Life expectancy of steam pipes & radiators

Alix

We just bought an 80 year old house with the original one-pipe steam system, although the boiler was replaced in 2002.  I am seeing a lot of sediment in the water, but I don't know what is considered normal as this is our first experience with steam heat. How long do the pipes and radiators on these systems generally last? Is it possible they are at the end of their useful life after 80 years?

nicholas bonham-carter

pipe life expectancy

they are probably only in the prime of life! most pipe problems are usually associated with the wet returns, and are replaceable without too much trouble. certain "deferred maintenance" items can cause an earlier demise, such as:

1.over-pressuring, and under-venting the system, which can cause "condensate grooving".

2.unrepaired steam and water leaks, which causes more oxygenated fresh water to enter the system, and rusts out the returns and boiler.

3.a badly adjusted burner can provide such uneven heat so as to distort the fire box area.

4.a neglected LWCO can allow the boiler to dry-fire.

most of these items can be checked easily by the home owner with skills learned here, and from dan's steam books available from the shop here!--nbc

BobC

Lifetime

I replaced by boiler in 1996 and it just purrs like a kitten, since that I've had to replace the pressure sensor twice, the sight glass once, and the ignition transformer. I've done all of it myself so it didn't cost me a penny for labor outside of the yearly tuneup (i don't have the test gear to do that myself).



The single pipe system was installed in 1918 and all the piping is original. NBC was right about wet returns, especially horizontal portions, being the trouble spots. As long as you regularly maintain everything the systems will run for a very long time.



If you read through the posts on Strictly Steam you will see a lot of blow by blow descriptions on flushing and skimming boilers. Yours sounds like it needs a good flushing, pick up the books and you will understand what it's all about. this set of books will pay for itself in no time - http://www.heatinghelp.com/products/Super-Deals/14/129/A-Steamy-Deal After digesting them you might want to look at "Greening Steam" and look at the posted articles on this sight. This is an example of whats available - http://www.heatinghelp.com/article-categories/96/Problems-that-plague-ONE-PIPE-steam-heating-systems



There is a tremendous amount of expertise here on the wall, probably a lot more than you will find among local contractors unless your really lucky.



Bob

Big-Al_2

Normal?

We moved into our 1917 house three years ago, with oiginal pipes, and mostly original radiators.  The first time I drained and flushed the (2001 vintage) boiler It came out kind of rusty-chunky.  I figured that it was neglected.  I've drained and flushed it several times over the last few years, until the water comes out nice and clear . . . but after a week or two of use, the blowdown water is murky brown again, not chunky, but definitely rust stained.   After I blow it down, the sight glass also looks like iced tea at the bottom, but it clears up as things settle.



Does this sound like yours?  I'm going to assume it's normal. 

Alix

Murky waters

Thank you very much for responding - what a wonderful resource! I will be getting some of the recommended books and reading through the archives.



The previous owners had really let the house go so we have a lot of work to do. About six weeks ago we hired a reputable HVAC firm to clean and check the boiler. (At that time I didn't realize that we should have tried to find someone experienced with steam systems.) They sent two young guys out who drained the boiler and flushed it until the water was "clean," they pulled the sight glass and cleaned it, pulled the burners and cleaned those, cleaned the thermocouple, adjusted the gas pressure, and showed me how to flush and fill the boiler which they said to do weekly.



Within days the water was looking like iced tea. And now after about a week whenever I go to flush it it looks more like coffee. After flushing, it is more like a very dark ice tea, but never "clean." The big problem is that I can't see through the sight glass (the sediment has already left a residue on the glass even though they had cleaned it so it was clear six weeks ago) so I can't tell for sure there is enough water.

crash2009

Our one pipe steam was installed in 1899.

 Some sections here and there have been replaced.  This past summer we upgraded the coal-designed near boiler piping to run better with the natural gas boiler that was installed in about 2002.  Since the upgrade in June of this year I have flushed it 4 or 5 times.  The bottom side is clean and stays clean now.  During those cleanings I flushed out about a pound of steel gravel and a small handfull of Teflon.  The colder it gets the more distance the steam travels so the boiler is steam cleaning those 1899 pipes and washing down all the crap that has built up over the years.  So in answer to your question your 80 year old pipes are just nicely broke in.  Figure out how to get the boiler clean and eventually it will stay that way.  If you think you might need some changes, These guys around here will gladly advise you of "how to"  

Jamie Hall

Iced tea

I'll bet the water doesn't taste as good, though.  Big-Al -- I would regard what you are describing as pretty normal.  And Alix, you are going to love learning about and working with steam -- it's great stuff!  What you are describing sounds pretty normal, too, for a neglected system.  For that matter, most any system with longish returns.  It is almost impossible to get really clean water in a steam system.  The only way to get wet returns really clean is to flush them themselves -- and there are very few which are set up with the necessary caps and valves to do that.  Nor is it really necessary, in my humble opinion, unless the returning water is so slow because they are clogged up to cause a problem.



Couple of thoughts, though.  First, it is not necessary to empty that much water from a boiler on a regular basis, although you should blow down the low water cut off(s) regularly (many recommend weekly) until they are at least sort of clear -- don't have to be really clear.  Second, if you do blow more than a couple of gallons either through the LWCOs or through a boiler drain, you should run the boiler soon, to fully boiling, to drive off the oxygen in the water you just added -- that will help the life of the boiler a lot.



Hope this helps...