Water in supply main

Steve_192

Fred,

Thanks for your reply. The insulation looks good, the piping may be improperly pitched from the main to the riser, which is why I think I can solve it in the basement with a drip line at the low point. How do I know if the boiler water is bad or not? Thanks for your patience with my first time experience as a steam heat owner!

Steve_192

water in riser

I have two pipe steam heat and the third floor of my house only heats when the pressure gets above 1 pound. You can hear the steam trying to force it's way through some water, then some water hammer for about 40 seconds, then the three radiators connected to that riser heat. Someone recently suggested that I put a "drip line" in the low point in riser with a valve on it to occasionally release the condensate (steam off, of course). Any ideas on whether or not this would work to get the water out and the steam up where it needs to go at a lesser pressure? Thanks!

Fred Harwood_2

Water

Pictures may help response. Water in the main is a big no-no, and may result from missing insulation, poor piping, bad boiler water, etc. Give more info.

nicholas bonham-carter

drip l ine

good idea about the drip line. i suggest using the same diameter as the surrounding pipe, drop down to the floor, and then across the floor back to the wet return.you need a fairly big pipe to handle all the water coming back.
if you don't want to do that, then check the level of every bit of that line from boiler to the rads.i am sure that you will find a sag somwhere.-nbc