Riser Venting damaging ceiling

Chris_Maslin

Hi - I live in the upper floor apartment of a Brooklyn walk-up. We have a steam system that on the whole works well. ( there are other issues, but I will post those later :) )



The riser in my bathroom extends to below the ceiling where it is topped with a spaceship looking valve ( sorry dont know the names - new to this ).



Over time the venting has slowly eroded the paint work and generally damaged the ceiling painting.



see the attached pictures.



What can i do to stop this ongoing damage? Replace the valve? Have a cover? Cap the riser?



Is this normal behavior? Does this mean the boiler is pushing too much?



Thanks for your advice in advance!

nicholas bonham-carter

steaming vent

probably the pressure is too high for the vent to close completely, even with a brand new vent. get your landlord to check the boiler pressure to be under 2 PSI.--NBC

Steamhead

First replace the vent

that's probably a Hoffman #4A, 41 or 43- I can't see the thread size.



Then as NBC says, make sure the boiler pressure is not too high. It should never exceed 2 pounds, and should run on ounces on all but the coldest days of the year.



Not only does higher pressure shorten the lives of vents and other components, but it also wastes fuel. Low pressure is in both your interests.

Chris_Maslin

thanks

Thanks for the replies. I will check with our maintenance people!