Noisey Steam

Milliner

I have a one pipe steam system. Last year (and previous years) it ran fine, very quiet, etc. This year most of the radiators on the second floor make a gurgling and hissing noise when the steam comes on while the radiators on the first floor stay silent as they heat up. The water in the boiler sight glass is clean and stable. The sight glass above the waterline is dry. The system is set to shut off at 1.5 psi, which it does. The steam mains in the basement are all fitted with multiple Gortons etc. The only thing that changed from last year is that one radiator in a back room that is currently under construction has been temporarily shut off. Other than that, nothing has changed. The system always used to be very quiet and now the second floor radiators sound like coffee percolators.  Any thoughts?



Thank you in advance.

Charlie from wmass

The valve is it connected to the radiator?

I am thinking it may not be shutting off. this is letting condensate build up and sloshing around. It could also be the vents need cleaned and/ or replaced?

Jamie Hall

I'm with Charlie

it is amazingly difficult, sometimes, to get a radiator valve to really truly shut off -- like vapour tight.  Which is what you are asking it to do.  If it isn't, you'll get some steam in... which will condense... and the condensate will try to get out past the steam trying to get in.  And make a gurgling, if not worse.



And it is truly amazing how sound travels in a heating system -- a gurgle one place can show up in a bunch of other places!  One of the reasons one always looks at the whole system when troubleshooting.

Milliner

Only 2nd floor rads make noise

The "shut off" radiator is completely disconnected, removed from its valve and sitting on the opposite side of the room which is under construction. The valve is not leaking. That radiator (room) is on the first floor at the far end of the house. All of the other radiators on the first floor (8 in all) are functioning fine. However, five out of the seven radiators on the 2nd floor sound like coffee percolators after the heat has been going for a while. They start out silent when the heat first comes on and then they get progressively noisy with gurgling and hissing sounds as the heating cycle continues. This has never happened before in the years we have lived here. 

Charlie from wmass

Try a bit of soap in the valve.

I think the valve is passing some steam. WHen the steam is cooling in the pipe it is not flowing back well as it does not have a good vent like when the steam vent cools. It is like holding your finger over a straw lightly. If you push the water into the bottom of the straw hard it will travel up the straw. When the pressure drops the water stays up the straw until you lift your finger. This water hanging will get sloshed around by the steam trying to reach the other radiators. If you reconnect the radiator and they are still noisey then it may be something else. But I think it will quiet down when the system is back on fully.

Milliner

Disconnected radiator is definitley 100% closed off....

I seemed to have mislead you concerning this disconnected radiator. Let me be clear - It has been completely disconnected and the valve is turned off and not leaking in any manner whatsoever. Furthermore, that radiator is on the opposite end of the house and on a different level from where I am hearing the noisy radiators. In the room where the radiator has been disconnected it is all cold and quiet. There are no steam noises going on in there. That radiator is at the end of a separate line. Nothing feeds beyond it.



Elsewhere in the house, on the opposite end from where that silent disconnected radiator sits, up on the second floor, I have noisy radiators that never before used to make noise.

nicholas bonham-carter

percolators upstairs

the noise you hear is the escape of air from the risers to the upper radiators, as steam is rising. even though, you have multiple gortons on the vents, it is possible for them to have become plugged, which puts more venting work on the radiator vents. are you sure of your low pressure [verified by a low-pressure gauge] ?--nbc

Milliner

What about the gurgling? How do I clean a Gorton 2?

We have a separate 0-5psi gauge which reads 1.5 at cutout, which is also what the pressuretrol is set at and those adjustments have not been touched or changed in years - this problem just began this year. 



How do we clean a Gorton #2?



In addition to the air sound, what is causing the water gurgling sound in the radiators where we have confirmed that all radiators in question have proper pitch and nothing in the house has changed relative to pipe pitch etc etc?



As I said, last year (and all previous years) the system was always very quiet. No sounds. No noise. What would all of a sudden cause several radiators on the second floor to start gurgling?

Bill_neophytehomeowner

thought...

well, don't know much about all this, but reading your "conversations", sounds like something is not fully explained...if the only thing that changed was the disconnection of the radiator, maybe you could re-connect, even temporarily. I mean if that is the only change, why not try it, if possible. my .02.

DavidK_2

Maybe

you are just noticing sounds that have always been there, but never noticed.



Maybe dirt got dislodged and found a new place to lodge itself.

Charlie from wmass

Can you confirm steam pressure?

Just because the pressuretrol says it is 1.5 does not mean it is. A clogged pigtail can let the pressure climb several pounds and still stop the burner. Clogged vents from sitting all summer?

Milliner

Have confirned pressure is not above 1.5

We have a 0-5 PSI gauge, separate from the 0-30 PSI gauge that came with the boiler, that reads 1.5 at cutout. Furthermore, the adjustments on the pressuretrol have not been touched. It has always been set to cut out at 1.5.



The pigtail was cleaned in November along with the LWCO and the rest of the boiler. Neither were dirty, but they were checked and cleaned anyway.



How do you clean a Gorton # 2? We have 6 of them on the mains.

Milliner

gurgling sound

Also, how would plugged main vents cause the gurgling (water) sound up in some of the 2nd floor radiators only?  There are two issues - one is hissing, the other is gurgling. I have walked around the house when this is happening and this only occurs on the 2nd floor. The first floor is quiet. Last year the 2nd floor was quiet too. Now it sounds like those radiators are pitched incorrectly, but they are not. 

malp

pipe dope

Did you use pipe dope recently?

Milliner

No

No. Nothing has been repaired, added, threaded on or replaced. Just that one remote radiator, which is at the end of its own line, has been temporarily disconnected while that room is being renovated.