half of the pipes in basement not getting steam

mikest315

Thank you everybody who participates in this forum. I just bought an old house and I have learned a lot from all of you. When I first bought my house a month ago, all the radiators worked. However, the radiators in the back of the house no longer work. I went in the basement, and discovered one of the pipes leading to those radiators is cold. This pipe has a vent on the top. I tried taking a picture but it may be tough to see. Should replacing this vent solve the problem?

Thanks, Mike

nicholas bonham-carter

lazy steam

you can turn the system off, and when cool, remove the vent, and re-fire. when steam comes out the vent opening, you know that the pipe has no obstructions in it, such as a sag, or water puddle, preventing the air from escaping so the steam can move. in this case, you need a new vent. be ready to turn the boiler off as soon as you see steam.

if you see no steam, then check the pitch of the pipe with a level. in a complicated pipe run, it helps to put masking tape on the pipe, withe arrows marking the direction of downward slope. on my system, i had an area where the arrows were pointing towards each other! it helped that these areas of dry return had not yet been insulated, but if yours are, then maybe a nail at each end of the level will pierce the insulation enough to give you a reading.--nbc