Few problems with NG boiler

Walters_Family

Good Morning Everyone,

My wife and I bought our first house, last year when Tropical Storm Lee came thru and decided to clean out our basement we needed to replace the heat system. So I had a Utica Boiler model # PEG150CIDE installed. Everything was great, so we thought..... First lets talk about the heavy metal drummer we now have playing in our basement, OMG is it loud. Second the radiator in our kitchen has to be turned off OR we have a in house fog maker. Now lets take a walk up stairs.. In our master bedroom, just noticed the other night a dripping sound, my wife goes over and feels under the wooden cover and its drenched, she grabbed a towel and its nasty black water i guess..



I tried calling a few companies here in Pa and no one can seem to help, had 2 people not even show up when they said they would. The water level is where it should be on the site-glass, The PSI gauge is always low. I just don't know what to do. Hell our one dog will not even come into the kitchen when the heat is on due to the hammering.

I've read a few of the other hammer posts but nothing has helped. Any Ideas or Info would be very helpful.



Thank you all for taking the time and reading our story



The Walters Family

SWEI

pictures, please

of the boiler and the nearby piping.  Multiple angles if possible.



Where in PA? 

Walters_Family

.

steelton right outside of Harrisburg

Mark N

Steamy Deal

With steam you are best off being your own trouble shooter. Get the steamy deal from the shop. It sounds like you are experiencing water hammer. Check the pitch of the pipes in your basement. The pipes need the proper pitch in order to drain. Where is the kitchen rad leaking the steam from? If it the vent get a new one. If you have one pipe steam make sure the hand valves are fully opened to let the condensate drain from the rad. Was the boiler ever cleaned after it was installed? Was the proper sized boiler installed? Was the boiler properly piped? Post some pictures.

Walters_Family

.

The kitchen is leaking down near the bottom on the outer wall. i was told the pitch in the basement is good. not sure what "the vent" is. The system was sized for the house. i think we are 1900 sq. let me figure out how to post pics and i will shorty



Thanks for the reply

Walters_Family

just noticed

As I'm sitting here i notice its getting chilly, I go over to the living room radiator and only half of it is HOT and the other side is cool. that radiator is the furthest one on the 1st floor from the boiler. I don't know if this is gonna help with anything, figured i would post it



Thanks

SWEI

steam systems

are sized to the installed radiation, not the house.



Pictures of the boiler and surrounding piping will help us help you.  Given your symptoms, there is a real possibility the new boiler was improperly piped.

Mark N

Problems

Steam boilers are sized to the amount of radiation connected to them. Not the size of the house or the heat loss. How many pipes are connected to your radiators? If it is one you have one-pipe steam. In a one-pipe system there will be an air vent on the radiator to let the air out and keep the steam in. Click on the "Systems" tab at the top of the page. Then choose "Steam". Then choose "Steam Heating Problems". Then start reading away. There is a lot to be learned there,

Walters_Family

correction

sorry that what i meant, to the radiators not the sq-ft... bare with me, just took pics. I need to email them to myself and post them. (left my data wire at work...err)



Thanks for the replies

Walters_Family

pics

If there are any certain ones I can take that will help just say and i will shoot them.



thank you all again for the help





Edit: no idea why the are sideways

Sil

Oh my.

I am "just a homeowner". But for sure the piping around your boiler is not right at all. Copper is a no no... The safety valve is not piped right (see page 7 of attached)



(btw, I love the aluminum foil).



Here is the install manual for your boiler... you will see that your piping looks nothing like the diagram on pg 9. You are missing a proper header.



I wonder if you have a picture of your old boiler before they tore it out.



I think u need a real steam pro. There are some who post regularly here that are within a reasonable distance from where u r. I suggest contacting them.

Walters_Family

.

the old system was hooked up just like the way the new one is. they just removed the old boiler and put the new one in place. no clue about that foil wrap, it was there.

Walters_Family

,

i see what you mean on the set up....hmmmm... anyone near harrisburg and wanna re-plumb this system? lol

Sil

Look a outfit called

All Steamed Up... they are out of Baltimore. I bet he can get it working right



All Steamed Up, Inc.

310 Centre Avenue

Towson, MD 21286

Frank Wilsey

allsteamedup@verizon.net

Phone 410-321-8116

Hap_Hazzard

Congratulations

I think this is possibly the worst near boiler piping I have ever seen. It's undersized, the wrong kind of pipe, there's no Hartford loop and no header. I'm trying to think if there's anything right about it.



The radiator (I assume it's the same one in both pictures) has the vent in the wrong place and it's upside down. (The vent, not the radiator.) This is a good way to turn the radiator off, assuming the vent is working normally. If you want the radiator to work correctly, the hole near the bottom (you can see it better in the second picture) needs to be tapped (1/8 NPT) and the one the vent is in now needs to be plugged. But since it's configured this way, it might need other modifications as it was probably set up for a hot water system.

ttekushan_3

I haven't posted much in recent years but

As Will Smith's character in "Men In Black" so eloquently said, "damn."



I'm absolutely sure that others will quickly point out the trouble!



That boiler is incorrectly piped! Actually, I'm not sure I've ever seen a steam boiler so incorrectly piped. You will not find THAT configuration in the installation manual!



The silver puck thingie on the top side of the radiator is the air vent. Each radiator will have one. It is upside down. It is also at the wrong spot on the radiator. It should be on the tapping somewhere midway on the side of the radiator.



It appears you have a simple "counter flow" single pipe heating system. Very simple, and difficult to screw up. The only way to really screw it up is to install a boiler like yours is!



The good news is, the problems are quite easily rectified, but will involve repiping the boiler in the proper configuration.

Charlie from wmass

One thing is right

As a Counter flow system a Hartford loop is not required. If Frank Services your area you could not get a better person on the job. In the mean time, the site glass may not be working as it is about the age with that style of installation for it to be blocked.

Paul48

Hap

Would you have been shocked if the radiator was upside down, after seeing the near-boiler piping? That's a crime...the installer should have been wearing a mask when he collected the check.

Walters_Family

.

don't know if it matters, when the system kicks on the water in the sight glass drops about 2 inches like the manual said it should. Could the glass be off only after 18 months?

Hap_Hazzard

You got me.

I didn't notice it was counterflow. You pros really know your stuff. Thanks for keeping us weekend warriors humble. :-)

SWEI

Might

be worth a call to your insurnace company, assuming they paid for the replacement boiler.  Not sure what PA regs are like, but out here you have a few years before the contractor is off the hook for unsafe work.  Don't let them pick the contractor this time - insist on a proper eval even if you have to pay for that portion.

Paul48

Charlie

I think that's an optical illusion. That drip's not out of the bottom of the main. Look down at the floor. I could be wrong. It's happened once or twice :-)