Photos and Cause of Central Heating Boiler Explosion Incident

As a warning or as a curiosity, I am posting photos after the central heating boiler explosion that took place a week ago.


Here is the external sheet metal that was thrown onto the wall, making 2 cm holes, and one photo from before the incident.

The cause of the incident was that my father (an alcoholic, so he has various ideas, especially when he doesn`t know anything about it) turned off the valves on the stove and did not inform others about it. There used to be a safety valve on the stove, but he replaced it with a regular ball one because... it was dripping. Besides, he also closed the valves on the stove because something was dripping, but he didn`t know what...

From the report I know that it was around 11 p.m., first something shot and my father went to the basement to look. The thermometer showed 0`C (I assume it was about 150`C), the stove was fully loaded with coal, the pump was running and the radiators were cold. He remembered that he had tightened the valves and when he reached out to unscrew them, the welds broke loose. It is possible that it was due to a sudden drop in pressure (?). At that moment he was standing in front of the stove and was lucky that nothing happened to him. He jumped aside but couldn`t see anything because there was steam mixed with dust and soot everywhere. Mom said the walls shook and there was a bang.

Then just collect the water with a snow shovel...
In the basement, a locked external wooden door with its hinges and a piece of door frame flew out and hit the wall behind it in the air. The double glazing in the window on the other side of the basement also broke and fragments flew out to a distance of 7 meters. In addition, there is cracked plaster in the boiler room, some holes and half of the walls need painting. The lock on the door to the ground floor was broken and the door frame was bent in its place. On the ground floor, two windows in the doors to the rooms were broken (the third one was already cracked) and the steel door frames near the locks were also bent.

Regards.

The father is not to blame, but the person who installed the boiler is to blame. Unless it`s the same person. I`m very lucky that it ended this way.

Good thing nothing happened. I don`t know if I can find photos, I`ll attach them, but they are more drastic - in one case, the boiler went outside the building through the wall (the installation froze, after returning from the holidays, it was fired in the furnace), in the other, the owner died (here, the case is in the prosecutor`s office, everyone is looking for the culprit, whether it was the user or companies installing boiler rooms, some people blame others).

Where do you live that you load the boiler to the max with coal at this time?

janek1815 wrote:

Where do you live that you load the boiler to the max with coal at this time?

There were rains then and it was a bit cold.

jas67 wrote:

The father is not to blame, but the person who installed the boiler is to blame

Most likely, the installation was done by a friend 15 years ago, but some of the changes could have been made by my father. What can your friend tell from the photos? Because most likely, my brother-in-law will be installing a new furnace and boiler and all the mistakes would need to be corrected. Even though he would only like to replace the furnace and spend as little as possible on it.

Edit: I now know that the power supply from the furnace should go to the tee and vertically to the expansion vessel without any additional elements.

Let me tell you that we also have a gas furnace with the same circuit (without an exchanger), a valve next to the expansion tank to create a closed circuit (which my father often closed when burning coal), the first outlet from the furnace is on half of the radiators, which causes air to get trapped in them, and the silt traps were pulled out because they were blocking them. . There used to be a boiler, but it was eaten. I made a diagram (pipe diameters in inches from valves):


Additionally, my father heats the water to 85`C in winter, so touching the radiator is not pleasant. Boiling water at least once a day is normal. Sometimes it boils so much that it bubbles up in the attic and then it leaks down through the cracks and freezes, e.g. bursting the ceiling or creating an ice rink in the attic. The water can then come down from the entire ground floor. I think it`s due to the small number of heat receivers because the entire installation is made of copper and there is no boiler. Here, a new furnace with a controller should prevent such situations.

I don`t think it`s Father`s fault, whether he drinks or not.
There is a saying, "the host was at fault and the gypsies were hanged."
The basic mistake is connecting a gas boiler to a coal boiler system.
The culprit is the originator, and especially the contractor of such a connection, in which additional valves were introduced to enable closing the circulation of the coal boiler to the expansion tank.
If there were fatalities, the prosecutor would quickly exclude the father`s guilt and accuse the contractor of the changes introduced during the installation of the gas boiler.
I dare say that the idea of such a connection was yours and regardless of who implemented this idea, the fault lies with the originator and contractor, not the Father.
I am a sapper (2 years in mine clearance patrol), but if a bomb exploded while defusing it, I would not be responsible for the consequences of the explosion, only the person who placed the bomb would be responsible.
Don`t hang all the dogs on Him (Father) (you only have one Father) just because He drinks, but instead talk to Him honestly why He drinks, because the reason for His drinking may even be you.

Moreover, before anyone starts improving or repairing this installation after the explosion, you should hire a good specialist to assess its condition and make a correct design according to which you will be able to change the installation to make it safe.

Either way, your Father deserves an apology, even if he didn`t read your post.

saskia wrote:

I dare say that the idea of such a connection was yours

When the house was being built and the installation was being built, I didn`t go to kindergarten yet. Now I only try to catch and correct the mistakes made at that time, everything was at cost and knowledge. Starting with the electrical installation, which can be compared to the central heating system, the sagging floor and partition walls under half of the house, poor insulation, and moisture on the outer walls of the basement.

Maybe I`m accusing him too much, but so many years of living with his addiction took their toll. When I recently suggested that the entire installation should be redone, he laughed at me and said that the furnace only needed to be replaced and everything would remain as it was. In total, the circuits need to be separated, the exchanger, pumps, valves, controller, design, etc. are over a thousand zlotys of additional costs (plus the furnace, boiler, coal, wood and current expenses). So if I called a specialist, there would be several days of arguments and then people would be constantly reminded that so much money was wasted because the installation was good and worked.

saskia wrote:

talk to him honestly about why he drinks, because the reason for his drinking may even be you.

I`ve talked to him about this more than once, but it doesn`t change anything. And I assure you that the reason is not me...

And besides, where can I look for a specialist who is not a handyman and will know what a 4D valve is? And what would be the cost of the project to rebuild the current installation (100 m² ?

I don`t want to interfere too much in your private life, but you should have a common language with your Father.
Even if he made changes to the central heating system that caused such a dangerous situation, he certainly didn`t do it to save money for booze, but to save you money.
Now that no one understands him or his motives, he has withdrawn into himself and is drinking.
I know this is not a psychological forum, but if you reach out to him and don`t blame him for any family failures, you will not only get the Father you want back, but you will also help him get over his addiction.

Hello, what can a furnace explosion do?

Dude, don`t justify his drinking with some problems, because drinking will definitely not solve them. And his guilt is indisputable, regardless of drinking, namely the arbitrary, thoughtless and unacceptable removal of the safety valve, and for the nonsense reason that something was dripping there. The safety valve, as the name suggests, is supposed to ensure safety, and for safety it is supposed to work, i.e. open and release excess pressure when the working pressure is slightly exceeded. And because its activation threshold is only slightly higher than the working pressure, it happens quite often that such a valve releases single drops. So maybe because of saving this water he stopped saving on safety and coal with which he loaded the furnace to the max at the end of May. I am convinced that this is not the first time he has saved money like this. So if he had saved on coal, I have no doubt that there would have been enough money in the household budget to repair minor defects before the explosion. And if he continues to save like this, his savings will only be enough for a 1981 type coke oven.

Added after 24 [minutes]:

Moreover, there is no shortage of absurdities in our country, and the actions of some people range from extremes, i.e. from extreme waste to excessive frugality, consisting in saving on savings.

From this topic I conclude that the father was the only adult man in this house, and the rest were children and women.
I am still curious who was the originator and driving force behind installing a gas boiler for this installation.

I don`t know what colleague sees a problem in installing two power sources, it couldn`t have been the cause of the explosion, but only incorrect installation or obstruction.

I don`t see a problem, but the author`s father certainly didn`t install the gas boiler and didn`t test it.
Such connections of up to 5 power sources require an installation that prevents even accidental disconnection of the solid fuel boiler from the expansion tank if the solid fuel circuit was open and closed during gas operation.
I dare say that the installation was gravity-fed and the author`s father probably made it and knew how to operate it only, and the lazy youth wanted a convenient gas boiler, the inappropriate integration of which into the existing installation resulted in a hazard and, consequently, an explosion of the coal-fired boiler.
As I wrote earlier, when a bomb or a mine explodes, the culprit is not the sapper or anyone who stepped on it, but the one who set it.

In this case, the author`s father stepped on a mine prepared by others.

The photos show that the valves next to the boiler cannot be used to isolate the boiler from the installation, so the pressure from the boiler should escape through the safety pipe to the expansion tank, and as you can see in the diagram, there is a valve in front of it that should not be there.
The only explanation for the purpose of this valve is to create a closed system for a gas boiler that was previously used.

Moreover, this coal boiler is not adapted to work in a closed (pressure) installation, so the entire fault lies in connecting the gas boiler to an open installation, previously made for a coal boiler, and closing it.

First of all, the error consisted in installing valves that allowed the power sources to be closed silently without the possibility of free energy release, which led to its accumulation in the form of pressure. Such an opinion that he can turn it here and unscrew it there is unacceptable, considering that access to the furnace is only available to people who have no knowledge of it and are unaware of the dangers. So you must not leave the opportunity for a layman to make an operational error. Such energy once powered trains, so it`s a good thing that the manufacturer of this stove didn`t attach wheels to it, because then it could ram the entire house and even hit the road, causing panic in the area. The purpose of installing these valves was, as I know, quite common in this country, to save heat that would be wasted in an inactive power source, which is, however, in the same heated facility, i.e. remaining in place anyway. And if someone cares so much about the few calories used to heat the inertial mass of an inactive furnace, it is possible to install check valves on even five power sources, much cheaper than the value of the destroyed furnace, not to mention the risk to life. A similar threat is the thermal baths found without a safety valve, but with an unnecessary and dangerous non-return valve in order to avoid heat loss in the retreating water. If there is no non-return valve at the thermal water heater, if the thermostat and thermal fuse are not jammed, after steam is generated inside, the water will be pushed into the network or hydrophore and the heater will burn out, which does not even pose a fire hazard. So by installing a non-return valve, without a safety valve there is a risk that such a dust the size of a thermal bath may fall into someone`s eye or ruffle their hair.

jas67 wrote:

The father is not to blame, but the person who installed the boiler is to blame.

The father is to blame because he serves him. However, he may sue the installer for the consequences of the explosion in a civil lawsuit. And nothing more.

mirrza I will not agree, because the installer must know what dangers such connection of the boiler poses. The person operating it does not need to have such knowledge. I`m an installer and I can`t imagine doing such a mess. Don`t make excuses for botching.

I`m not making excuses because that wasn`t my goal. I`m only talking about legal responsibility. As for how it was botched, there are no words.

The gas boiler was installed at the beginning and the installation has not been modified since then.

Now I need help:

100 m² on the ground floor are heated:
- double walls (some limestone) 25cm + 5cm styrofoam + 12cm + 5cm styrofoam
- triple wooden windows
- half of the house has a basement, 5 cm of Styrofoam in the floor on the ground floor
- the highest ceiling is 15 cm of polystyrene, the attic is not insulated

My father wanted to buy a 15-17kW top-burning stove, but I convinced him that it was too big, so now he is looking at a 14kW bottom-burning stove (or a universal one with a flap) for PLN 3,000. Additionally, a 120l hot water tank.

Any proposal to modernize the current installation is ridiculed, a welder will come to adjust the power supply and return to the new furnace and that`s it for "improving". I heard that everything is fine, the differential valve on the power supply is unnecessary and will be closed. The controller and the pump remain the same, the sensor is installed as it was, i.e. when the pump does not run, there is a large temperature difference. The DHW exchanger has no non-return valve, etc., so the water will return to the network.

Is the furnace power selected correctly?
Does anyone have any ideas on how to convince such a person to modernize the current installation?

Order another welder and don`t let them do it, just do it yourself first

I know people who know everything best, that it worked well, that it`s good, that you don`t need to do anything, that specialists can only delete it... My father is approaching 70. A few years ago, he couldn`t imagine buying a better product without making something himself. In fact, it may be partly due to the lack of money, perhaps due to the ingrained habits from the times of the Polish People`s Republic, but recently he seems to have realized (better late than never) that excessive saving does not lead to anything good.
But what can I say? You won`t change the character of some people, even if you come close to death (cauldron explosion). It hurts the most when young people think so strangely. I have become immune and I do not enter into discussions with such serious cases. This is the best way. And when you have your own, you will do it your way.