Condensate backing up in steam radiators

Paul_11

Paul is so right.
Hoffman #40's are very slow venting, and rad shut off valves can be broken and it is not obvious, but check the radiator valve size as well. Try and determine the EDR of each radiator, using charts in golden rules of hydronics at the on line store and then use other charts to see what rad valve is required. You may find that the valves are too small.

Respectfully,

Paul B. Shay
pshay@arealgoodplumber.com
LMP 1307
LMFS 654B
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Warren J. Mateychak

lots of condensate in steam radiators

I have a one pipe steam radiator system with a Dunkirk gas fired boiler. There are 7 radiators attached to the system, 3 on the 1st floor, 4 on the 2nd. All of the air vents have been swapped out, both on the radiators and on the mains in the basement. I've also flushed the boiler out prior to this heating season. My only problem has to do with the 2 radiators furthest away from the boiler on the 2nd floor. On very cold mornings, when the system deep cycles to bring the temperature up, LOTS of condensate ends up trapped in these 2 radiators. These radiators vent correctly and get hot all the way across but when the boiler shuts off you hear what sounds like gallons of water gurgling back down the distribution pipe. This is only a problem on very cold days when the boiler is trying to get the temp up more than 4-5 degrees. Are there any adjustments that I can make to the boiler that will help this problem?

Thanks

Warren

Paul Fredricks_3

I had a customer with a one pipe counterflow system that had the same problem. Turned out the radiators were venting too quickly and the condensate couldn't get out of the rads. I slowed the venting on the radiators and everything was fine.

Make sure the valves going into the radiators are open all the way. Worn valves that are closed can still let the steam by, but not let the condensate back. See if any of that works.