Running toilet sound on one pipe steam?

maxb

<span style="font-size:12pt">Hi All –</span>

<span style="font-size:12pt"> </span>

<span style="font-size:12pt">In my recently purchased home, I have a one pipe steam system running off an old gas boiler. I had the system checked and serviced at the beginning of the season, and a new vaporstat installed, and all was well until today. Now, when the system is making steam, I hear a gurgling, running water sound, very similar to an old running toilet with a bad flapper, or a babbling stream. The sound is very localized to one 2</span><span>nd</span><span style="font-size:12pt"> floor radiator, and the wall in the room directly below. It’s a continuous sound, and I’ve been running all over the house tonight sure I have a major leak and some part of the house is flooding, but nothing seems out of the ordinary. It’s just that the noise sounds like a great quantity of water moving somewhere, and I to my understanding great quantities of water should never be moving at all in a low pressure steam system. Should I be worried? Anything to check or think about before I call for service? Thanks for the help, and for this great site.</span>

Charlie from wmass

is the valve open

going into that radiator? also does the air vent work properly? What model of air vent is it?

nicholas bonham-carter

toilet in my rad?

check your main line vents on the steam pipes. they do most of the air removal work, and correcting this will alter the flow so that you are not venting so much air out through that one radiator.--nbc