very old converted gravity pumped system

Steamhead (in transit)

is that someone converted a steam system to hot-water... if indeed that's what they actually did. Since there are no air vents on the radiators I wonder if it actually was converted.

This type of conversion is a can of worms, and we've seen some that leaked constantly and never worked right. Our company does not recommend or perform steam-to-water conversions and will not work on a system that someone else has converted, unless we change it back to steam.

If you're not sure what you have, take some pics of the boilers, some of the radiators and any interesting piping and post them here.

"Steamhead"

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SCOTT84

NEW BOILERS/DESIGN FOR OLD GRAVITY/PUMPED SYSTEM

I AM QUOTING A JOB THAT IS IN A VERY LARGE MANSION ON LONG ISLAND. THE ORIGINAL STEAM SYSTEM WAS CONVERTED TO 1ST FLOOR GRAVITY, 2ND & 3RD FLOOR PUMPED. PRESENTLY THE TWO OIL BOILERS HAD CAPACITY TO 2,240,OOO MBH. IN ATTEMPT TO GAIN SOME EFFICIENCY 3 WAY VALVES AND PUMPS WERE ADDED TO 2ND AND 3RD FLOOR SYSTEMS TO EITHER BYPASS RETURN WATER TO THE SUPPLY OR BRING BOILER WATER TO THE SUPPLY. THE 1ST FLOOR IS ALL GRAVITY ACCORDING TO THE OWNER. I ASKED IF IT WORKE HE SAID MOST OF THE RADIATORS DID NOT I AM ASSUMING THAT THEY ARE ALL AIR LOCKED AS NO AIR VALVES EXIST. DAN I FEEL SOME ENGINEERING IS REQUIRED TO MARRY THE NEW PEERLESS GAS 6 BOILERS TO THE OLD DO YOU GET INVOLVED OR CAN YOU RECOMMEND SOMEONE WHO WILL? PLEASE EMAIL BACK A TEL# IF YOU CAN.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Sounds odd to me that the ground floor would be under gravity circulation with the upper floors under forced circulation. I'd expect the exact opposite since gravity forces natural build the higher you go in the structure.

Are you utterly certain it's an original steam system? Long Island mansion and no rad air vents make me think "overhead gravity". Do you find VERY large pipes leading straight up to the attic? Are the rads connected top and bottom?