Leaking Vent

Steamhead (in transit)

it's probably either a partially closed radiator shutoff, or a partially clogged return line. If the latter, the line will have to be replaced.

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Matt_54

leaking vent (among other things)

So here is my boiler problem - any insights are appreciated. A few weeks ago, I realized that one radiator was never getting hot and it seemed to be wet under the radiator (it is set back in the wall). I had a service man come out and he confirmed that the radiator had a small leak in it. I am waiting for the part to come in to get this fixed. At some point I realized that the LWCO shut down the boiler as it is supposed to do -- presumably, I had cumulatively lost enough water out of the radiator (catching it in pot) to shut down the system. So I refilled the boiler until the gauge was about 3/4 full (probably a mistake). Last weekend, we were out of town and we turned down the thermostat to 58. Upon our return, we turned it back up to 68. The system ran for a long time, but it had a lot of heating to do. Then I realized that filthy, rusty water was coming out of a valve on one of the pipes in my basement (damaging my new office). I shut the boiler off. Looking at the sight glass, it now appeared to be full. So at the advice of my serviceman, I drained it. I must have drained at least 3 gallons out it, if not more, which is baffling. I thought that I might have slightly overfilled it, but not by that much. Now that I have drained it, system is working, but with the radiator problems. My questions:

(1) How could I overfill by so much, when the glass didn't even show it being full? Water in the pipes? Obviously, some human error must be involved.

(2) Is the dirty water a problem? My old boiler needed to be flushed a little every month, but I didn't think that was needed for my new one (Burnham Independence (5?) ).

(3) Even if overfilled, should water ever come out of a vent on my mains? Aren't they designed to prevent even steam from coming out?

(4) Is my leaky radiator contributing to any of this?

(5) Would my leaky radiator be the reason the vent seems to hiss more or cause my system to cycle on an off more these days?

Thanks for your thoughts and forgive any botched lingo.

Matt

Daniel_3

1.) Sometimes an old maula fill valve will not seat properly and drip slowly to continue the fill to where you had it.
2.)Yes especially if it was never properly cleaned after install.
3.) Vents are made to open and vlose to the atmosphere upon drop away pressures easily letting the overfill to be brought up by the steam cycle up an out of the vent.
4.) To an extent but not in a large way.
5.) Most likely related to your near boiler piping and install. Was an accurate edr (equivalant direct radiation) established before the choosing of the boiler size? Your leaky radiator would not play a significant fsactor on the short cycling (more on/off, more often)

Norm Harvey

My main question,.. Are you POSITIVE that you shut the water after you filled it?

A few times a year I get a call where the home owner didnt shut the valve off completely when they filled the boiler and it over filled. Usually a slightly open valve will make quite a racket.

Also were the valves on the glass all the way open or clogged? If clogged you could have filled the boiler
faster than the water could work through the clog and register on the glass.


Water shouldnt come out of the main vents normally when the system is producing steam,.. but if the water isnt hot enough to close the vents and the system is filling, yes water can come out.

I would continue to flush your low water cut off regularly.

Matt_54

(1) fill valve was new; (2) it is entirely possible that the system wasn't cleaned properly upon the installation. I have no idea is an accurate EDR was established - I just trusted my installer.

Matt_54

I thought that I was careful about shutting it all the way, but I must admit, I am not sure that I would believe me if I was reading this. Where would a clog be? Inside the boiler - boiler was installed less than a year ago, but it is possible that the installer never cleaned the pipes.

Norm Harvey

The 1/2 inch pipes that connect the sight glass to the boiler can sometimes clog with sediment but I would be more inclinded to think about the fill valve.

Is it a gate valve (a wheel handle) or a ball valve ( lever handle)

If it is a gate valve that would be my first suspect. That it didnt seat entirely as Dan suggested.

Jim_83

Had the same thing happen to me and I don't think it was the fill valve not being closed properly. Here are the symptoms on my boiler. It was a Weil McLain boiler with new manual water feed valve.

Did my weekly checking of the water level and it was about 3/4 of the way up on site glass.

On the same day hours later, discovered boiler would not fire because water level was below the site glass.

Checked for leaks or puddles of water. Nothing found.

Manually filled boiler to proper level and boiler started and produced steam to heat house. Boiler does not have automatic fill.

Next morning I check the boiler and the boiler is flooded, water completely filling the site glass.

Did not touch the fill valve, so it stayed in the same state as it was overnight.

Drained water from boiler until water was at the proper level.

Monitored water level for next several days and water level was normal.

I suspect some water got trapped in a radiator, main, or return and on the next boiler firing after I added water to the boiler, the trapped water returned to the boiler and caused a flooding condition. Is this possible?

Matt_54

It is a gate valve.

Matt_54

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

Steamhead: is there anyway to determine this myself. My service guy should be by to install the new radiator in a week. Does having the stystem flushed help? Is that expensive?

Steamhead (in transit)

First

check to see that all the radiator shutoffs are wide open. Then, have your service guy try to flush the returns with a hose. If they flow sluggishly or back up, you've found the problem.

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Mike Kehoe_6

Did you ever get this problem fixed? I just wanted to add that I agree with the clogged return scenario, and that is what is causing the radiator to leak; the condensate from the rad is not getting back to the boiler and is just sitting there and that is where your leaking water is coming from.

steveex

Do a 2 hour hot skim before the heating season, clean gauge glass and gauge valves, then have a drink.