Best Of
Re: Black soot around gravity heat registers
Could be that thermal "Lau-Vent" stack damper too, as @mattmia2 said. But I'd seriously consider replacing the whole unit, since something that old is probably rather inefficient.
Re: Black soot around gravity heat registers
Hi @anne29b, @mattmia2 covered the points, but I'd like to focus on the soot. It is made in the combustion chamber, which should be completely separated from the air you breathe by a heat exchanger. That heat exchanger clearly is leaking. Older gravity furnaces sometimes had cast iron heat exchangers, so there could be the possibility of replacing a failed gasket. I've welded up cracked heat exchangers, but it's not a small job. Of course, there would be no soot if it were burning correctly, but the heat exchanger is the elephant in this room. The one thing I'd do immediately is to get low level carbon monoxide detectors and put them in bedrooms. Not to put too fine a point on it, but if the heat is on, you risk not waking up every morning. Currently you're doing 80 mph down the freeway and the steering wheel just fell off. ๐
Yours, Larry
Re: Compression fitting going from lead to anything modern (e.g. steel/brass)
A lead pressure pipe? That's been there for a while. As @mattmia2 said, it will be brittle. If it were mine I'd find out where it started at the other end and abandon the whole length of it. Repipe in PEX and a new sillcock.
Re: Main vents on Steam system
In your situation, @RTW , it really doesn't make much difference whether the vents on the steam mains are at the far ends beyond the last radiator or back at the boiler before they drop individually to a wet return/boiler inlet. In fact, from the perspective of the air and the steam arriving at a radiator it makes no difference at all. The only practical difference is that with the vents at the boiler, that whole section of line from the last radiator to the boiler gets steam, whereas when the vents are at the far end, it wouldn't.
And note. VERY CAREFULLY. The above applies when that "dry return" is directly connected to the steam main โ no traps or whatnot. If the dry return is a true dry return, which is only found in two pipe systems, the comment above does NOT apply.
Re: Co-op in Brooklyn looking for steam consultant, 120 unit, single pipe, 1950s building
Can't go wrong with any of these.
Re: Zone Valve malfunction?
I would disconnect and mark the wires to the zone valve to eliminate an electrical issue and see what happens
Re: Boiler Header?
Guess what circulators are made ofโฆ. A little bit of iron in a closed loop system is of zero consequence and absolutely does not require filtration or magnetic "concentrators".
GroundUp
Re: Main vents on Steam system
At the end of the main after the last radiator take off if you have wet returns. If the steam and condensate come back to the boiler above the water line they can go near the boiler before the drop.
Re: What happened to Rems Tools(USA)
Hi, I use REMS for bending and tube expansion. A neat thing about the long bends you get is that the water doesn't know it's changing direction with bends over five pipe diameters, so no real turbulance or friction loss. This helps prevent erosion and can even allow you to use smaller pipe in some cases. Good way to go.
Yours, Larry