Unbalanced Steam System?????????

FXProglJr

well....first I'd like to thank all of you that have helped (even those that grew a bit impatient with my novice approach to steam heating).

The problem seems to be solved. I mean - the 2nd floor used to be 4-8 degrees hotter then the 1st floor. Now it's -1 to +3 degrees - and I'm happy.

Here's what I've been doing since my last post based on your advice:

1) checked one radiator that was not getting hot all the way across and its connection to the main for clogs (there were none and the radiator was clear)
2) added insulation to the pipes
3) reduced the pressure settings to 0.5 lb cut-in and 1.5lb cut-out
4) checked/changed all of the air vents on the mains and radiators.
5) made sure all radiators were pitched properly (they were)
6) calculated the total EDR and made sure the furnace was big enough (it was)
7) Checked for imbalanced EDR, but the setup seems ok - 1st floor 615 sq. ft & EDR of 141 or .22/sq ft and 2nd floor 680 sq. ft & EDR of 176 or .25/sq. ft
8) checked the ph of the water - it was ok
9) "skimmed" the boiler - 2 sessions of about 5 hrs each
10) as you suggested, I re-piped the returns from the rear of the building to bring them down to the floor before rising to get to the equalizer. See attached photos for before & after. NOTE: even though the long horizontal returns near the ceiling were clear, I did find the most of the short return pipes and nipples - especially the horizontal ones - near the boiler were clogged (50-80% blocked) with black sludge that had the consistency of wheel bearing grease.

This was all before heating season got underway. The first thing I noticed was that the water in the sight glass did not surge as much as before; it remained much cleaner than before and the furnace needs to have water added much less often. But the 2nd floor was still getting much hotter then the 1st.

Then, on Dec. 2nd, I found the 2nd floor was 1 degree cooler then the first. Initially I thought the tenant had turned off a radiator - but they did not. And the 2nd floor heat is now staying -1 to + 3 degrees from the 1st floor.

Thanks again to everyone - and does anyone have any ideas which of the things I've tries actually did the trick?

P.S. I've been keeping track of gal. of oil/degree day over the years and will let you all know how much of a change that there is