need some help

kennyb

so here is the issue I had a small bedroom radiator making so much noise out of the vent. it was a gorton #6 so I tried everything adjusted the pitch changed the vent all with no luck. I have a eg40 weil mclain boiler which I was told was about 25-30% oversized by a contractor who did some work previously but I never had a issue before this year with the over sized boiler. ive lived in the house since 2009 and never had this issue. the only thing ive done this heating season has been adding a new main vent (2 gorton #1's the old vent was in bad shape and it was only a small vent rite vent) and insulating all the piping. so in desperation cause me and my wife cannot take the noise anymore I removed all the insulation and it seemed to quiet the noise down, but it is still there.....what else can I do???? the pressure before I took the insulation would read like 1.5 and then cut off the boiler...now without the insulation the pressure gauge doesn't even move...if it does its so small I cant even see it. thanks in advance

Snowmelt

I would try putting the old vent back in, we ask for a picture of the near boiler piping.

kennyb

the old vent is gone...I will post some pictures up shortly

kennyb

here are the pictures

Shane_2

Did you check the obvious?

Radiator valve fully open?

Radiator pitched properly?

Is the pigtail clogged?

kennyb

valve is fully opened......pitched correctly.....pig tail I didn't check yet....how would I go about cleaning that or adjusting that. im a novice steam guy lol thank you

KC_Jones

If you were reading 1.5 PSI on that 0-30PSI gauge that might mean your pressure is high causing the vent issue. You need to remove the pressuretrol and clean the pigtail that is under it to make sure it is actually reading the boiler pressure. You will need to disconnect wiring inside and unscrew it from the pipe. With boiler OFF at service switch try blowing through pigtail. If you can blow through it easily it's fine, if you can't it's blocked and needs cleaned. You could use a piece of stiff wire or pipe cleaner anything to get the crud out. I would take the entire pigtail off the boiler if it is blocked that way it's easier to clean and you don't dump any crud into your boiler. Rinse water through it etc. Make sure it is completely clean. This really should be part of a yearly service on the boiler. The pressuretrol is a primary safety device and needs to be kept in top working order. Do you have yearly service on the boiler?

kennyb

yes every October I have a service done

KC_Jones

That should be part of the service. If they did it, it's hard to imagine it is plugged up. I just took another look at your pics and it appears like there is fresh PTFE tape on the pipe joint under the pressuretrol. Hard to say for sure, but honestly it wouldn't hurt to check it or call the service company and find out if they did it. Can you describe the noise it's making? Is it whistling? Gorton's are generally quiet and usually won't make noise unless there is some other issue.

kennyb

very noisy like whistling and like a gurgle as well.

KC_Jones

Definitely sounds like pressure and possibly wet steam. I would start by verifying the operation of that pressuretrol. Do you have a low pressure gauge on the boiler or just the 0-30PSI gauge?

kennyb

just the 0-30

kennyb

where can I get a good one and also how hard are they to swap out with the old one?

Abracadabra

Fix near boiler pipiing and reduce wet steam in your system.

Problems:

1 - Undersized header.
2 - Header reduces just before main steam takeoffs
3 - Uninsulated and copper piping in type M no less
4 - Install a vaporstat and keep pressure at about 10-12 oz. Verify correct pressure by installing a low pressure gauge with a 0-1.5 psi range.
5- In picture #5 you show a tee with what I believe is steam coming in from the left into the run of the tee, the other side of the run is reduced. This is not correct if that main is a parallel flow.
6 - It looks like you have had some recent piping work done (with all the blue pipe dope and new black pipe I see). Did anyone properly skim the boiler after the work was done?

Please provide a picture of the hartfood loop/equalizer pipiing.

Jamie Hall

kennyb said:

where can I get a good one and also how hard are they to swap out with the old one?

You don't swap it out. You need that 0 to 30 on there to keep your insurance and building inspector types happy. What you do is take the pigtail with the pressuretrol on it and, instead, put a T in place of the pressuretrol. Then a nipple and a 90 of both sides of the T, and a short nipple up on each 90, and then mount the gauge on one and the pressuretrol on the other.

kennyb

okay.....im going to have the guy who worked on the system come back and check this all out. i just dont understand how 5 years not a sound not a problem and all of a sudden this year massive issue after issue.....thanks for all the help i will pass this info along to the contractor.

kennyb

the other issue is i have no idea if piping or vents are right after something is done. im assuming after the pictures i posted that the piping was done wrong to begin with and i had no idea. hard to find a good steam guy

Abracadabra

kennyb said:

okay.....im going to have the guy who worked on the system come back and check this all out. i just dont understand how 5 years not a sound not a problem and all of a sudden this year massive issue after issue.....thanks for all the help i will pass this info along to the contractor.

Since the sounds started when you replaced the main vent, just put everything back like it was. Your system will be inefficient and might not heat evenly. The suggestions you are getting here are to help your system run better.

kennyb

I'm going to take all the advice given and pass it along to make the system run better. And thank you for taking the time to respond. I just don't feel mechanically inclined to attempt to replace things I don't know how to do so I will leave it to the professionals

KC_Jones

Where are you located? We may be able to recommend someone good in your area. If your contractor likes and/or wants to learn more about steam to improve their quality of work send them to this site. Lots of free advice and information. A huge wealth of knowledge in the library as well as from all the generous people that post on the site. Good luck with everything.

kennyb

Thanks i found a guy recommended by this site so we'll see what happens