radiator gushing water, loud banging, gurgling sounds

JackJackerson

<span style="text-decoration:underline;">Details:</span>

Recently bought a house and had the steam boiler replaced. House is 1930s, American foursquare, 2.5 story (finished attic). Original location of boiler was center of basement, vented through center chimney. New Crown steam boiler moved to side of basement, with power vent, and some new piping. All visible single piping system properly sloped, inspection passed with flying colors.

First floor - 2 radiators (one living room one dining room) no problems whatsoever

Second floor - 3 bedroom radiators and 1 small bathroom radiator (pitched and repitched by hvac pro).

Third floor - 1 bedroom size radiator. no problems

Varivents on all, auto water feeder, Nest learning thermostat.

<span style="text-decoration:underline;">Problems: </span>

Only one of the three second floor bedroom radiators has this issue (the last in the feed loop I guess it's called, all other radiators in the house are hot and this one is the last to get hot). First, loud gurgling sound that seems to be coming from the supply pipe in the wall. This is accompanied by the pipes banging, loud hissing, and sucking (vacuum) sound from the vent. Then water gushes out of the vent in several long bursts. I'm not talking a little spray, i'm talking about filling a glass baking dish every single time it fires. Water has fine sediment in it. All valves in the house are full open. Vent settings seem to have zero effect. Bathroom has minor water spewing and loud banging. Sight glass is half when system is cold, goes empty when hot.

Radiator is sloped the same as all others in the house.

ChrisJ

Heat timer varivents

Just a homeowner,

But I would say your first problem and maybe your only problem are those heat timer varivents. They just vent way too fast even on the slowest setting.



I would also be concerned about how the Nest is operating the system but I don't know much about that so cannot really comment. Do you have the thermostat setup to maintain a steady temperature or are you doing a set back and if so how much?



If possible please post some pictures of the boiler and its piping as well as some of the radiators.

BobC

Varivents = bad

Get rid of the VariVents and get that boiler skimmed. Varivents are much too fast for most steam systems.



When you install a new boiler or work on the pipes the system gets oil into it. Steam systems and oil ARE NOT COMPATIBLE. The boiler has to be skimmed to get rid of the oils in the water.



Bob

ChrisJ

Varivents

I installed 4 varivents I had as main vents on my neighbors system.

So far they seem to work good there!



I keep wondering how long until they fail closed though.

Rod

High Capacity Radiator Vents can Cause Problems

Hi- I agree with Chris, the first thing I’d do is get rid of the Vari-Vents. They are way too aggressive and unlike most radiator vents, they don’t have a float valve to help stop water escaping from the radiator. A lot of us (homeowners) have tried Vari vents as initially they seemed like a good idea and now we have them collecting dust on our spare parts shelf.  Vari-vents have a use but just in specific instances.



Main Venting- As quite often vari-vents are used to compensate for a lack main venting, how is your main venting?



Nest Thermostats- When they first came out, I emailed the company’s tech dept. asking about using one on a steam system and they said they weren’t designed for steam and didn’t have a programable cycle function so I’m not sure how well the nest will work out for you.



Radiator Vents-

You might want to go on Amazon.com and type in “ Maid-O-Mist 0220-5L ”. This is a Maid -O- Mist radiator vent kit with multiple changeable orifices. This kit is really handy for testing out different capacity vents on a radiator.  Gorton makes a better quality vent than M-O-M so most people use M-O-M s for testing and then change to Gortons.

   Both Maid -O- Mist and Gorton Vents can be got locally or from Pex Supply  http://www.pexsupply.com/   on the internet.



Skimming- Was your new boiler properly skimmed?



It might help a bit if you could provide us with pictures of your new boilerand the piping connected t it so we could see if there was anything in the piping configuration that could be contributing to your problems  Attached below is a PDF on Radiator vents which shows the internal workings.

- Rod

                                            

Jamie Hall

While you are playing with the venting...

take some time to double check the pitch of all the pipes involved.  It may be just that the venting is so fast that it is pulling condensate back into the radiator.  It may also be that there is a section of pipe which is too flat.



Also check you near boiler piping.  You might post a picture of it...



As to the Nest.  I'd lose it.  It's made for hot air heat, not anything else.  Get a good regular thermostat instead.

JackJackerson

more details and photos

I don't know if it was initially skimmed. I don't see a skim port anywhere. I attempted to skim myself by closing the valve at the bottom of the glass sight, removing the sight, and adding water until it leaked out of the top glass sight valve. After draining some off for a while, I returned the glass sight (after a quick cleaning) and opened both valves. I then drained the excess water from the boiler drain near the bottom of the unit. Water level now at mid point.



The main vent says Gorton #1 air eliminator.



The problem radiator on the second floor and the attic radiator (attic working ok) seem to be fed by the same branch off the main line. I disconnected the problem radiator and tipped the vent side up to see what amount of water was left behind in the radiator when the system was cold. There was barely any. Then I left it disconnected and turned the system on. After all other radiators got warm, a lot of water started gurgling and shooting out the valve (which I quickly closed).



So my question is why is so much water building up in this pipe? Is it condensation from the third floor section of this branch being pushed into the second floor instead of back down to basement? Could condensation from the basement return get pushed up 2 floors?



Second pic is the branch feeding one second floor bedroom and single attic.

JStar

Boiler

The boiler is piped completely incorrect, and is a major cause of some of your problems.



http://www.crownboiler.com/documents/Bermuda_Installation_Manual.pdf



Here's the manual. Look at page 15. The picture that has A BIG CROSS THROUGH IT looks a lot like your boiler right now. It needs to be corrected by the installers at no cost to you.

JackJackerson

Yep just as you said

Thanks for the help everyone. I'll call them and let them know.

BobC

Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

That piping is WRONG, it could be used as a good example of how not to do it.



If you have the manual for that boiler turn to the piping page and look at it, then look at what you have. That boiler will never work the way it is piped, it has to be piped correctly to work correctly.



Listen to JSTAR he has installed countless boilers and all of his work because they are piped correctly and usually a lot better than the minimum required.



Bob

Rod

Bad Boiler Piping

Hi- Since the installer doesn't seem to know what an installation manual is and/or can't read, I would check the piping diagram against the present installation. While it is hard to tell from the photo it would appear that the Hartford Loop connection to the Equalizer Pipe is a bit high. (see circled figures in the attached diagram) You might want to check this out to make sure.

Don't let them try to BS you that it is "okay". The piping needs to be done per the installation manual. I've also attached a diagram from the Peerless installation check list. As you can see having the riser(s) from the header pipe to the mains located between the risers from the boiler sucks up a lot of water,

- Rod

Unknown

another good boiler

Another good boiler piped wrong 100 percent.. wondering, did you hired this company because of the lowest bid??? I would make the company give you the full refund and get a real steam pro to repipe this mess..

JStar

rjb

Please don't insult the guests here. It doesn't help anybody. They are here to get answers and fix the problem. Contribute constructive criticism or don't contribute at all.

stevep

Pitch

Doesn't it look like the horizontal plumbing in the second pic is lacking the proper pitch?

SWEI

Crown BSI

might as well check the sizing as well.  It could affect the required header size and more.



Did the contractor perform a radiation survey?

JackJackerson

Supply missing elbows?

The 2" supply leaving the top of the boiler in the diagram they first encounter an elbow. I notice they are missing in my installation. Are they necessary?



The glass level goes empty when running. Should I not run the system? I closed the valve off to the spitting radiator.



The Hartford loop return to the equalizer is roughly at 26 1/2". Is this close enough to the 26 5/8" in the manual?



I don't know of any radiator survey performed.



No they weren't the lowest bid, but were recommended and are very nice and behave professionally.

Dave in QCA

swing joint

The elbows shown create a length of pipe called a swing joint. This allows for the expansion of the boiler and piping independently and reduces the stress on the boiler. Also, as the steam and carryover water pass from the first riser to the second, it does not pass over the top of the second riser and therefore allows for better flow and separation of the carryover water from the steam.

The manual shows the piping that way for a reason.

BobC

Piping kit

Another thread on the wall tells us Crown is now offering piping kits to go along with their steam boilers. Show your installer this page and tell him you want it piped like page 2, 3 , or4 depending on what size boiler you have. There is probably enough information there for him to do it himself if he doesn't want to buy the kit.



http://www.crownboiler.com/documents/bermuda_near_boiler_piping_kit.pdf



A steam boilers piping is critical for proper and efficient operation.



Bob

Unknown

whom am i insulting?

The customer or the installer.. ??? Pick your battle.

JackJackerson

boiler fill location

My installer ran the boiler fill into the wet return instead of where it's shown in the installation diagram. Does this matter? He mentioned that the cold water going direct into the boiler return would crack the pipe, and that's why he feeds into the wet return pipe. You can see in picture 1 above.

ChrisJ

Yep

That is fine, many guys do it.

The only downside is you will need to run the boiler longer after adding water to ensure you boil all of the added water. It does lower the risk of cracking the block though.

JackJackerson

Update

Thanks to all for the information. After much persuasion and insisting, my contractor repiped the boiler and added a skim port at no cost. I also cleaned out a lot of gunk from the wet return drain, as well as drained a lot of gritty water. The pipes and vents are pretty quiet, and best of all no more water gushes out or gurgles.

It's a real shame that such a big mistake is so common.

Dave in QCA

Good Report

Thanks for letting us know how it all turned out. You are right that it is a sad that the error was made in the first place, but, not it has been corrected.



I am pretty sure that this probably was difficult for the installer to swallow. No one likes to be wrong and no one likes having to do their work over. Although he made some serious errors in the install, he did step up and correct the issues. Make sure that you thank him profusely and let him know how great the system is working now. All of his future customers will benefit by his experience on your job.

Unknown

much better ,but...

Could've use the drop header set up with next sized header for even better and dryer steam.. from the safety standpoint, why is that breeching reduced before going in chimney??

Unknown

much better ,but...

Could've use the drop header set up with next sized header for even better and dryer steam.. from the safety standpoint, why is that breeching reduced before going in chimney??

ChrisJ

Looks good

Looks good now!



Just don't be surprised if you have to skim a few more times down the road. It takes a long time to wash all of the oil out of the piping with nothing more than hot water and steam.



I skimmed mine a total time of 6 times over a period of several months and then finally gave up and used a wand to clean the boiler.

JackJackerson

Power vent

It's actually venting out a now boarded up window via an automatic power vent.

Unknown

gotcha

.. thanks

MDNLansing

I'm Curious

What did the installer say when your problems vanished just by piping it correctly? Any apologies?

RJ_4

radiators

Read my post    rad. filling with water  11-16-13         6  RJ

JackJackerson

Haven't talked since repair

I haven't talked to them yet. They will be coming back for a checkup. He's a good guy I'm sure he will be glad it's fixed. A couple things were done so it could be attributed to all of them.

JackJackerson

Update

No more spitting radiators, but I developed very bad water hammer near the boiler. First thing I did was call JStar since he's in my area.





I have learned my boiler is way oversized by almost 100k BTUs (which someone else pointed to earlier in the thread). The equalizer return is actually above the water line (also mentioned above), and there is a 4" long pipe instead of a close nipple.



The original contractor came back a few days ago and I let him hear the problem himself. He agreed it was an install problem and today just finished repiping one of the supplies that come off the main (2nd repiping). He didn't change the equalizer return though. I hope it will be ok. Then he turned up the pressuretol to 4psi which I'm guessing I should turn back down...





Many thanks to Joe and the team at Ecuacool. Extremely professional and knowledgable.

ALIGA

crank the pressuretrol down

to 1.5 to 2 psi max