heating problem with one riser
master plumber, this is a repeat post from 12/31/06. still having problems with radiators not getting hot, just the riser are hot now, it take over an hour for heat to start coming up the riser after the thermostat calls for heat, the top floor radiators and some time the 2nd floor radiators get heat…
master plumber, this is a repeat post from 12/31/06. still having problems with radiators not getting hot, just the riser are hot now, it take over an hour for heat to start coming up the riser after the thermostat calls for heat, the top floor radiators and some time the 2nd floor radiators get heat but the 1st floor is ice cold. i have taken off all the air vents off the radiators and it did not work, i have also once again drained all the water out each radiator starting from the top floor working my way down, every radiator had dirty brown water, i decided to give an additional 1/4″ pitch on the radiator back to the riser and that did not work. my father relocated the manifold back to the original location and i had heat for 2 days with knocking sound. thats when i decided to drain each radiator and shim up each radiator. after that i lost heat to the bottom floor and get heat sporadickly to the 2nd and 3rd floor. my father is a plumber and did all the work himself, he has 45 year experience, his own company and he sugguest that keyspan is not supplying enough gas pressure to the house. i tried to set the thermostat from 72 degrees to 75 degrees and it doesn’t reach 75 degrees after 4 hours. in the morning the thermostat is set for 72 degrees starting at 4am. when i leave the house at 6am. i never see the temperature above 68-69 degrees. i am in neee of some serious help. should i try to change the thermostat. should i put the boiler back to the original location, even though the piping was already brought back the the original location.
you can reach me at stulove3@aol.com
Sorry, it seems my site is down.
I’m at MasterPlvmber@hotmail.com
master plvmber, thank you for the advice. my cousin came to look at the problem he is also a plumber, trained by my father and now he work for viligante plumbing. he sugguest the change all the air vents to hoffman air vents type d at the 1st floor, type c at the second floor and number 6 at the top floor. since all the radiators were flood when the boiler was moved and the second electrican direct wire the gas valve when they thought the transformer was burnt. i let the boiler run one night like that and had to manually feed water and over feed the boiler and had water pouring out each radiator. secondly he said my father use a one pipe header system when the boiler schematic shows a 2 pipe system and he will re-pipe it for my on tuesday. he also said that movement of the boiler must be calculated.
MasterPlvmber, what’s up with the link? Do you have an email address?
The fact that your boiler is taking an hour to put steam into the risers probably tells us all we need to know.
The first thing your Dad should do is check the manifold pressure in the boiler. He’ll need a gauge that measures pressure in ‘inches of water’ as opposed to ‘pounds per square inch’. That gauge can often be a device called a monometer.
The reading must be within the effective range listed on the boiler’s ratings plate.
If not, the electronic gas valve must be tested and then the piping from the meter onward.
To tell you the truth, I think you have more than one problem. Changing the location of a steam boiler is not something to take lightly as the ENTIRE system’s design is based on each portions proximity to the heat source (the boiler).
I wouldn’t change the thermostat and you don’t seem to have an air problem.
Feel free to contact me when you’ve got that pressure info.