American Standard Acroliner

mrjames444

I just moved into a house in Maine that has an American Standard Acroliner 38 J3 series # W O 451. I turned on oil burner this morning and the only steam heater that threw out any heat was in living room. I went downstairs and felt pipes all around house and they were hot. How does this system work? Is there something I need to do for the heaters? Any help would be great. Thanks

BobC

Single pipe steam?

If this is a single pipe steam system the air vents on the side of the radiators might not be working right. those air vents have to let the air out before the steam can enter the radiator.



Does the radiator that gets sit in the same room as the thermostat? On a cool morning that radiator might heat up fast enough to satisfy the thermostat before the other radiators get hot and that might indicate the system needs to be rebalanced to make sure all radiators are getting steam at about the same time. At this time of year it's normal that all radiators would not heat all the way across but they should get partially hot. This is done by adjusting the venting on each radiator, also make sure there is a air vent on the steam main in the cellar and it is working. The air has to get out of that main so steam can enter and make it's way to the radiator pipes.



If it is a 2 pipe steam system there could be issues with the piping, old buildings settle unevenly over the decades. Post some pictures of the boiler, the piping around it and of one of the radiators (both ends).



Bob

mrjames444

Acroliner pics

Here are some pics hope they help and thanks Pics #1 and 2 are the heater. #3 is front of oil burner. #4 the water pipe coming from top of burner, pipe on left is what runs the underside of house and pipe on the right goes to the hot water heater and pic #4 is the back of the burner and pipes