The element attaches to the boiler with a threaded rod that appears to screw (welded?) into the flange of the boiler, not actually into the vessel. The threaded rod was stuck to the element itself even after the bolts were split off. I think my only option at this point is to attempt to drill out the boiler holes and retap them, or try to slip a nut on the back of the flange.

A couple of pics... first shows how the threaded rod should look... next one shows the other 2 rods that i've cut off. I've already drilled out the element holes which seemed to take forever.

cannonfodder wrote:... you can just drill out the bolts and re-tap the hole.

Easier said then done! I've gone through a set of titanium drill bits with little progress in drilling these holes out. I now think the studs are a very hard stainless steel. Is there some other kind of bit I should be using? or should I just take it to a machine shop?

Everything else is assembled, tested and ready to go.

That simply looks like a stud that is screwed into the boiler flange - very much like a typical automotive exhaust manifold flange. Since you've already given it a pretty intelligent try, I'd take the boiler and the heating element to an automotive machine shop as they could use the heating element flange as a temporary jig.

Or, if you want to give it one more try, I would order up a left hand drill bit from McMaster-Carr - http://www.mcmaster.com/# - ya may get lucky.

The stuck boiler mount problem is finally solved. I was able to drill the holes out with a tungsten carbide bit(s), lots of cutting oil and a very slow rpm drill. I've tapped the holes and put a bolt on the back of the flange for good measure. The only left hand bits I could find locally were titanium and seemed to dull quickly. Everything is reassembled and ready to go with exception of a replacement tube enroute from NZ.

I'm now preparing to plumb in - should I try and recharge the on board cation softener catridge, or bypass and soften externally? I have 2 catridges (one wet, one dry). Anyone have any experiences with these? Should I just bypass it and filter / soften externally?

It's alive! Finally fired it up last night without the element attached and started chasing down a few leaks around the heating element and the pump fittings. After re-sealing the boiler gasket I wired up the element and let it heat up to temp. The group got hot and the pstat started cycling... lots of steam and hot water. The pressure gauge is clearly shot/stuck and I couldn't get a real good sense of the temp or deadband but otherwise everything else seemed to do what it was supposed to do including the auto dosing buttons. Next steps will be to replace the gauge and a couple of copper gaskets to reseat the vacuum and over pressure valves. I'm using the on board softening system at the moment but plan to bypass it as soon as I can get an external system going.

Tonight I'm going to adjust the OPV and Pstat to a middle starting point, season the group and giv'r a go.