Uneven heat

Luis

Hello,

One of the very first investments right after buying my house was Dan’s books regarding steam heat. I have thoroughly read Dan’s book “The Lost Art of Steam Heating”, and I have corrected, modified, or replaced all necessary parts to attain the best possible operation (not there yet!?).

Despite replacing all near-boiler piping, installing a 3” drop header, pitching the mains, installing additional main supports, re-configuring all take-offs to 45 degrees, replacing the existing multi brand radiator vents with all new Gorton radiator vents, replacing the end of the mains as to install main vents (Gorton #2’s), and installing a vaporstat (set to 4oz cut-in, 6oz diff), I am still having trouble getting the shorter of my two 2” mains hot.

The boiler is located approximately in the middle of my basement and the mains measure 31’ and 27’-9” respectively. The shorter main serves 5 radiators whereas the longer main feeds 6 radiators. The longer main gets hot really quick, but the shorter main takes quite a long time to get lukewarm. As a result, all the radiators of from the longer main get really hot while the remaining ones get lukewarm. As luck would have it, my bedroom is off the colder main!

I contacted Gorton (What great people!) to inquire about the imbalance problem and I installed two #2 on the shorter main, but the problem still persists. Per conversation with Ken, the combined venting capacity of the #2 on the shorter main is approximately 33cfm which according to my calculations is twenty three times the air content of the main.

For testing purposes, I am considering removing one of the two main vents and replacing it with a ball valve which will be open from system start-up. I hope to determine if steam reaches the end of the main as quickly as the longer main indicating that additional venting is needed.

More importantly, if the problem is resolved I can insulate all the exposed piping so that I decrease the pick-up factor and expedite the production of steam.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Pictures are provided to facilitate diagnosis.

Thanking in advance,
Luis.

John S.

Do both mains drop...

into a wet return? I could be mistaken, but I only see vents on the end of one main and not the other? Or was the picture, pre-main vent installation?

don_52

last two photos...

> Hello,

>

> One of the very first investments right

> after buying my house was Dan’s books regarding

> steam heat. I have thoroughly read Dan’s book

> “The Lost Art of Steam Heating”, and I have

> corrected, modified, or replaced all necessary

> parts to attain the best possible operation (not

> there yet!?).

>

> Despite replacing all

> near-boiler piping, installing a 3” drop header,

> pitching the mains, installing additional main

> supports, re-configuring all take-offs to 45

> degrees, replacing the existing multi brand

> radiator vents with all new Gorton radiator

> vents, replacing the end of the mains as to

> install main vents (Gorton #2’s), and installing

> a vaporstat (set to 4oz cut-in, 6oz diff), I am

> still having trouble getting the shorter of my

> two 2” mains hot.

>

> The boiler is located

> approximately in the middle of my basement and

> the mains measure 31’ and 27’-9” respectively.

> The shorter main serves 5 radiators whereas the

> longer main feeds 6 radiators. The longer main

> gets hot really quick, but the shorter main takes

> quite a long time to get lukewarm. As a result,

> all the radiators of from the longer main get

> really hot while the remaining ones get lukewarm.

> As luck would have it, my bedroom is off the

> colder main!

>

> I contacted Gorton (What great

> people!) to inquire about the imbalance problem

> and I installed two #2 on the shorter main, but

> the problem still persists. Per conversation with

> Ken, the combined venting capacity of the #2 on

> the shorter main is approximately 33cfm which

> according to my calculations is twenty three

> times the air content of the main.

>

> For testing

> purposes, I am considering removing one of the

> two main vents and replacing it with a ball valve

> which will be open from system start-up. I hope

> to determine if steam reaches the end of the main

> as quickly as the longer main indicating that

> additional venting is needed.

>

> More

> importantly, if the problem is resolved I can

> insulate all the exposed piping so that I

> decrease the pick-up factor and expedite the

> production of steam.

>

> Any help would be greatly

> appreciated. Pictures are provided to facilitate

> diagnosis.

>

> Thanking in advance, Luis.

don_52

last two photos...

end of main, to the left above the sink, tell me that's the
section that's not heating.

if it is then do the same thing you did on the other end, remove one of those #2's ? and put it over there.

"each" end of main requires it's own vent.

regards, db

Luis

uneven heat

Both mains have main vents. It so happens that I removed the temporary sheetrock ceiling by the end of the cold main in order to pipe the second vent. The end of the main to the left of the sink is provided with a single Gorton #2. This is the main that gets really toasty.

Gorton has tested both #2s that I have on the cold main and they are working fine.

Sorry for the bad picture. I got lazy and I did not want to remove additional sheetrock to expose a perfectly working vent.

Important to note that I do not have insulation in between the joists as I am aware that it may affect the operation of the vents.

Luis

JS,

Both mains dip into a wet return. And both mains have vents. I will take a picture of the main vent by the sink. This main gets really hot as compared to the one with two main vents.

Luis

don_52

okay, I hear you...

> Both mains have main vents. It so happens that I

> removed the temporary sheetrock ceiling by the

> end of the cold main in order to pipe the second

> vent. The end of the main to the left of the sink

> is provided with a single Gorton #2. This is the

> main that gets really toasty.

>

> Gorton has

> tested both #2s that I have on the cold main and

> they are working fine.

>

> Sorry for the bad

> picture. I got lazy and I did not want to remove

> additional sheetrock to expose a perfectly

> working vent.

>

> Important to note that I do not

> have insulation in between the joists as I am

> aware that it may affect the operation of the

> vents.

joel_19

heat

lack of insulation is probably making your problem worse . Something simple but profoundly important is the theremostat , where is it located ? HD Cheepy ? Draft up inside wall behind it ? Or affected by heat gain via dimmer switch , tv , computer , fridge etc . i always start at the stat and have many times improved things with simple relativly quick changes.

don_52

okay, I hear you...

roger that, both main vented.

i see that at our place as well, the mains vent quickly,
yet the front of the house seems to want to grab the steam
first.

why? the rads/risers and vents are larger by a factor of 2.13 to 1, the mains are vented such that from ambient to 180 takes 20 min. at end of main, that's good.

sooooo... i reduced the orifices on the front rads by one
size, has helped some.

all that said, this only happens in milder weather, once it
gets colder and the "hot cycle" times are reduced you
would'nt notice it.

now there's an example, my own, we get the mains to vent quick, then the rads slow - er, yet not slower than the amount of steam we are producing.

compare the total radiation on both mains, i'd guess the total on the side that heats up quicker has alot more than
the other.

that's my "best guess" from here.

cheers, db

thfurnitureguy_4

Please resize your pictures

Luis

Please find resized pictures.

Rodney Summers

have you removed...

Have you tried removing the radiator vents on the cold radiators. This will tell you if there is steam getting to all of the radiators.