Steam Heat Expert needed Philadelphia, PA area

Matthew in Glenside

Larry,
Thank you for your reply. I grew up in Elkins Park.
The pressuretrol has the cut-in pressure set at .5 and the cut-out pressure set at 1.5. The pressure gauge on the boiler seems to confirm that that the boiler is operating in this range. The water level rests at the line indicated on the boiler (about half up the glass tube). I will give Chuck a call at Ocean's of Water and hopefully he can solve the problems.
Thanks again for your help.

-Matthew

Matthew in Glenside

Steam Heat Expert needed in Philadelphia, PA area

I'm hoping I can get a reference for a good steam heat contractor in the Glenside area (Northwestern Philadelphia suburbs). My wife and I purchased our house a year ago and we have had problems with the steam heat ever since. I bought the Holohan book "We Got Steam Heat" and have been trouble-shooting the system based on the information contained in the book. I should note that we have had two Heating Contractors out and they have not been able to solve any of our problems. Our boiler is relatively new (Weil-McClain installed 2001) and seems to function well.

Based on the book I have a couple theories as to what is wrong:
1. Most of the steam vents on the radiator are placed high on the radiator instead of in a lower position as Dan describes (two of the radiators in our house have the vents in the lower position).
2. Water shoots out of our living room and master bedroom radiators. I checked the slope of the radiators and they are sloped correctly to drain. In fact, I disconnected the bedroom radiator to check to see if there is trapped water in it and it was dry. There is a slushing sound in the pipes in the floor which leads me to believe that the pipe itself is sloped incorrectly and that is where the water is trapped (which gets forced by the steam up through the radiator and out the vent). Again, this is just my theory.
3. The radiator in the living room seems rather small for the size of the room. Looking at the pipes that run along the basement ceiling it appears as though there is a pipe that is capped that may have led to a second radiator in the living room which the previous homeowners may have removed. I cannot find a hole in the floorboards yet(the floor is carpeted and I have to look more closely in the boards in the basement ceiling). I think the previous homeowners may have thrown the system out of balance by removing a radiator.

Any help and recommendation for a contractor that can expertly diagnose the problem would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You.
-Matthew

Larry in Elkins Park_4

Steam Guys

I have had success with Oceans of Water Plumbing/Heating in East Oak Lane--Chuck, the head, seems to really understand steam.
Meanwhile--what kind of H20 level have you got in the boiler, and is your pressue under control? is your low-water cutoff clean? I know when my sysrem was mucked up, one of the probelms was overfill from the auto feeder when the dirty LWCO would not tell it to stop.

Larry in Elkins Park_4

Sorry--should have been a \"REPLY\"

Larry in Elkins Park_4

Matthew--I am wondering about something. As we moved into EP two years ago (from East Oak Lane), and you moved in 1 year ago, were you also given by your seller the same Home Warranty we were that is so popular with the major realtors here? I ask because in our case our mains shortly sprang leaks and needed to be replaced, and the company we were required to use sent someone who did not understand steam and while fixing the pipes he also managed to do things to the boiler that just about destroyed it (and in fact we are having it replaced next week by Oceans as it is now leaking from much prior abuse/neglect). You said you've had two contractors in there who did not help--could that have been through this same referral process? In our view, this is the huge drawback of that Home Warranty, that you cannot get anything done by the people you know and trust, unless they happen to be in their system.

Matthew in Glenside

You are absolutely right

Larry,
The first contractor we had was through our oil company. They came out to do the yearly service to the boiler and we asked them to diagnose the problem with the system. After having them out six times (and losing heat twice the very night we had them out) they managed to resolve nothing.
The contractor we just recently had was through the Home Warranty and they were useless. They demonstrated zero knowledge of steam heat. I complained to the warranty company and they said they would have to send out the same contractor to take a look at it again or else we would have to pay another deductable to get a different contractor. I asked them what other contractors they used and then researched them a bit, but I am not familiar with any of them and have little confidence that they will have expertise in steam. The next thing I did was post the message you responded to here. My wife and I are debating renewing the Home Warranty. Right now I am leaning against it.
Thanks again.

Larry in Elkins Park_4

We did not renew the Warranty--AHS sound familiar? Our big thing with even having this was the water heater was 16.5 years old, so we knew we'd get one for 50 bucks within the year. We had to write a long complaint to AHS about the steam issue, the guy even billed it wrong and tried to get more from us to fix it--$1500 limit on heat, you know. Oceans cleaned up their mess a month later, and now less than two years later the boiler is leaking (above the water line, fortunately). The topper came two months later in 3/06 when the water heater died--of course AHS wanted to send the same ppeople in since they assign on zip code. We demanded someone else. The interesting thing was that the person they sent was in the city, and actually a lot closer. But you know--you can't send city people to the 'burbs. The company in question was that oil company out on Mt Carmel, literally feet before the western border of Cheltenham Township, and I'll bet that they serviced you, since they also have an oil business.

Matthew in Glenside

AHS Warranty

Larry,
AHS is what we have as well. We used a different oil company than the one on Mount Carmel. The oild company we use has some of the best prices around and reliable delivery, but the company they use for boiler maintenacne and repair, which is located in Jenkintown, does not know steam systems.
I called Oceans of Water and spoke to chuck. He gave me a few things to try before we have him out. On of the things he suggested is to try to elevate the entire radiator in our bedroom to attempt to change the pitch of the pipe in the floor. I'm not sure if we have that much play in our pipe though.
Thanks again for your help.
-Matt

Larry in Elkins Park_4

Matt--glad you reached Chuck. He's doing my new boiler install tomorrow. Getting a radiator leveled properly, that's easy. I would not know how to best address an unexposed pipe that may have sagged/shifted. Use a car jack on the radiator if you can, makes it much easier, and it goes slowly. Good luck!