NEW BOILER IS BANGING! HELP!

broken_furnace

I had my steam boiler replaced less than a month ago. The day after it was replaced, the pipes started banging every time the boiler kicked on. The plumber came back and put a treatment in to skim the oil out of the pipes better. A day later the banging started again. He has been back to skim it 4 or 5 times and each time we can go about 2 days until the banging starts up again. The banging is in the pipes and is LOUD. Once it starts banging, the heat simultaneously stops traveling to one side of the house.



Below are pics of the new boiler install and radiator. I am told it is a two pipe system. Old boiler only had one pipe coming out of the top and piping configuration was different on side.



Can anyone give any suggestions to help me figure out this problem???

MDNLansing

Install

He needs to come back and install it per the manufacturers specifications, and nothing else.



What make and model number is this boiler?

broken_furnace

boiler specs

he says it is installed by the book.

Unknown

to get better help here..

Please don't call the boiler, furance

Boiler wrestler

handvalves?

Did any of the handvalves get changed when the boiler was changed?

Also is he skimming out of a garden hose connection? if so that will be slow going.

Unknown

not at the skimming

Not at the skim port.. easy fix and how long and how does he do it will makes a huge differace!

ChrisJ

More pictures

Can you give us a picture from a side view?  I'm curious to see how the mains are piped into the header.



It looks as if he tried to reuse the old header, only now it has no where to drain.  Skimming must be done slow and hot.  It takes hours to properly skim a boiler even one time and it usually takes many times.

JStar

Steam

What is the pressure set for? Are there any old valves on the radiators with any names? Any weird devices hanging around in the basement?

MDNLansing

Pipes

The manual clearly shows the risers coming out of the boiler, turning horizontal, and then connecting to the header. He went straight up, and made up the horizontal distance in the wet return. Doing it the way the manual shows allows for thermal expansion, and dryer steam. You don't have any swing joints here. and very little travel distance for water to fall out of the steam.



The header needs to be installed a minimum of 24" above the water line. Make sure it is. Scaling off your picture seems to show it's very close to that.



He also installed the water supply in the wet return. The manual indicates you use the water inlet valve. This isn't the cause of the water hammer, but it's not done per the manufacturers specs.



What does you water line look like while it's running. Is it bouncing all over the place, or does it stay put?





http://www.ecrinternational.com/secure/upload/document/2979.pdf

broken_furnace

side views of boiler

here are the side views of the boiler install.

broken_furnace

water level

it is staying put after he skims is, but starts surging up and down when the banging starts.

broken_furnace

do you mean furnace?

cause you said furance.

broken_furnace

valves.

all of the valves on the radiators are original, i believe. The home was built in the 20's. the one in the pic is the only one he replaced due to it being located near the thermostat, thinking that may be an issue if its heating the thermostat up too fast.

ChrisJ

Pictures

Can you do another picture from that angle, but up higher of the piping?



I see your water looks purple? Do you know if he used steamaster tablets? I'm a huge fan of them but if you use too much it will do exactly what you're describing and it takes time for the pills to completely dissolve. An easy way to find out, drain all of the water out of the boiler (careful, may be hot!) and refill SLOWLY if the boiler is hot. Then see how she performs. If he did use steamaster there is a good chance he used too much as the instructions on the bottle are wrong.



Also, as others have said your piping is wrong and could potentially crack the block due to the lack of swing joints.

Steamhead

That looks like an Orifice Vapor system

a standard Pressuretrol won't keep the pressure low enough to keep steam out of the dry returns. If steam gets that far it can bang. You need a Vaporstat that cannot be set higher than 1 PSI to run this system properly.



And, what MDNLansing says about the near-boiler piping. Here's a shot of one done right, on an older version.

broken_furnace

more boiler pics

do these help? higher up pics of left/front/right

Rod

Boiler Piping Problems

Hi- Like others have said your boiler piping leaves a lot to be desired.

The header pipe's job is to separate water from the steam, which "dries" the steam.  Steam and water droplets from the boiler, enter the header pipe via the Boiler Risers. Steam rises to the top of the header pipe and water precipitates to the bottom of the header pipe and returns to the boiler by way of the Equalizer pipe.  As your boiler piping is configured now (see attached  photo) the water from Riser "A" runs down the bottom of the header pipe and drops straight into Riser "B" where it mixes with the steam rising from Riser "B" and carries up into the steam mains as wet steam.  The boiler risers should enter the header pipe from the side or better still from the top. (See the installation manual Page 29)



Here is a video on the importance of near boiler piping:

http://www.heatinghelp.com/article/107/Steam-Heating/118/Steam-boiler-near-boiler-piping



From the photo of your radiator it would appear that you have an orifice vapor system  Follow Steamhead’s advice as he is an expert on these old systems.

- Rod

BobC

Header pipe size

To me it seems the header is one size smaller than the boiler risers, but I might be wrong. Make sure the header is at least the same size as the risers. It would be best if the header was a larger diameter than the risers but that is not required by the manufacturer. I've attached a picture of the piping for your boiler and one of the preferred piping as well. This might not be your exact boiler but it's the same series.



Make sure the pressuretrol is set as low as it can go and if it is a vapor system the pressuretrol should be rep[laced with a vaporstat and operated under one pound of pressure.



If the boiler works fine for a couple of days it sounds like more oils are working there way into the boiler water. If you notice increased movement in the sight glass after a couple of days it's a sign the water is contaminated again. It sounds like it will take more skimming or maybe using the "magic wand" is is order to get the boiler clean.



After looking again I think I'm wrong about the header being smaller but check it just to be sure - better safe than sorry. Also if the skim valve is not a full port valve and the same size as the T it comes off it will take a very long time to skim so maybe the installer should use the wand to wash the inside of the boiler down if he is not going to use a full size valve.



Bob