Radiator won't stop hissing, 6 story Apt in NYC - Top floor apt.

Brad White

Hi Paulo-

I take it that the building has a boiler (as opposed to utility or district steam)?

Assuming that, there are a number of possibilities of things to look for.

Lack of pipe insulation, improper near-boiler piping being among them. Seems you have wet steam or the steam drops below saturation along the way. Could be operating at too high a pressure (pounds instead of ounces), inadequate air vents, improper pitch of radiators or mains.... others will have other ideas as we get more information.

I will go out on a limb here, by your description of your wall coil radiators. Is this a loft/factory/warehouse conversion? What I am thinking is that it may be an up-feed system and you are first in line, thus may get a lot of the developed moisture and you get first dibs!

The hissing tells me that the mains do not have proper venting, therefore it is up to the radiator vents to do the job.

Vents should be like good children, seen and not heard, such that you always wonder what they are up to....

Can you fill in any blanks? Insulation, venting, time of occurrence?

Paulo

Radiator won't stop hissing, 6 story Apt in NYC - Top floor apt.

I live in a co-op building in NYC, Queens actually. I have 3 rooms which each with a long low coil type of steam radiator, which has 1 air valve at the end. The radiators seem to get how with no problem, but the one in the bedroom, hisses loudly and almost constantly. It even spits out water sometimes. and has damaged the wall a little bit.

What can i do to stop this? Should I take the valve off and try to drain the radiator? Do i need to replace the radiator?m how much pitch should i give it?... is to much pitch a bad thing?

Last night it was so bad i had to sleep with ear plugs.

Paulo

Hey Brad.. well the coile radiators seem to be original. the building was built int he 60's and has not had any renovation.

the boiler was actually just replaced and i belive that all three lines that go up are seperate form one another.

there is never any clanking or banging in the pipes that i have noticed, but then again, i live on the top floor, so the pipe line ends in my aptartment.

last year the super took off the valve (a hoffman specialy 1/4) and opend the stope valve untill water spit out and steam came out.. i recalled this helped a bit. but i'm not sure if that is just a band aid for some other major issue. i have an exstra valve he left me and will try it myself after i type this.

it seems to happen quite often, when the heat is ona, a few times an hour... but the hissing can last for up to 15mis at a time. very anoying.

Brad White

Paulo

How did the system work before the boiler was replaced? Not looking for a smoking gun, but I am looking for a smoking gun.

Col. Mustard, in the Boiler Room, with a Pipe Wrench, or something

Can you post photos?

Coil radiators in the 60's? Seems like an anachronism if not an industrial type building.

The valves at the radiators? Leave them all the way on or all the way off. Ideally all the way on, assuming they are sized correctly. There are other tricks for local control but let's take on the subject problems first.