Steam Issues
I’m having a couple issues with the steam heat in my 85 year old house. After working without too many issues for several years, lately there has developed some hammering in the pipes. While checking the water level i noticed it was high so I drained to proper level. Next day, same thing. I’ve had…
I’m having a couple issues with the steam heat in my 85 year old house. After working without too many issues for several years, lately there has developed some hammering in the pipes.
While checking the water level i noticed it was high so I drained to proper level. Next day, same thing. I’ve had to drain about 20 buckets out of the boiler over two weeks.
The water inlet valve is closed; I’ve had to fill it manually for a couple of years, since the auto-fill unit stopped working(and flooded the radiators)
Any thoughts where this water could be sitting and draining so slowly? All(7) radiators seem to working well when water is brought down to correct level
you can test for a leaky coil by cutting off the coil water supply for a day…if the problem stops, you have a leaky coil, and hire a pro to replace it, unless you are set up to drill and tap in the probable event of snapping off one or more bolts
After you drain the water out, are you manually filling it back at all or just draining to the proper level and leaving it?
The water coils I’ve encountered are usually held in place with a bunch of bolts. I’ve never changed one, but I’d imagine its one of those jobs thats looks easy until you snap off a few rusty bolts and are then stuck. Depends how handy you are.
Before you consider that, I’d direct your efforts to the inlet valve. Is there a union that you could open downstream from the valve? If you find one and open it, you can confirm whether there is indeed a slow leak.
Before you try that, just put your ear on the the water inlet pipe and see if you hear any indication of water flowing. If you don’t hear anything, try putting a pipe wrench (or other metal object) from the valve to your ear…it will transmit the sound of running water better. Old trick I learned from my grandfather. Of course, make sure there are no other water-consuming appliances/faucets running in the house, so you don’t get a false positive.
Thanks for the responses. How big a job is the water coil in the boiler? It looks pretty integrated. I could change the water inlet valve myself but wouldn’t I hear something? this water couldn’t be in upstairs radiators w/bad valves?
I’m with arches, sounds like a bad inlet valve which is allowing water slowly into the boiler.
Is your domestic hot water heated by a coil in the boiler? Could be a leaky coil (fresh water is leaking into the surrounding boiler water). Or could be a bad water inlet valve.
I had a similar issue for a couple years after about 20 with no problems at all – drove me crazy. After several visits from other plumbers I finally found a fellow who seemed to diagnose and fix it properly. He basically cleaned out all the radiators, leveled them properly, and put new valves on all of them. It’s been working like a charm since then. His name is Joe Kerrigan, 718 -697-0000. He was recommended by one of my neighbors who had him put in a whole new system for his house.