Art school steam.

Snowmelt

As most of you know I am doing a steam job at an art school that hasn’t been touched for a while.
I have a question about return water ( after a steam trap) I’m dealing with a few areas that I think are clogged. I’m saying this because I cleaned the steam trap area, now I have a very hot pipe after the trap. After that about 5 feet it tees together with another return from a different room and the pipe turns stone cold.
It all comes together in my head that the pipes are glogged so much that it doesn’t let any water to come back to the boiler.

Jamie Hall

Sure sounds that way... what fun. I hope there is a way to get in there and flush it...

I have to ask, though, how hot is hot? Are we talking 180? Like hot condensate? Or 212, like steam blowing past that trap?

Snowmelt

Don’t want to hold it hot. Luckily I can physically see all the one inch and 3/4 pipe. I don’t think it was steam. There was a different feel when I was touching the rads.
The question in can I use copper on the returns. I myself like to press and go. If possible.
The supply house steam guy told me to change all the returns that are clogged to copper. But I want a second opinion.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Wet returns with copper would be ok. Dry return and return subjected to traps blowing through I would hesitate.

Just my opinion

Jamie Hall

I personally am not really keen on copper above the water line of the boiler. However, that said, if you use press type fittings with the correct gaskets for the temperature and make allowance for expansion -- particularly swing joints or loops, so that expansion can be taken up by twisting the joint rather than bending it or pushing or pulling, it should work just fine. The problem with copper is that solder joints don't take stress well -- the solder will crystallize and crack with time.