Steam Heat-Gurgle, Slosh & Leak
As the season has progressed I’ve gotten more and more gurgling & sloshing and just this week leaking from the air valve. My steam heat system is a bit odd: I have a three floor high stoop brownstone (plus) basement. The prior owner reconfigured the heat in the basement, garden and parlor floors with a…
As the season has progressed I’ve gotten more and more gurgling & sloshing and just this week leaking from the air valve. My steam heat system is a bit odd: I have a three floor high stoop brownstone (plus) basement. The prior owner reconfigured the heat in the basement, garden and parlor floors with a Burnham 3-zone hydronic boiler. He left the cast iron risers and radiators to the third floor and replaced the Steam boiler with a new Burnham. The idea was that the tenant was on the third floor and would pay their own heat. As it turned out we reconfigured the house placing the rental on the garden floor. So now I have a boiler dedicated to the bedroom and den!
It’s a typical configuration: two risers, one front to two radiators (large room and small room over parlor hall) and one riser to the back two rooms. The small rooms barely need any heat at all. The large rooms are cold.
I am having Brooklyn Insulation blow in insulation to the attic this Friday.
Question: Would a clogged Air Eliminator cause for the water build up (gurgling & sloshing and leaking) in the radiator on that riser?
Also I am going to replace all the air valves. On the front of the house (south exposure and long main on the boiler) I was thinking of putting a Gorton “C†in the large room and a 5 ort 6 in the small room. For the back of house, a “D†and a 4 in the small room that is closest to the thermostat (which has had the radiator shut completely off for the last few years).
I would appreciate any comments on the configuration and balancing of this strange 4 radiator system located floors away from their “mother ship.â€
Thanks.
let me know how it goes ..im curious if that was all that was wrong
Although intended for hot water the Hoffman 500 or 508 has proven to be very reliable on steam systems and is adjustable too.
ok so marketing. Then my bad!
My saying has always been Things do get better with age!!
I had the feeling that is was those vents – I’ll replace this weekend.
Any thoughts as to the sizing of the radiator vents?
btw, back to your original post…if you have had no problems for 7 years it is probably due to a failure of your air vents..hell i’m 52 and not the man used to be(i’m better)..lol
marketing…. if you use a unique, albeit inaccurate name for something, it will stick in your memory.. how unusual is this
eman1234
I appreciate the clarification. I am then confused as to why the manufacturer of the part calls it that when used in a steam system (the link above). Any ideas?
air vents are on steam systems..air eliminators are on hydronic (hot water) systems…a gorton #1 is an air vent designed for a main steam line…it is not an air eliminator.. there is no such thing in a steam system…pardon me for pointing that out to you
LOL. You all crack me up….
My appologies. I meant no disrespect to anyone.
I obviously did a poor job of explaining that the current heat was sufficient when I referred to ‘cold’ – sorry.
The vent/air emiminator was originally questioned by me as a possible cause of the problem.
Eman1234 told me that ) “..the air eliminator is on the hydronic, not steam system, so it has nothing to do w/ your problem.” This was not correct (as far as I can tell) and I therefore provided a link to where I obtained my information.
Once again, no disrespect intended. It just appeared (and still does) that I was not provided correct information when told that the “air eliminator … has nothing to do with your problem.”