Best Of

I had an issue with an install and Burnham got involved. You just have to pick the phone up and make that call. I believe the regional rep will contact the installer and both will come out to visit. Also the boiler manual had the installation instruction, pipe size etc and pictures of how it should be piped. I don’t understand the removal of 2 burners - you just took a big pot of water off the high burner and put it on the simmer burner. What does that do for performance? Call Burnham. https://www.usboiler.net/contact.html

I’m so sorry, but it seems like everything was installed by idiots.
-I agree, it was probably steam when built because that’s pretty much all they used in the early 1900s. And the near boiler piping appears to have been steam originally.
-some of the radiator supply pipes seem a little small, but that’s probably ok.
-ALL of the steam traps (located on the return side (bottom) of each radiator) have been removed and simple bleeder taps placed. This is the evidence that the system WAS converted from steam to hydronic at some point.
-regardless of steam vs hydronic, NONE of those air vents should have been installed on the radiators. It’s a 2-pipe system. Air vents are only for single pipe systems. )not including main vents, of course).
-back to the missing steam traps. Without those, steam will flood the return system rather than staying in the radiators. This will cause rads that either don’t heat or heat unevenly. It’ll also cause the system to hammer and bang.
-whomever installed the boiler did it so poorly that he should lose his license. I don’t even know where to start. Other comments have already addressed some of these. Any person who recommends increasing the pressure to 5 should immediately be told to leave and never return.
-my recommendation… don’t let these clowns back into your house yet. Quickly find a knowledgeable steam person from this website and PAY them for a complete assessment of your system. Then contact the current installer and see what they will do. Perhaps you can get them to just remove everything they installed. No matter what they say, I wouldn’t let them “fix” the problem. This very well could end up in court.

-purchase and read Dan Holohan’s book “so you have steam heat “ and read it a couple times.

-I’m so sorry this happened to you. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now. Contractors should make things better, not worse.

Good luck,

Todd

I think this is a HeatingHelp.com first- a Dunkirk steamer where they didn't reduce the steam outlets from 2-1/2" to 2". Nice job.

As always with vapour systems like this, get the pressure under control! You want a maximum boiler pressure — cutout — of 8 ounces, and 6 is probably better.

I'd almost be surprised if a buried wet return ("condensate line") wasn't leaking. Perhaps a lot. Replace it.

I doubt the end of line main vent belongs there. It might — but it would be more normal for there to be a crossover trap there, with paired drips to the wet return. Since it's there, it will do no harm particularly — if you keep the boiler pressure down. Otherwise it can and will defeat the operation of the return trap.

Water spitting out of it, though — many possible causes. But start with the pressure.