Question:
Never ending major problem with Steam boiler?
Steven Goldstein
2012-02-02 14:22:47 UTC
My friend's steam heater cracked on him. Me and my Dad (who does HVAC for a living) put in a new one (same BTU or a little bit less), not changing any pipework, only reconnecting the header and return pipes (already build in Hartford loop and equalization). After we put the steam boiler in, my friend noticed a lot of steam was coming from a crawl space in his basement. I went in there and checked it out.. There was actually a pinhole in the return pipe, which we put a clamp on temporarily and then later the hole became bigger. We cut the pipe out and put a brand new one in.

Right after we replaced this piece, we found a different pinhole that just happened after having fixed the last one. At this point we took a guess that because his pipes are all rotted out it was just a coincidence. So we put a temporary clamp on this pinhole. Right after having done this we thought that everything was fixed.

A few days later my buddy tells me water is coming out of the Steam Vent of one of his radiators so we replaced it thinking maybe it had went bad.

A while later, water is coming out of it again, actually pouring out. After trying it over and over, the radiator actually broke from the backside leaking water everywhere so we had no choice but to cap the whole radiator out. So my friend has been using the heat up until today with that radiator turned off, no pinholes, but louder than usual banging in the pipes. We turned the safety shut off pressure all the way down.

Today we just had put in a used radiator to replace the one that broke. We turned on the heat and the same problem happened, leaking water out of the steam vent with an additional pinhole where the others were popping out. So now we are at a position of not being sure what to do. I know it's probably impossible to answer the question without actually seeing the working of the pipes but this has stumped me and my father, the HVAC tech. It seems as if once we patch a hole, another reappears and water is flowing up only this ONE radiator. When the radiator is shut off the heat works fine except very loud banging.
Three answers:
jiminpa2
2012-02-02 18:45:28 UTC
your new boiler is putting too much pressure on your old piping.time to re-pipe the entire system.that banging is called waterhammer,a low spot (or sludge) in the piping is causing it.
Leo C
2012-02-04 04:11:29 UTC
If this is truely a steam boiler, and the boiler itself was replaced, all of the steam traps should have been replaced at the same time. this would cause an over pressure of the system. also there are traps in the return lines back to the boiler, if they are plugged would cause water to back up in system. another item to look at is your steam controller, is it operating right keeping the boiler at the correct pressure?
papaw
2012-02-02 23:59:20 UTC
You've got the new boiler/heater. Now tear out all the piping and replace the whole shebang with new plumbing.







Papaw


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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