Steam boiler periodically leaking water.

usreyjo

I have an old boiler that has been periodically leaking water. It doesn’t do it when the repair person comes over so they can’t figure out what is the problem. The first time I caught it, the water was trickling out of what to me looked like the back of the system and it was very audible and visible. The last several times I’ve noticed the water, it is just on the floor where the stream of water made its way down into the floor drain and it’s drying out. No autible sound of water leaking those times.
The heat is still working fine.

Fred

Only sometimes? Check you Pressure Relief Valve and see if it drips. Make sure the boiler pressure is low. Have any of the service techs done a tune-up or cleaned the pigtail? It suouldn't be hard to find a leak like that, even if it dry when they get there they should be able to trace it back to it origin, just from stains.

Steamer1928

Possibly leaky gaskets in your sight glass assembly or in the drain valve there?

Fred

Actually that area around the drain valve looks very corroded.

usreyjo

The pressure is low. The sight glass and the drain valve have had small leaks as you can see in the pic but this new leak is a lot of water. A little river. It’s not a slow drip.

Fred

Wow! That Pressuretrol is set way too high. That scale, on the front should be set as close to the bottom of the scale ( .5) as possible and there is a white wheel, inside, under the cover that should be set at "1".

BobC

When you can shut the boiler down for a few hours try over filling the boiler so water gets up to the output pipes from the top of the boiler. Let it sit for a good while and see if anything leaks, if no leaks are obvious look in the combustion chamber to make sure it's not leaking into that.

If no leak shows up replace the boiler drain and the sight glass valves. I'll warn yoy that getting that drain valve out may not be easy.

Bob

usreyjo

I was told by the repair person the pressure was set at the correct level.

Jamie Hall

Which suggests that perhaps the repair person needs to know a lot more about steam heat before he puts forward suggestions.

usreyjo

Is it dangerous to have it set this high? I have no idea how to lower the pressure and will need to get another company to come out and look at it since it seems like who has been working on it isn’t knowledgeable enough. I have been using American Home shield warranty that only sends out the one company. Could the leak have been caused by the high pressure setting?

nicholas bonham-carter

Yes, and you can do many of these maintenance items yourself, even better than the American Home Shield, who I hope are well meaning, but clueless.
There are videos here, and written descriptions, showing how to do the simple things, so necessary to the operation of steam systems. There are a few very informative books for sale on this site, which will give you the knowledge needed. Since you will be working on a system which keeps you warm, you will enjoy making these repairs/adjustments, with subsequent improvement, and later, like many of us you will want to come back here and give advice about solving the problems you have tackled yourself!—NBC

zoom

I have had American Home Shield (AHS) for many years. They can be good for appliances and such, if you can be patient and wait for them to send someone out. When it comes to plumbing in general, there are relatively few plumbers who will work with AHS rates, and you will wait longer and the quality of what shows up at your door might be lacking.

When it comes to steam heating specifically, almost all plumbers lack an understanding of the steam system as a whole. When I had my new boiler installed this season by highly competent (non AHS) plumbers, the installation and near boiler piping were excellent. But none of the plumbers had a clue about the radiator traps, low pressure systems etc etc. i had to learn that myself as a homeowner by using this site and buying some books. I ask a ton of questions, and have formed some great relationships that serve as truly knowledgeable resources.

The chances that you will get a steam-experienced plumber who understands your steam system and is provided through AHS are effectively zero. Tough as it is, you should likely hire your own pro without AHS. And even then, you should vet the pro carefully to see if they're steam-system knowledgeable.

Fred

It is simple to adjust the Cut-In pressure down on that Pressuretrol but it sounds like you may have no Experience with your system and from looking at your pictures, the pigtail (looped pipe) that your gauge and Pressuretrol are mounted on probably hasn't been taken off and cleaned, in years. That needs to be done so the Pressuretrol can even see the system pressure. AHS has a motive to not find problems. That being if they don't find a problem, they don't need to fix it.
If I were you, I'd bite the bullet and get a real steam Pro in there to do a full maintenance, set the Pressuretrol (which only needs to be correctly set one time) clean the pigtail (have him show you how to do it yourself, once a year), find the leak and tell you the source and if it can be fixed or if it is actually a boiler leak that can't be fixed, except by replacing the boiler. AHS policies often times don't cover a full replacement, with new, just repairs. You need to look at your policy. Ask the Steam Pro to give you a full report that you can submit to AHS and see how they respond.
In reality, you want and need heat in your home, during the winter months, not only for your comfort but also to protect plumbing from freezing, plaster walls from cracking, etc.
Once you get a report, problems fixed and a response from AHS, you can decide if it is still worth paying AHS for their policy or if you should put that premium aside to pay for future repairs, yourself.

BobC

I've lived in this house for 36 years and only paid someone to fix the boiler once in that time. I paid to have it cleaned out every year when it was oil and had a new gas boiler installed in 2012 but anything else i managed on my own.

The beauty of steam is that it's a simple system and their really isn't a lot that can break once the system is set up right.

Bob

EBEBRATT-Ed

Gage glass fittings and drain valve is possibly leaking too. Maybe the boiler is leaking can't tell

Here we go again with pressure controls which has nothing to do with the problem at hand which is a boiler leaking water.

Fred

@EBEBRATT-Ed , we're not "going again" with the pressure controls, except for the fact the OP was under the impression that the pressure settings were fine and told that by a service organization. Setting a Pressuretrol for 7 PSI Cut-in plus the Differential is not fine and educating the OP is equally important. The leak is obvious to the OP, the pressure control settings were not. letting the OP know that whomever is servicing this equipment knows little or nothing about steam and certainly is not doing any maintenance. Look at the fittings under that Pressuretrol. When was the last time that pigtail was cleaned, if ever. Pressure controls aren't the focus, until they are needed and don't work. Then we have a real problem albeit unrelated.