Wheres my water going

Stewy2

I know its been cold lately but my steam system has seemed to take on a whole new personality. When its not 0 outside it heats with out building up pressure. When its less the 0 it short cycles. It seems to be very loud now hissing quite a bit, and that didn't happen before. But the most puzzle thing is that it uses about 1 gallon of water every 2 days, something that never happened before. My big radiator (12 rows 2 columns 42" tall) gets water in it after the heats been going for a bit (13ish min) and under most circumstances once it starts making that sound the thermostat shortly after is satisfied (by coincidence). The water lever did get a little lower but now it gets to the point the low water cut off kicks in and the water that use to return, disappears. I realize it may be a saggy radiator and Ive played with the vent to see if that helps, but no luck. Any ideas. Is there anyone in the seacoast area of NH you folks out there trust to take a peak and show me. Its important to me I learn the hidden details of this system. I read Dan's books and for 2 seasons I have been fairly happy but like I said to start, this cold weather has it acting up and now I need help troubleshooting/fine tuning.

clammy

Things to check

Here's few things to check.Do you have any buried returns there could be a leak which would explain the lose of water.Are you leaking steam or water at any raditor vents or main vents .The other thing to check is a leak in your boiler possible above the water line .First check your chimmey and see if there is alot of white smoke which is a indication of a leak above the water line .Also take alook at your burners (if gas) and see if there is any signs of condensate or water dripping on them and last but not least is to flood your boiler to the top and see if there is water leaking .These are the things i look at when a HO tells me they have been adding alot or more then regular amounts of make up water to there steam boiler .How old is your boilerand aside from what you have stated when was the last time the water side of the boiler was flushed and then skimmed .Hope this helped peace and good luck clammy

nicholas bonham-carter

nh steam problems

besides clammy's excellent advice, on the leak possibility, i would also check for a clogged pigtail, which may have allowed the pressure to get unnaturally high.

have you tried the" find a contractor here"? type in your location, as the zip-code feature may not work properly.--nbc