Best Of
Re: Longest lasting steam radiator vent
I've found Gorton vents to be far better than anything else out there. I've probably installed more than a thousand and have had few failures.
What failures are you experiencing? Have you disassembled any to see why they've failed? Vents either foul from a lime buildup or debris on the valve seat or their expansion chamber leaks. The Gorton's have no chamber, so they only fail through fouled outlets.
Those with fouled outlets can usually be cleaned by boiling in vinegar.
If you're having problems with high quality vents failing, it may serve you to look at your water and steam quality and steam pressure. All those will affect vent longevity. If you're using imported junk, and the aluminum bodies are blowing apart, well, that's what you get for seven bucks.
Re: 2 risers compared to 1 on steam boiler?
Look at @ethicalpaul being a comedian!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Re: System 2000 sudden issue
There could be a couple of reasons for this. In regard to the heating zones keeping up. Is the boiler continuously running? If it is then we may have to increase the firing rate to get you the BTU' needed to heat the home to 70. With you having issues with your heat and hot water this most likely the case. If the boiler is cycling on and off and the rooms still are not heating then the heating issue would be related to the distribution system. If this is the case our managers have a setting that can increase the water temperature by 20 degrees. If you could let us know what the boiler is doing as well as the temperatures showing on the boiler gauge and the manager we can help you reolve this issue.
jringel
Re: Underground Oil Tank - without a whisle stop
When I delivered fuel oil, every truck was equipped with a portable underground tank whistle-stop
The driver would place the portable fill device in the fill pipe of the tank then adjust the whistle to contact the top of the tank. when the whistle stopped there was about 4" of space left at the top of the tank.
Look for another fuel oil supplier that already has these on their delivery trucks.
Re: Underperforming system in cold temps
here’s a picture of the filter on the supply side of the taco valve - I just pulled it off
Re: Water sloshing in baseboard heaters
The very best spot would be on the supply under the boiler. That is the hottest point in the system. Next best on the horizontal piping before the pump.
Which is mounted incorrectly, turn it so the pump shaft is horizontal.
hot_rod
Re: Underperforming system in cold temps
"Bottom line - the system is holding a reasonably warm temp in the house , but doing so extremely inefficiently with water only trickling through the loops and the boiler firing up near constantly."
With a boiler rated at 137,500 BTU/hr, a back-of-the-envelope load calculation of 135,000 BTU/hr and a temperature at 76% of the delta of the design day, I'd expect the boiler to be running 76% of the time or so. Is that "near constantly"?
Re: Is this water hammer? I just moved and this noise is driving me insane
If you closed the valve to the radiator and the water hammer went away….that tells me you found the source of the problem!
Water hammer happens when the condensed steam (water) can't return easily back to the boiler. The steam and pooled water fight each other and cause the pooled water to flash boil causing a pressure spike which we hear as banging.
Your radiator is either improperly pitched, has sunk a bit or the floor has settled causing a sag in the steam pipe. The water can't drain back to the boiler and you get water hammer.
An easy thing to do would be to try and raise the radiator off the floor (carefully) and put some wood underneath the legs and make sure the radiator is pitched properly. Sometimes the radiators can be raised by a couple inches to correct the sag…and poof the problem goes away!
I'd also be interested in what the operating pressures are of the boiler. Excessive pressure can make water hammer much worse.
Re: Steam heat: room temperature spikes
@ethicalpaul OK, thanks.
I can see how trapped condensate would cause intermittent venting as the radiator fills with steam.
BUT…I can also hear the vent operating intermittently (psss….pssss….psss) while the radiator is cooling and sucking air back in. And I can't see how that could happen except for the vent itself being partially clogged.
Anyway, I've gone as far as I can with diagnosis. It's up to the landlord to fix it, so I'm going to recommend (1) a new vent, and (2) raising the radiator so that the horizontal inlet pipe is pitched correctly. The vent is probably 20 years old anyway, so even if it isn't the problem, it can't hurt to replace it.
jesmed1
Re: Water sloshing in baseboard heaters
you are correct I didn’t realize that in the picture
