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Valves are easy

If valve is leaking at the valve stem :

First, try tightening the top (packing) nut 1/4 turn. That's usually enough.

If it's still leaking, turn boiler off, remove the packing nut and use a pick , like a nut pick or dentist's pick to remove the old packing; get some new thin valve packing at the hardware store and wrap around the valve stem while stuffing it gently onto the gap where the old packing was. when you get to 1/16 or so over the top replace the packing nut and SLIGHTLY tighten. If you can't turn the handle you tightened it too much. If it's still leaking, tighten a little more.

Vents unscrew. Again Boiler off, unscrew old vent, put some teflon thread tape on new vent(be careful not to occlude the port) and screw in. Vent should be vertical- only hand tighten these.

Maid -o-mist and Gorton are decent rad vents. Get them at Supplyhouse.com- NOT your local Home Depot.

The red circle is your main vent

This should be removed and the pipe replaced with a 3/4 street elbow to at least an 8" nipple. Put a Gorton #1 main vent on the end. Your installer should do that for a reasonable fee.

If they excluded it in their quote, then it was fair.

As I have been heard to say… one drip every 10 seconds is a gallon a day.

Well they should have put checking/replacing any bad vents in their boiler install quote, are you sure they didn't?

To see if vents are working, you set up a long call for heat, like make the system have to gain like 5 degrees. Then you run around to all the radiators to see if they are filling with steam. That tells you the vent is letting air out like it should.

Then you keep running around to all the radiators until they start to completely fill up with steam all the way to the vent. When steam gets to a vent and makes it "steam hot" the vent should close and not allow any steam to escape. You can hold a spoon in front of the little hole in the vent to see if it's letting out steam.

Also check the valve (note the difference between a steam vent, and the radiator's valve that has a handle on it) to see if it is leaking, hissing, or dripping.

You don't want to see any hissing, fogging of the spoon, or dripping anywhere because you should only be having to add like a gallon per month to these boilers.

Small steam leaks add up fast! I had a leak in between two sections of one of my radiators. It didn't leak enough to drip, it was at the top of the push nipple on the bottom of the radiator but it would bubble a bit.

For the longest time I dismissed it because I thought it was too minor to make a difference….all the while I was adding make up water weekly. I fixed that leak and guess what…I top the boiler off once a month maybe.

Set the thermostat up high to get the system full of steam and a little pressure. Use a small mirror and move it around all the joints, valves, vents, etc. You will see little wisps of fog on the glass of the mirror if steam is leaking. Sometimes leaks are so minor you can't see or hear them….but they are there.