Radiator Steam Valves - Recommendations?

Thanks, Gosha.

It's a 4-unit brownstone. I can actually get at the boiler myself if necessary, but would much prefer not to.

Posted by: jcoifman at October 22, 2008 10:45 AM in response to Radiator Steam Valves - Recommendations?

Thanks, all. Keep the comments coming, please.

I will try the shim idea. Failures happen at random, but all-too-brief intervals. Once a valve fails, it stays failed. So there is some triggering event.

Leaks have been drop by drop, but a whole day of drops can make quite a puddle. I've resorted to keeping a two-liter soda bottle with the top cut off wedged under one of them. The other is too close to the wall to get to. Third, so far, has held up.

(By on/off valve, I mean the valve that shuts off the radiator altogether. This, as I indicated, is not the problem.)

Posted by: jcoifman at October 21, 2008 11:29 AM in response to Radiator Steam Valves - Recommendations?

Per the earlier post, there are at least two other listings current in the building.

Corcoran presently has another listing in the building:
http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?ListingID=1312206&Region=NYC

And another:
http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=1307889

Brooklyn Heights RE has this not-so-well-staged offering:
http://www.carrollgardensinfo.com/homepage.htm?in_listing=5437041&ref=Trulia

This unit appears to have been sold a couple of months ago by another agent (I forget who had it), but keeps turning up on Trulia as somebody’s bait n’ switch lure.
http://www.trulia.com/property/1056049201-44-Cheever-Pl-505-Brooklyn-NY-11231

Nice place, and in the PS29 district, to boot. Parking nice. BQE, not so much.

Posted by: jcoifman at July 22, 2008 3:08 PM in response to Condo of the Day: 44 Cheever Place

I don't get some landlords - do they want to burn money? To me getting the heating system operating efficiently and at exactly the right temperature is a no brainer for saving a good 25 - 30% on the fuel bill. I guess they're all pennywise and pound foolish.

Posted by: bohuma at October 21, 2008 12:53 PM in response to Radiator Steam Valves - Recommendations?

How big is the building that you live in ?
Can you talk to the landlord and help him troubleshoot the problem?

The problem is definitely not in the valve.
It is most likely due to a clogged / incorrectly "pitched" water return line.

Steam turns to water as it cools and is supposed to return to the boiler via a relatively thin pipe that usually branches off the main "riser" somewhere in the basement.
The "riser" is the vertical pipe that your radiator is connected to.
Find where that return pipe is.
Knock on it lightly with something metal (like a key) to check if there is water in it. There should not be any water in there once the steam pipes are no longer too hot to touch.
Find the place where the water is accumulating (the ringing noise from the knocking on the pipe will be very different where there is water in the line). Most likely there is either a clog somewhere between there and the boiler or the pipe is slanted (pitched) away from the boiler some place past there.

Posted by: Gosha at October 21, 2008 3:47 PM in response to Radiator Steam Valves - Recommendations?

Thanks, Gosha.

It's a 4-unit brownstone. I can actually get at the boiler myself if necessary, but would much prefer not to.

Posted by: jcoifman at October 22, 2008 10:45 AM in response to Radiator Steam Valves - Recommendations?