Burnham Steam?

LanceBetts

Any thoughts on this burnham steam heater? It is in a house that we are thinking about putting an offer on. It says it was installed May of 1991. The house has all cast iron radiator heat.

Hap_Hazzard

Need more pictures.

It looks nice and clean for a 22 year old boiler, but it's hard to tell if it's installed correctly without being able to see the overhead piping. I don't see a Hartford loop on the return, but if it's a countercurrent system it doesn't need one, but the I'd need to know if the main is large enough. It also isn't possible to tell if the system is one-pipe or two-pipe--for me anyway. Some of the pros might be able to tell more than I can if they're not all watching the Super Bowl or putting out fires.

Hap_Hazzard

One thing does look a bit odd.

I just noticed that the pipe from the safety valve goes up--to where I don't know. Normally they should go down to some sort of drain or just within 6 inches of the floor. They should not be obstructed in any way, nor should they be allowed to discharge where it might cause injury or go unnoticed.

LanceBetts

1 more photo

Thanks for the reply. Just posted the only other photo i have.

Rod

Steam System

Hi-  I started writing about the safety valve and Hap noticed the same thing and beat me to it. This needs to be corrected and is an easy fix. My immediate thought was that since this wasn't properly installed, what else is there we can see? As mentioned we really can't see/know enough about the system to tell you much about it. These old steam systems are pretty bullet proof so in most cases the piping and radiators are fine and may need a slight "tune up". The longevity of the boiler depends a lot on good maintenance and also the locality where you live as the quality of the water added to the boiler can make a big difference.  A twenty two year old boiler is getting a bit long in the tooth and while it maybe fine, I would consider that you may possibly need to replace in any case just the boiler within the next 5 years. 

Types of steam system- Steam systems are generally divided into two types. One type is called a "1 Pipe Steam System" and has a single pipe leading to each radiator and the second type is called a "2 Pipe Steam System" and has two pipes leading to each radiator.

  If you want more information about the steam system, post some more pictures of the boiler including the piping connecting the boiler to the steam mains and also pictures of one of the radiators. Since it is winter you have the advantage of seeing whether the steam system heats the house adequately. Any problems with the steam system can be corrected fairly easily. I

would make your decision on whether you liked the house overall. 

- Rod

Edit: I'm afraid the additional picture doesn't show us much more though I suspect that the boiler lacks a proper header. This situation is rather common and easily corrected by doing some repiping of the near boiler piping.

Hap_Hazzard

Well, at least we can see where the relief valve discharge goes.

But I still don't understand it.



Regarding the header, do you think it's essential when the boiler riser goes straight up like that for four feet or more? There could still be trouble above the ceiling, but if it works well and doesn't make noise, I wouldn't worry too much about it.