steam heat

Lee Cole

I have been going roun ann round trying to find info on a steam system.It is a two pipe system,each convector has a trap.The system also has air vents ,which I thought were for single pipe installations.The system also has a direct return trap.The trap is very noisy when it opens and closes.Does this trap need to be in condensate if all convectors are trapped?

Unknown

Pressure

The direct return trap only operates (and makes noise) when the pressure accidently (with a coal fire) get's too high.

With modern burners, we control the pressure with a pressuretrol or vaporstat, which keeps the water level where it belongs; below the return trap.

Turn your pressure down, your return trap is trying to keep the water in the boiler when the pressure rises above what the system can handle.

Noel

Lee Cole

The system is currently natural gas it runs at2psi or lower. Is it possible this is a left over from a previous boiler?

Steamhead (in transit)

That's a Vapor system

and given your description, I bet it's a Trane.

If the air vents you see are on the piping in the basement, that's fine. It's also typical of Trane- they generally didn't use the float trap/air eliminator found in other Vapor systems and described in chapter 15 of "The Lost Art of Steam Heating". But if someone has added air vents to the convectors, that's wrong.... very wrong.

I see a lot of Trane systems in Baltimore- with proper care they run efficiently and quietly.

If the system uses a non-pressurized return, the Return Trap will operate more often. In this setup, the ends of the steam mains drain thru traps rather than directly to the wet return. Once in a while I see a Trane set up this way.

Noel is right on with the Vaporstat. This is the control the Dead Men wish they'd had all those years ago. Vapor systems in general were designed so they didn't need more than a half-pound of pressure on the coldest day of the year. This is one thing that made them very economical to operate. The Return Trap operated when the boiler's pressure rose above the point at which the water couldn't drain into it by gravity alone.

Take some pics if you can, and post them here! We love this old stuff.

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Lee Cole

i HAVE A FEW PICS I WILL TRY TO GET MORE.