Air eliminator leaking

[jtfoxman]

I checked my basement this morning for any water since we had a lot of rain last night and I noticed a puddle under one of my copper heating pipes. I have a Sabre by Hydrotherm gas boiler with baseboard heat. On my 1 pipe that feeds the downstairs I noticed the puddle was under a air eliminator. I checked and noticed that the pipe insulation under the eliminator was damp but the puddle has been there awhile and it doesn't seem to have leaked in the past day or 2 so I am pretyy sure this is where it came from. No other pipes around that can be leaking and never had water here before.
What could cause the eliminator to leak? Should I replace it or could there be something else wrong? And do I have to shut down the whole system to replace it? It is just the screw in type with the little red cap on top.
Thanks

[HayZee518]

the air eliminator is like a tire valve with a viton seat. maybe after being heated, the viton rubber broke down and is leaking against the spring pressure in the fitting.

[jtfoxman]

So I'll just replace the eliminator and that should be good? No other issues I should worry about? Would I have to drain the system or can I just unscrew and reinstall with some teflon tape or pipe dope while the heat is off?

Thanks!

[paul52446m]

So I'll just replace the eliminator and that should be good? No other issues I should worry about? Would I have to drain the system or can I just unscrew and reinstall with some teflon tape or pipe dope while the heat is off?

Thanks!

Turn off gas value so it will not heat, open all zones by turning up the thermostat's and get them going until water temp. is well under 100 degrees.
Then turn off power. If you know the stop values and parts of your boiler, shut
off the value going to your expansion tank. Shut off your feed value. Now if you drain a couple of cups of water from the boiler it will take the pressure down.
put your tape or pipe dope on your new bleeder so it ready. Now when you unscrew the old you are still going to have pressure there because of the weight of the water, so put your finger over the hole until your are ready to screw the new one in . You still might get a little wet. later paul

[jtfoxman]

Air Eliminator update

Thanks. I don't think I want to try this on my own. Seems like a lot of trouble to replace 1 little eliminator.

Update
The eliminator is not leaking anymore. It was 1 time and now nothing, and the heat has been on for awhile now with the cold and snowy weather. Coul it have reseated itself or should I still have someone look at it?

[jtfoxman]

Update to air eliminator leaking

Well now i found that another eliminator leaked on the first floor. This time I took the cap off and the cap was clogged with what looked like paint and grease. Can this cause them to leak? My basement one has not leaked since i posted the first time and the cap is clean. I checked the one on the 2nd floor and that is clean also. If I have to replace 1 I might as well replace them all. But hopefully this will stop this problem.
Seems to happen when the heat does not kick on as much as it was early December last time and not that cold and now it has been in the 50's the past few days.
Thanks for any advice!

[paul52446m]

Well now i found that another eliminator leaked on the first floor. This time I took the cap off and the cap was clogged with what looked like paint and grease. Can this cause them to leak? My basement one has not leaked since i posted the first time and the cap is clean. I checked the one on the 2nd floor and that is clean also. If I have to replace 1 I might as well replace them all. But hopefully this will stop this problem.
Seems to happen when the heat does not kick on as much as it was early December last time and not that cold and now it has been in the 50's the past few days.
Thanks for any advice!

The water in your boiler system might have
some particles in it so when your bleeder tries to let air out, some of these particles get under the seat so you have trouble with them leaking. After you get all the air out of the system you can turn the caps down so they won't leak. If you want to change they and you don't want to get burned or too wet, do this. turn gas valve down to pilot or off, turn heat up and let it run until you have the temp. under 100 degrees. Turn off water feed valve, and pressure tank stop valve. Drain a little water out of boiler to take the pressure down. Now you can change the bleeders. Do it fast because you will still get some water. Later Paul