Water under my boiler!

[jayoldschool]

I was last in my mechanical room a couple of weeks ago to add salt to my softener tank. The floor has always (to my knowledge) been bone dry. Today, I find that there is water (1-2mm) under my boiler, and it is draining towards my sump pit.

A little background on my system. I live out in the country, and use well water. Oil heat. The oil heats water in a boiler, and there is an external hot water tank that stores heated water for showers and sinks. The water also goes to heat my basement radiant floor heat, and to my forced air system to heat the rest of the house. Everything is eight years old.

I immediately thought that there must be a leak. However, all the fittings on the outside of the boiler are dry. If there is a leak, it is inside the boiler unit itself. I looked underneath in the 1" space between the floor and the boiler, and I didn't notice any drips. Is there a possibility that it is just condensation? We turned the AC off last week, so it is definitely more humid in the house.

I am very mechanically inclined, but have no experience with boilers. I do understand how they work in principle.

Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated!

I will update this post with a picture of what I am dealing with along with the model numbers of the boiler.

[jvincent]

That much water doesn't sound like condensation. A crack in the heat exchanger perhaps?

[jayoldschool]

jvincent, you are correct. Am I ever glad I went to take pics.

Here is what it looks like:



After shooting this, I got right down on the floor and put my head down so I could see underneath as much as possible. I lit up the underside with my automotive trouble light. I saw a splash, then eventually another one. Began to count, and found that the drips were occuring every five seconds. Shoving my hand underneath, I could not find ANY moisture on the bottom of the unit. I got back up, and wanted to look at the back to see if this would yield any more clues. Unfortunately, the air ducting was blocking one side, the water tank the other, and the maze of piping was ruling out a top view. I decided I must get back there, and wedged my body in between the boiler and the air ducting. I had to crawl on my side because there was so little space. Glad I did, because I was rewarded with this view. The connection is likely the drain for the unit, and this was the source for the drip. I tightened the handle, and the drip is gone

[jvincent]

Now the question is how did the drain get opened in the first place? Gremlins?

[TKG26]

Good find LoL

Now replace the 5cent orings inside that valve. If not possible replacing the entire valve may be in order down the road.

[jayoldschool]

It was "closed", but not tight. I tightened it up well. Yes, I will rebuild it or replace the valve. I have some big Channelocks