finding jacket leak in lauter tun, mash tun, or kettle leaking into condensate/boiler

[Dvlapaglia]

I'm looking methods for locating a leak in either our mash, lauter, or kettle. We believe it's leaking from one of these tanks and into the condensate system, and therefore ending up in the boiler where it burns. The boiler fill tank (condensate tank) is contaminated with something organic. It smells like wet cardboard in the fill tank, but it burns once it gets into the boiler. During blow-down, the water coming from the boiler is nearly BLACK and foamy. I can't figure out how to find the source of the leak. Any tips?

[dick murton]

You could buy some dye penetrant spray and test. I've not used it myself, but have seen the results when done by others. But if you find a crack / pinhole, you will need a certified welder to repair it, so it might be easier to cough up and pay a good welder to do the checking and repairs, hopefully all in the one visit.

You will have to thoroughly clean afterwards. I'm not definite about the cleaning regime required. From memory we used hot 1.5% caustic for about 30 minutes instead of our standard 20 minutes - but happy to be corrected on requirements.

[gitchegumee]

Your condensate should be higher pressure than your tank hydrostatic pressure at all times. This is the function of a vacuum breaker. How does wort leak into a pressurized steam jacket? A relatively simple hydrostatic test of each jacket will show where the potential leak is.