I didn't know it was a steam system and filled it with water

Long Beach Ed

The only thing that could have happened is the weight of the water in horozontal mains may have made them sag. If everything's working fine with no water hammer, don't worry.

I wouldn't flush anything. Just keep the water level where it shoudl be and it will work fine. You don't want to introduce lots of new water into the system. It's very corrosive until the oxygen is driven from it.

Unless you have problems, flushing rust isn't something you have to or should want to do.

Long Beach Ed

Jeff K.

I filled my steam system with water years ago

I am a cautious, steam-heat newbie, but reading "We Gt Steam Heat" has sparked some curiosity.

6 years ago we moved into our house, which was built around 1940 (hint #1). It's a 7-room cape of about 1400 sq. ft.
I'm sure that I was told that we had a steam heat system by the home inspector, but I thought, "What's the big deal?"

We moved in (in CT in November) and after about 10 days (hint #2) the house was cold throughout.
I went downstairs and opened what turned out to be the cold water supply and the boiler (which I thought was a furnace) soon came on and the house started warming up.

My wife said. "It's working. Leave it like that."
After a few minutes I noticed water spewing out of what I later determined were vents.
Despite my wife's demands, I shut down the cold water supply and called a plumber.
All over the phone, he asked me to look for a guage glass, which I found in no time.
He told me that I had a steam system and needed to blow off steam every 7 to 10 days in the heating season.
Good to know!
He also advised me to drain all that water from the system and refill it until the guage was half-full.
I drained it, removing about 30 gallons.
I then refilled it as he'd suggested.
I then arranged an appointment for him to come out and show me all I'd need to know about steam heat. That was money well spent.

It's too late to do anything about it, but was that 30-gallon flush risking damage to the (one-pipe) system?

If not, I was just wondering if doing it again next summer (off-season, on purpose) might act to flush some of the rust (downhill) into the wet return? Might this improve the flow of steam, air and returning water in the future.

I'm not going to rush into anything. I'm just curious.

Thanks.

Jeff

Phil_20

flushing

I had a similar question regarding a steam system years ago
in an appartment building with a 1 million btu boiler. There was signifigant sludge buildup due to age of building
( about 120 years old ) and lacking maintenance. The advice
I recieved was DO NOT FLOOD due to extreme potential for water and sludge trapping at any sagging pipes. Therefore I
pass this on. The advice came from the foremost leader in steam in the area. The consequences are to cause blockages in pipes that are very difficult to remove. The advantages are nothing as weekly blowdown is adequate.