Changing my steam mains.

vista

So I need some help. I just bought a 6 family home and I decided to update the entire basement. We've finally made it to the steam mains and I'M lost. The house has 3 floors, and in the basement there are 2 mains feeding the entire building. The longer main is feeding 17 radiators, and the shorter one is feeding 6. The shorter main is 2" and the longer one starts out as 2" and increases to 2 1/2" pipe. I was told that i can change both mains to 2" pipe is that okay? Also we are planning to re-route the piping along one wall and branching out to the risers, in between the joists. In regards to the mains i was thinking of distributing some of the radiators to the shorter main since we're re-piping everything. Is that okay? Thanks in advance, as you guys can tell I'm new to the world of steam.

Jamie Hall

A main

that starts out a 2" and increases to 2 1/2" strongly suggests kludge at some point.  We will be glad to help, but need a good bit more information.  Sketch of layout.  Single pipe or two pipe steam.  Photos of boiler and near boiler piping.



I strongly recommend that you get a copy of The Lost Art of Steam Heating, available from "shop" on this site.  Very very helpful, and you will want to have it before long...

vista

Mains.

Thanks for the reply. I have a 1 pipe system, I will sketch out the entire system and take some photos. If this is a silly question I apologize, but what is kludge? i just purchased " The Lost Art Of Steam but haven't read it yet. I'll get those pics uploaded asap.

crash2009

kludge

appears to be a word describing a hasty patch job.  Try searching the wall and you will see what I mean.  Now I'm curious, where did that word originate?

Abracadabra

...

you sure the 2" isn't the dry return and the 2.5" is the actual main that loops around back to the boiler?  What kind of a system is this? 1 pipe? 2 pipe? parallel? counterflow?

STEAM DOCTOR

CAREFUL!!!

PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!! Many of the people doing this type of work do not have a good understanding of how steam systems should be set up. If the work is done without proper attention to detail you will have a noisy, expensive and uncomfortable system. A very high percentage of the steam main remakes that I see are badly butchered. If you have any doubts just leave the mains as is and box them in with something decorative. Make sure to leave access to the vents that should be at the end of the mains.

vista

Mains.

I don't think it's a patch job. It's starts out as 2" for about 5-10 feet and then increases to 2 1/2 for the remaining 40-45 feet.

vista

What else should I worry about?

Okay besides pitching the mains what else should i be looking for when the new mains are being put up? We're connecting to the same risers and radiators as before. We're not changing the boiler, or piping off the boiler. Please let me know what else to look for, thanks.

Enreynolds

Pictures

Jamie suggested that you post some pictures of your system.  I do not think that anyone here really knows what you are up against without seeing it in context.  Before I went through the cost of replacing mains, I would sure let everyone here see what it looked like first.  It sure would be a shame to do a lot of unnecessary work.