Water coming out of Main Steam Vent

Purkis

I'm having various problems withe my residential one pipe steam heating system. I've had a technician out 5 times and some of the problems remain. I experience knocking in one arm of the main steam pipe. I suspected that the steam vent was not functioning properly. To confirm this, I removed the vent and fired up the system to confirm that the steam was reaching the vent. I could hear gurgling after a few minutes but no knocking. Then water started spurting out of the pipe where I removed the vent at fairly high pressure. The technician had previously removed and cleaned the piping in the Hartford Loop. One thing I observed is that the mains are not insulated. Any idea what would be causing water to go up through the main steam pipes when the boiler fires?

Norm Harvey

You need to have a steam professional there.

You do NOT need to be removing main vents leaving 1/2 inch holes in your mains open to the basement under steam pressure.

Put the tools down and call a licensed professional before your or your family gets burned

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

clammy

insulation ,pressureand piping

Here some stuff in a nut shell ,water hammer and such get your mains insulated which a high quality fiberglass insulation with a desent wall thisckenss no home depo stuff ,check near boiler piping see if they followed manafuctures specs ,check pressurtrol settings 1/2 psi cutin 1 lb cut out .If you have had 5 service tech come out and they have not given you a list of things to correct get another company or better yet use the find a pro listing on this site and have them take a look anbd correct your promblem ,there are not many steam system that with a little TLC cannot fix and when working correctly are one of the best heating systems around quite econical and have not many moving parts ,if you are handy check ou t some of dans bookd avaible on this site a smart home owner knows when to kick some rube who knows nothing out of his home knoweledge is powerful get some and contact a pro they know what's what's and the how and why to most steam systems peace and good luck clammy

Purkis

Thanks

Clammy,

Thanks for the advice. What manufacturer of vents do you recommend? Since the system is completely out of balance, I intend to install new vents on the mains and adjustables vents on the radiators. I also need to check the shut off valves on each radiator as I know that they some are either in need of repair or clogged. A few just turn and turn and the valve never seats.

So your analysis is that the steam is condensating in the mains and possibly adding to the return from the radiators which results in a considerable amount of water in the main. Then when the steam enters, it forced the water out of the vent opening. I'm also going to pitch the radiators slightltly.

The pipes are not insulated and that was one of the issues I planned to correct. It's a 100 year old house and I can see what looks like asbestos insulation as the pipes enter the wall cavity but nothing on the exposed pipes. I believe the piping and pressure is correct. At least the technician checked it and said it's fine.

I did figure out that I needed to adjust my thermostat because it had the anticipator feature and was cycling short. I fixed that and it helped. Longer cycle and the radiators are getting more full before it cycles off.

Once I fix the easy stuff, I'll get a steam heat expert in to evaluate the system and see if there is anything else that needs to be done.

Thanks again.