Radiators fill with water

kotlevich

I just moved into a house that has steam heat, single pipe.

House has three levels, when the heat is on, radiators on the first floor, at least 3 out of 4 fill with water, in one I can hear water splashing inside, in another big one water starts coming out from the vent on the side, when I shut off that radiator, let it cool and opened the valve in between cycle, I hear water rushing back tot the boiler.

I tilted all radiators in a right way, changed all the side vents, but no improvement. It also needs water added to the boiler almost every day on a cold day.

I cant figure out what is the problem.

nicholas bonham-carter

Sloshing disappearing water

If you turn off the boiler, will all the water return, and restore the waterline in an hour or so?

What pressure is the system running at? Over-pressure will force the water out of the boiler, and starve it, but after a period of inactivity, all the water will come back.

If it doesn't, then the next thing is to check for a leak, by waiting for the boiler to be cool, and over-filling the system. Let it stand, and see if there are signs of water on the floor, or in the firebox.

Some leaks can be seen as white steam coming out of the chimney.

If the boiler needs replacement, the radiators MUST be measured to determine the size of the new boiler. Do not assume that the old one was correctly chosen, or installed, especially if this house was "flipped".--NBC

BobC

What kind of vents

After you have followed the path Nicholas laid out for you to find out where that water is going, tell us what kind of vents you have on those radiators and on your steam main. If your pressure is to high and you have Heat Timer Varivents, the combination is known to squirt water if the vent rate is set too high.



Bob

kotlevich

follow up

thank you.

i will follow the instructions and get back to you.

radiator side vents are mist-o-maid

boiler is 20 yrs old

veint mains look like corodded and never replaced. I saw 2 of them in the basement, they seem to be 1/2" in size. I was thinking of replacing them next, but was not sure what kind and size to get



how do i change pressure in the boiler, there is the presurre regulator with the pigs tail tubing, I just manually change the setting?

In terms of the leak, I will work on that, as you said, but even say if there is a leak, it should not cause water leaking out of the radiator, before I shut off the biggest radiator in the living room I collected close to a quart of water that came out of the side vent in a steady stream.

When I increased the side vent size from 4 to all the way to d, the water kept coming out just without the same pressure.



In terms of location, this radiator is probably closest to the boiler in location.

Dave in QCA

Radiator inlet valves

Are the radiator inlet valve all the way open? On a one pipe system, they must be. If they are partially closed the system will behave exactly as you are describing. Of course, if they are open, there must be another problem.

kotlevich

re: inlet valves

inlet valves open all the way, this problem does not occur on the second or third floor

Dave in QCA

does water return

When the boiler is off, the pressure is 0. Does the water in the radiators drain back at the point? Can you see the water line in you glass gauge on the boiler?



Is this a new boiler?

BobC

Adjust pressure

There are screws on the top surface of the pressuretrol that you can adjust, set the main at 2 or lower and the differential to one. The differential may be a white wheel behind the front cover.



Bob

RJ_4

valves

As Dave said radiator shut off valves need to be open,  I have found several times where the disc ( the part of the valve that closes against the valve seat ) is deteriorated or broken, allowing steam in when valve is shut but not allowing condensate to drain back.   The radiator needs to be disconnected from the valve than you can look inside valve outlet for seat damage.   recommend someone with boiler exp. doing this

kotlevich

Radiators fill with water

thank you everyone for your help.

bob, so i adjusted pressure on the pressutetrol  to around 2 with 1 differential, it did not make a difference in terms of water coming out of the radiator.

what else could it be?

main vents are gordon 1, i took them off and checked them, i can easily blow air through them

mcsteamy

Post pictures...

of the piping around the boiler and the radiators in question.  



At what pressure does the boiler shut down now?  Keep cranking down the Pressuretrol until the boiler cuts out at around a pound and a half or less, if you can get it that low.

kotlevich

Valves

Valves are new, they were replaced within 5 yrs. if they were the issue the water will not return once radiator cools down. In my case if I shut off the valve because it sprinkles water, let it cool and reopen, i hear gushing down the pipe back to the boiler.



I will work on posting pictures



In terms of pressure, the dial on the boiler itself does not work, so I do not know what is the true pressure achieved



I also thought of changing the side vent to the float type, I read somewhere thst the float type will close if there is water and wont let it sprinkle