the section? I am sure its not too easy to rip out a section.


Yes, you can rip out sections, that's how they're bolted together and that's how you repair a leaking one. But it's quite involved. It would just be cheaper and easier to get a different boiler. Plus I don't think most plumbers know how to do it, they're just used to putting in a new one. Also that's the point of using boiler liquid, it's meant to seal up leaks in boilers and it really does work. You just add it to the boiler through the relief valve, fire up the boiler and when it leaks out and cools, it seals the leak.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hercules-1-qt-Boiler-Liquid-30115/100147992
 
Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
how safe is that boiler liquid?


What do you mean by that? I wouldn't suggest drinking it, but either it works in the boiler or it doesn't. If it doesn't work, you need to get a new boiler anyway. I've been using it for a couple of years now. Works for several months, then it starts to leak again. Then I pour more in and it stops the leak again for a couple more months. Mine is a pretty big leak though, all the water would drain out in a couple hours before I put it in.
 
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