Venting question

Cindy_3

I hope I am doing this right (replying, that is!)

I have a problem getting measurements. The basement has been "finished" and most the piping is above the ceiling. I was looking in the boiler roon for the main vents but they're not there. I guess they are at the end of the line? Maybe tomorrow I'll peek with a flashlight and see if I can see anything in the crawl space. But only part of the house has a crawl space now...

I live in San Jose, CA - but the house with the steam is in Winnemucca, NV. I sure like the steam heat, but it's hard to get dialed-in.

Another question? I have a Vaillant system. Do I need to do anything with it in terms of maintenance? I have had the house two years and other than small repairs, I haven't had maintenance done. The water in the glass tube is pretty rusty - but, the heat that I get from most the radiators is just fine...

Thanks!!

Cindy_3

Venting question

Greetings!

I have questions about venting. I have read Dan's chapter on venting and feel like I understand what he's saying, but am not a pro and am having understanding my next steps...

My home has a Vaillant steam boiler. My plumber says the unit operates correctly but it looks to have venting issues. Boiler techs are hard to come by here in the West and we're struggling with what to do next. I have one radiator that is stubborn and doesn't come on. But, yesterday when I got up here (2nd home - so I keep the temp to about 45 when I am not here), I took the vents completely off two of the radiators (one is a little slower than the rest, and the other is not warming at all). I cranked the thermostat up since the heat was way low and they all started cranking. The slow one in my room started steaming a bunch out the hole. Then, I took a sock and put it over the vent hole, and then I put the top of the vent up against it to "plug" it. The pipes below clanked a bit, and then the back porch radiator started to get hot. I waited a bit and put the vents back on (set to 6) and they were toasty. By last night, the back porch was cold again and hasn't started up since then.

It seems to be a venting issue to me... Is it?

Do you know what I can do to make it warm-up?

I have the other vents set to 3 & 4, and the slow and cold vent set to 6. Should I rutn the others down more? I don't want to hold back the heat from the rest of the house - but I ure would like the others to stay warm.

Any suggestions?

THANKS !!

Cindy

gerry gill

i'd replace

all the vents with Gorton brand vents for starters..then see what happens..if you can remove the vent, and the radiator then heats, its a bad vent..also make sure the inlet valves are all the way open.

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Steamhead (in transit)

Cindy, there should also be vents

near the ends of the steam mains which are larger than the others. Their job is to get the air out of the mains so all radiators get steam at about the same time. Your problem does sound like a classic venting problem.

Measure the length and diameter of your steam mains and tell us what vents are on them.

What part of the West are you in?

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Steamhead (in transit)

That's right

the vents should be at the ends of the mains. The pipe diameter is usually the same all the way to the end of the main.

If your Vaillant has a float-type low-water cutoff, you should flush it out once a week. If you're not sure, take a pic of the boiler and post it here.

Also get Dan's book "We Got Steam Heat!". It goes into much more detail. Order a copy on the Online Store of this site.

Winnemucca- that's along what used to be U.S. 40, right?

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Cindy_3

I tried to attempt to load a picture but am on dial-up here and it won't load. Can I email it to you?

I have never flushed it and wouldn't know how to. Do you think the book you mentioned will tell me how for this make/model?

Yes, Winnemucca is located on what used to be US40. Have you been here before? Where are you, back East?

Thanks!
Cindy

Steamhead (in transit)

Yes, I'm in Baltimore

E-mail them to steam.head@verizon.net and I'll see what I can do. If you can, shrink them to about 600 x 450, that will make them easier to send and they'll be the right size for the Wall.

Flushing depends on the type of low-water cutoff you have. I'll look at the pics when they arrive.

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Cindy_3

I think I was able to shrink the picture to the size you requested...