Home Owner Questions for The Pro's

NShak

Greetings All.

Live in NJ. I have a 1-pipe system in a 2 story single family home. It takes almost 90 minutes for my radiators to fully heat... then they overshoot the thermostat (in the dining room) by almost 2 degrees. I can't find any main air vents on either of my two 2-inch mains that run the length of the basement- I need to have a pro tap the mains and put in vents on each... how much would that usually cost?

All vents have adjustable radiator vents (the cylindrical type 1/8 inch ones). Would I be better off putting Gorton vents (sized to the distance away from the boiler per Gorton's diagram chart)? My Home Depot only carries Maid-o-Mist. Are these equivalent or should I find Gorton vents?

Finally, my water guage is also over-filled. I drain out some water from the boiler (when it's cold) to get the guage showing 1/2 to 2/3rds full, but it will be overfilled in the morning after the system has run the night before. I don't think the electric automatic water feed is leaking, so why should I overfill the system after every cycle? How can I fix this?

Thanks for the input.

martin

Overfilled

You need better input than I can give you on vents ,but as for overfilling the water has to come from somewhere and the auto filler is about the only source. Close the valve to the filler overnight and then check.

David Nadle

I'm a homeowner too. I would first check the pressuretrol to see what the cut out pressure is set to. If it's more than 2 lbs lower it to 2 lbs but read up on your exact model first because there are two different kinds and they set differently.

If the pressuretrol is set 2 lbs or less, or even if it isn't, the pigtail might be clogged. You definitely want to add some main vents; whoever you hire to do that can easily replace the pigtail for you. Or use your judgement whether you can handle it yourself. I would say do not try to remove it unless you have a replacement in hand. The experts here recommend brass over steel.

Test your low water cutoff, then turn off the autofeeder for a few days. It's possible that after burining for 90 minutes your water line is down so low the autofeeder comes on, then when all the condensate returns the boiler is flooded.

Finally, don't go switching out the rad vents until you get fast venting of the mains. The rad vents might be fine. Good luck.

One more thing...if the mains and takeoffs aren't insulated, do that after you get the main vents.