Beerhippie
Well-known member
I'm the Plant Manager at a small regional brewery. That means: Keep it going and/or fix it.
Yesterday, I noticed water leakage around our propane steam boiler. This is not good. We have a leak where the flue goes through the roof, but it hasn't rained or snowed in several days....
I pulled the burner unit out of the boiler to check the fire box for leaks--this is our second boiler since I've been here, and that was what killed the first.
I grabbed a light and looked inside:
Pieces of fire brick from the liner and... standing water on the floor. Really ungood.
So I need to replace the boiler--this type is not repairable--or at least the carcass of the boiler as everything else--controls, burner, etc--works just fine still.
Next problem: Columbia Boiler, who made both of the previous boilers, closed their doors in '24. Another Columbia WL 90 would fit right in there--basically plug-and-play, 'though the "plug" part takes a day or two--so we can get back to brewing beer ASAP. Yep, the boiler is essential to brewing and we can't produce our product until it's fixed.
Next next problem:
The only doorway to the boiler room is just a standard door--no way that boiler fits through. We built the boiler room around the original boiler--planning ahead was discouraged back then.
But this isn't our first rodeo. See the unpainted mud on the wall? We cut that wall out to use a forklift to replace the last one. Since the building is post-and-beam the wall is not weight-bearing, so easy-peasy--right?
Riiiight.
Next next next problem:
Since we last replaced the boiler, we expanded the fermenter hall, which required adding another glycol chiller to handle the added load. The bosses at the time (13 YA) didn't think "How are we going to ever replace the boiler again?" was a serious question, and, for them it wasn't, as they don't work here anymore.
Fortunately, we still have our original chiller and the "new" chiller is plumbed independently of it, so I can "just" pull the wires, drain the glycol (fortunately, I also installed isolation valves) and move the chiller. We won't be making any beer 'til the boiler is replaced, so there won't be anything but maintenance load on the old chiller, which it can (probably) handle.
Now waiting to find out if anyone can find us a Columbia WL 90 boiler stuck in a warehouse somewhere.... If not, "just" a little more plumbing and wiring to do....
Stay tuned!
Yesterday, I noticed water leakage around our propane steam boiler. This is not good. We have a leak where the flue goes through the roof, but it hasn't rained or snowed in several days....
I pulled the burner unit out of the boiler to check the fire box for leaks--this is our second boiler since I've been here, and that was what killed the first.
I grabbed a light and looked inside:
Pieces of fire brick from the liner and... standing water on the floor. Really ungood.
So I need to replace the boiler--this type is not repairable--or at least the carcass of the boiler as everything else--controls, burner, etc--works just fine still.
Next problem: Columbia Boiler, who made both of the previous boilers, closed their doors in '24. Another Columbia WL 90 would fit right in there--basically plug-and-play, 'though the "plug" part takes a day or two--so we can get back to brewing beer ASAP. Yep, the boiler is essential to brewing and we can't produce our product until it's fixed.
Next next problem:
The only doorway to the boiler room is just a standard door--no way that boiler fits through. We built the boiler room around the original boiler--planning ahead was discouraged back then.
But this isn't our first rodeo. See the unpainted mud on the wall? We cut that wall out to use a forklift to replace the last one. Since the building is post-and-beam the wall is not weight-bearing, so easy-peasy--right?
Riiiight.
Next next next problem:
Since we last replaced the boiler, we expanded the fermenter hall, which required adding another glycol chiller to handle the added load. The bosses at the time (13 YA) didn't think "How are we going to ever replace the boiler again?" was a serious question, and, for them it wasn't, as they don't work here anymore.
Fortunately, we still have our original chiller and the "new" chiller is plumbed independently of it, so I can "just" pull the wires, drain the glycol (fortunately, I also installed isolation valves) and move the chiller. We won't be making any beer 'til the boiler is replaced, so there won't be anything but maintenance load on the old chiller, which it can (probably) handle.
Now waiting to find out if anyone can find us a Columbia WL 90 boiler stuck in a warehouse somewhere.... If not, "just" a little more plumbing and wiring to do....
Stay tuned!
