Riser Vents in a one pipe parallel flow/upfeed steam system

jim_132

YOU NEED A PRO BEFORE THERE IS MORE DAMAGE.CAN YOU POST PICTURES OF THE NEW BOILER PIPING AND WHAT PRESSURE ARE YOU SEEING AT THE BOILER?

Colin Delzell

Riser Vents in a one pipe parallel flow/upfeed steam system

I have a 3 story apartment building from the mid 1930's with a one pipe paralell/upfeed system. We had a new boiler installed a few years back and every winter since has been a challenge. First of all, the boiler used to short cycle constantly but never gave consistent heat. The heating bills were high and the company who installed it could offer no solution. After some research and reading, specifically Dan Holohan's great book "The Lost Art of Steam Heating", I became suspicious of the near-boiler piping and, indeed it was installed incorrectly and was eventually re-done by a different contractor. Since then, the heat has been good if not excessive, but we have had constant problems with water hammer, spurting radiator vents and malfunctioning main vents, which we've had to replace nearly every year. This season, the contractor attempted to alleviate some of these problems by climbing up into the attic crawl-space and installing Hoffman #75 mainline vents at the end of the risers that terminate up there. Since then, the problems have done nothing but gotten worse, with water shooting literally 8 feet into the air out of some radiator vents and thick white steam blowing from others to such an extent that the tenants can't sleep at night! This week the ceiling in one of the top floor apartments caved-in due to so much condensation build up on the underside of the roof from these new riser vents spewing this same white, wet steam. My question now is; was the installation of those vents the right thing to do and, of course, what can I do to stop all of these problems from happening again next season? Thanks in advance.

jim_132

STEAM

> I have a 3 story apartment building from the mid

> 1930's with a one pipe paralell/upfeed system. We

> had a new boiler installed a few years back and

> every winter since has been a challenge. First of

> all, the boiler used to short cycle constantly

> but never gave consistent heat. The heating bills

> were high and the company who installed it could

> offer no solution. After some research and

> reading, specifically Dan Holohan's great book

> "The Lost Art of Steam Heating", I became

> suspicious of the near-boiler piping and, indeed

> it was installed incorrectly and was eventually

> re-done by a different contractor. Since then,

> the heat has been good if not excessive, but we

> have had constant problems with water hammer,

> spurting radiator vents and malfunctioning main

> vents, which we've had to replace nearly every

> year. This season, the contractor attempted to

> alleviate some of these problems by climbing up

> into the attic crawl-space and installing Hoffman

> #75 mainline vents at the end of the risers that

> terminate up there. Since then, the problems have

> done nothing but gotten worse, with water

> shooting literally 8 feet into the air out of

> some radiator vents and thick white steam blowing

> from others to such an extent that the tenants

> can't sleep at night! This week the ceiling in

> one of the top floor apartments caved-in due to

> so much condensation build up on the underside of

> the roof from these new riser vents spewing this

> same white, wet steam. My question now is; was

> the installation of those vents the right thing

> to do and, of course, what can I do to stop all

> of these problems from happening again next

> season? Thanks in advance.



Pictures of the new near boiler piping would be helpful.What pressure are you seeing during cycles?