Riser and radiator trouble

I’ve been living in my current place, on the second floor, for the past 3 years. I’ve had the usual assorted radiator and steam heat trouble—spitting valves, leaky radiator valves, etc—and sorted it all out. In general, the heat has been great and consistent. Since it kicked on this fall, however, it’s behaving very strangely. I have four risers: kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom. The living and bedroom lines each feed a single radiator. When the boiler kicks on, all four risers are lukewarm, probably half as hot as they’ve been every year since I’ve been here, not even warm enough to be felt through the decorative casing, and the radiators and their attendant pipes stay stone cold. Not one hiss of air, not a degree warmer where the pipe descends under the floor. The downstairs neighbor’ and the lobby radiators work fully, with no problem. The super assures me that the boiler is fine. The people above me likewise get no heat. What might be the problem, and who should I turn to for maintenance? Thanks so much in advance!

phpro

in Radiators 9 years and 5 months ago

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deano | 9 years and 5 months ago

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I had very similar symptoms last year – resolved by MasterPlvmber’s crew, so he can set me straight as necessary: Gas Control valve failed. What happened is that the boiler successfully “prefires” (a quiet boiler version of 1st gear) but full gas flow never opened up to get it up to normal full burn (roaring fifth gear). So boiler limped along each time making just enough steam to make some risers and one or two rads hottish, but not enough to actually heat the house. New control valve installed in an hour and then everything back to normal. If you can be by the boiler when it first fires, you can confirm that it lights up gently at first and then shifts into noisy full burn.

steam_man | 9 years and 5 months ago

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Lower the pressuretrol cut-out to 1.5#. See if that solves your issue. If it doesn’t change the air vents on all your radiators. Assuming none of the radiators are huge install a Hoffman #40 air vent on each. If the one side of the house(back or front) is getting hot before the other then your issue is the main vent in the cellar. Install a Hoffman #4A. Call it a day. -S.

eman134 | 9 years and 5 months ago

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check the main vents at the cold side of the building…probably fouled

Master Plvmber | 9 years and 5 months ago

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As I read your description, the steam isn’t getting passed the first level of radiators. If nothing major has changed, there are two likely causes and they are related to either pressure settings or the venting of air. Many of us professionals have learned the value of keeping the operating pressure of a steam heating boiler as low as possible, but there is such thing as too low, and there are also faulty pressure regulating devices. This needs a look asap. As for air elimination, most risers are unvented and that leaves the job of venting air to facilitate steam travel up to the little vents on the sides of the radiators. Unfortunately, some people may have been too hot in their apartments at the end of last year’s heating season and so they turned off the shut-off valves on their radiators, thus depriving the riser of that radiator’s vent today. Those shut off valves are nothing but trouble and should be left open at all times. Forever. So, again, in a nutshell, pressure and venting are the likely culprits here. Deeper than that, you’d be well advised to have someone clock your fuel intake while the boiler is running to make sure it’s burning the right amount of BTUs. You could try to do this yourself. If you tell me how many seconds it takes for the fastest dial on your gas meter to make one full rotation while the boiler and nothing else is running, I can tell you how many BTUs are being consumed. Sometimes gas valves on boilers don’t open fully and the heat output is greatly reduced. Then again, I’m assuming we’re talking about a gas boiler. Lots of variables here… John Cataneo

tm07 | 9 years and 5 months ago

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If you rent, this is the responsibility of the management company. If you own a coop, check the bylaws. Usually the building is responsible for the radiators. In any case, you should contact the management company to make sure that this is a radiator problem. It could actually be a boiler problem since apartments on two floors don’t have heat. If they don’t respond, call 311 and file a heat complaint. Good luck.