dont even think about it why. they were mostly junk when they were new. now they are even worse after someone didnt treat the water and they are full of lime. it wood be like going to the scrap yard and finding a really nice looking hot water heater. it is full of lime. like grandmas tea kettle after a few years. paked with distiled lime that has hardened and is several inches thick on all the places that heat is transferred from the firebox.
I had a friend that took a torch and cut the top of his boiler off. jack hammered out about 3 wheel borrows of lime out of his boiler. still couldnt get to most of it. ask how much the boiler weighs new. take it to a scale somewhere and weigh the thing.
if it weighs several hundred lbs more than the original weight. there is your answer. almost all the people out there right now bought their boiler from a one time salesman that thought he could make a buck selling boilers or the other guy that is even worse yet. has a store and presents a big show and has a salesman that really talks what you want to hear.
you are simple. trusting and like a puppy trust the whole show to someone else and when its over you are stuck with some junk. dont know what you have to know to maintain one of these energy hogs, soon you will find out that slowley it takes more and more wood and you are getting less and less heat. ???? wtf is going on.
lemme tell ya. the lime is building up because you did not treat the water and have it tested regularly. used regular well water to fill it. more than likely are keeping it way too hot that is actually one of the biggest mistakes.
look at it like a car going 50 mps. it might get 20 mpg. it goes 70 it gets 15 mpg it goes 100 you might get 9mpg. heating the water to 130 which should be plenty you use way less wood than if you try to keep it at 170. it is almost impossible to attain and keep there. dont need that hot a water. total waste of wood.
hot water WILL NOT SUSPEND THE LIME. the lime settles out and condenses and stiks to the inside of the boiler. anywhere and everywhere. craigs list and e bay is full of used boilers and the list now will explode because thousands of people have NOT taken care of the water correctly.
this is a science folks. guys spend a life time going to school to be a boiler specialist, they spend their entire life trying to understand the mechanics of what happens to heated water. i am telling you it is a serious thing to fool with. the one thing I know is how much I DONT know.
I understand grandmas tea kettle and how heavy it got. same same sailor. BE REALLY CAREFULL WITH YOUR NEW BOILER, you must get a grip on this piece of information or it will be financially disasterous. FINANCIALLY DISASTROUS. get it. do not waste your time on a used boiler. al cox. 231-846-0346 www.coxx.com
UP DATE 1-18-12 they are out there on the net and starting to show up more and more. used cheap boilers. be carefull. these things will adopt you and next thing you know you will be chained up like in the dark ages. al