How to get steam into a steam system that is piched down?

gerry gill

post pictures of the step up, the step down, and the main vent station..i don't like the fact the mains start in counterflow..

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Igor_2

How to get steam into a steam system with a pipe piched down?

I have a single pipe steam system that has a 10 foot section that is pitched down. The system was actually designed this way in 1930. The section is 3" in diameter has 3 risers from it. At the end of the section the there is a very large air vent and then a 1" pipe for water return to the boiler. All the radiators on these risers almost never get hot. The steam just does not have the push to move into that pipe.

What can I do? Changing the section is not really an option. Should I close down the vents in the rest of the system? This would cause the radiators near the thermostat to take much longer to heat up, the boiler would run longer, more steam would be created and it may push into the pipe. When I tried this, the pressure in the system increased significantly (7 psi) and is not the steam system should be at almost no pressure.

I also tries to connect a tiny pump to the steam vent valve to pull some air out. This worked great, but can this cause a problem? Has any one done this?

Thanks for any help.

gerry gill

sounds like bad vents

probably a bad main vent..balance probably off also.

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Igor_2

Already replaced vents

I replaced vents on all radiators and the mains. I also doubled the vent on the main in question. The steam just does not seem to have enough power to push the air out until the pressure in the boiler rises about 7 psi.

Unknown

I`m sure Gerry is right,

as a test, have you tried removing this main vent completely(open hole), then see if the steam gets there at a lower pressure?

Dave

nicholas bonham-carter

pressure too high ?

i think that many air vents will stop working if the pressure goes over 3 psi.can you blow through the vents[radiator vents as well] when they are off? are the valves on the rads FULLY open?get yourself a new gauge at gaugestore.com which reads in ounces,and a vaporstat as well.
i am sure that the money spent on these 2 items will be quickly returned in economy and comfort of operation.my system [60 rads] runs between 6-12 ounces of pressure!
so as steven colbert says "and you can too!" good luck nbc

gerry gill

can you

sketch out a piping plan so we can see the whole piping layout please..have you flooded the boiler to make sure it has no leak?

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World Plumber

Water level

Where is the water level in your boiler compaired to the height of the main vent on this line I had a system if you brought the water level up to the normal operating level it was too close to the height of the low end of the main and would pull water from the return and block the steam from entering the risers. Running the boiler at a lower level allowed the system to work till I dug the basement deeper and lowered the boiler. I can't see your system. Just food for thought.

Phil_17

Check valve, or hartford loop??

When we bought our current home the steam system was configured with a check valve instead of a hartford loop. When the check got stuck open because of junk in the return line the water would push out of the boiler and back up into the lowest return, subsequently blocking off the steam to that main. Cranking up the pressure actually makes the problem worse, and could cause an auto-feeder to overfill or flood your boiler...

After having my boiler replaced and piped correctly my "cold" main heats like a champ! (I did some work on the venting too, but the check valve was most of the problem).

Low pressure is the way to go, you'd be surprised how much better things work when you turn it down. My system never shows more than an ounce or two on my gauge and it heats great (it might be underfired a bit, but I'm not inclined to mess with it, given that it's working so well).

Pictures would be really good. The pro's here are really good a figuring out these puzzles.

Igor_2

Pipe layout

Thank you for all the responses. I attached a drawing of the pipe layout that may help. Here are a couple of facts that people asked for.

Boiler is brand two years old and seems to be installed very well. I checked on boiler sizing and the contractor did seem to choose the right size based on the radiators. It is ofcourse sized for all the radiators getting hot on the coldest day in Boston, but based on the charts I found on the web it seems correct.

The pressure gauge on it does not make any sense since it reads 1 psi even boiler is cold and 9 psi when it is running. 9 psi seems way too high. This is especially strange since the high pressure cutoff is all the way to the lowest pressure position and it never cuts off. On the other hand, if I remove the vent at the radiator the steam can come out at pressure that looks like about 5 psi.

The water level in the boiler is at least 4-5 feet lower than the mains.

It it helps I can take real pictures of various components and try to post them.

Thank you for all the help.

Steamhead (in transit)

How long are those steam mains

what pipe size are they, and what main vents are on them?

Was the brand new boiler properly sized to the amount of radiation you have?

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