Pressuretrol slowly going bad

Fred Harwood_2

Might be the Pressuretrol, but more often the pigtail is clogged and should be replaced.

Russell_4

I am on a single pipe system with an oil fired Burnham boiler. The pressuretrol (Honeywell) is set at a .5 cut in with a 1 diff. This year the system seems to be cutting out at too high pressure (the gauge shows about 3.5). My vents are making juicy hissing sounds at the peak and I get leaking at the union joints on some radiators.

Last year the system was almost completely quiet and cut out at about 2.5. Is this increasing pressure at cut out more likely to be the pressuretrol or the pigtail?

btw, thanks for the free help! I would definitely hire an expert to take care of this, but haven't found anyone that knows the first thing about steam heat in the Norfolk, VA area.

don_185

have to ask.

Have to ask, we been having some very cold temps in tidewater as of late..are all your rads getting completly hot at the same time?

Sounds like you are not getting rid of enough air.

Russell_4

They don't get hot at exactly the same time, the rads on the pipe closest to the boiler get hot first, then the further rads. The steam release only comes late in the cycle, when all the rads are hot.

I don't have a main vent, and all my rad vents are two year old hoffman 40s, except the one at the furthest/latest to warm rad which is another type that is always open and makes air/steam noise all the time (it is a squatty rad, and a hoffman 40 on it clicks like mad).