water dumping out of radiator big time

Christian Garibaldi

Hi guys, I was wondering if any of you had some insight here. As much as I hate to have to run my heat in my place due to its size and the amount of gas it guzzles, due to the cold snap we are having currently, I decided that 48 degrees in the building was just too cold lol. So i fired up the beast. It runs fine and it heated up all 5300 sq feet in about an hour. I went down to the truck bays about ten minutes ago and noticed a puddle of water coming from under one of the monster radiators down in the garage. The water was coming from the air vent, so I unscrewed it from the radiator and a steady gush of water spewed from it for about 5 minutes. Clearly its condensate, and it had filled the radiator. Im trying to figure out why it would do this? COuld the condensate drain be blocked or frozen or obstructed?



The layout of my system is a 400k btu weil mc clain steam boiler in the basement at the back of the building. The main output riser comes up through the concrete floor up to the ceiling in the truck bays about 12 feet, then splits to the front and back of the building along the ceiling in two main loops. All of the second floor rads feed off this main loop through the ceiling below. All are heating up fine. The ground floor radiators in the truck bays are all down fed from the main loop from the ceiling. The three up in the main part of the garge are very large, about 5 feet long and those three also have a plumbed faucet that bypasses behind the radiator feed right before its input and output nipples, which I assume is to help bypass the condensate from traveling through the radiator. The one the was spewing water is on the one side of the building, and the copper 1 inch condensate return runs along the floor, get buried in the concrete floor where it passes under an exit door, then makes its way back to the basement and drops into the other return feeds. This is the first time the system has ever done this, as far as I know, the bypass faucets are open and not blocked. The output side of the rad where it meets the condensate bypass is warm right near the radiator, but about a foot away, its very cold. Im wondering if the return has iced up or is blocked? Anyone have any suggestions or thoughts? here are some pictures of what was happening. Thanks in advance!

Christian Garibaldi

oh yeah

BTW, in case i hadnt mentioned it clearly, this is a one pipe steam heat system. So obviously this shouldnt be happening lol

Jamie Hall

It is very possible

that the condensate return line is frozen.  I've seen that happen (in fact, I've seen it happen that the outlet from a two pipe radiator got frozen while the radiator was in operation!).  As to how to fix the problem... ah... pray for warmer weather?

Christian Garibaldi

You

could be right. With the system running, , the condensate return line on the opposite side of the building running in the same fashion along the floor and from the other rads is warm to the touch. Where as this one about a foot away is cold. I followed the return along the floor and where it dives under the concrete around the exit door frame, there are some cold air drafts coming in from outside, so I wouldnt be surprised if it iced up possibly esp in that area. Time to fire up the blowtorch i guess and try to gently heat up the area. If that doesnt work, I may try shutting the bypass faucet and the rad valve, take the air vent off and blow air into the port. I would assume that it would be a good idea if possible to disconnect the return down near the boiler if I can as not to pressurize the whole system and perhaps damage the pressuretrol. Damn winter!

Christian Garibaldi

Back to normal

Just an update, it seems to be back to normal. I actaully spent some time heating up that condensate return line near the door way gently with a torch, and then ran a space heater aimed at the concrete for a few hours and fired up the system. No more water fountain from the rad, and the entire return line is now warm to the touch which would indicate that there was flow through it. I guess that area where it dips down below the slab probabaly stays filled most of the time, and the cold just froze it solid, backing the return up. Problem solved, thank you for the help!