Burst system

tecsol1

Morning all,

I have a house built in 1914 that had an original cast iron radiator system that was updated to a hydronic water system with the existing distribution piping and cast iron radiators.

My problem is that the house was left without heat last year. The house is finished on all floors with plaster and steel mesh without any access points, short of the boiler room. The first floor has burst radiators and a few on the second floor.

I have tried to isolate the front of the house circuit from the rear of the house. I've removed and capped the majority of the radiators and found a couple with burst fittings that showed themselves when the radiators were removed. I've tried to use 20 psi of air pressure to verify any leaks, neither the front nor back circuits will pressurize. Can't find any leaking air sounds or leads.

I'm not pressurizing with water since none of the walls or ceilings show any water damage, even on the three locations where I found burst couplings in the ceilings. I only found these when I removed the radiators and the pipe wasn't supported any longer due to the broken fitting.

Any help or troubleshooting leads would really be appreciated!!!!!

Thanks Rich

Jamie Hall

Oh that's not good. You may be able to recover some of the radiators. Disconnect them and pressure test them -- air or water (I'd remove them completely and use water -- if they burst with air they can propel shrapnel dangerously) at 30 psi -- the pressure relief setting.

Honestly, I wouldn't even bother testing the piping. I would simply assume that its ruined and repipe everything.

STEVEusaPA

You may be able to fish pex and abandon (or use as a chase) the old piping, with minimal damage to plaster.
If pipes bursts though, that plaster maybe separating from the lath and you wont discover it until you put some hands on it.

Jamie Hall

Is there wood lathe under the steel mesh? If so, and you do find areas where the plaster keys have broken, there are products which can be used to put it back together -- I use materials from plastermagic.com and if some of it has really failed, or there is no wood lathe, they also make an excellent patching plaster.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Your lucky you have no wall, ceiling or floor damage.

Your just going to have to start at the begining, probably design a new system and use pex fished in the walls where possible.

I am sure it is a little overwhelming

retiredguy

What happened to your 1914 house is an example of why most people prefer steam to hot water. When working properly, steam piping and radiators will not freeze when the boiler fails to heat since the system except for the boiler and the wet returns self drain completely leaving nothing to freeze. In a hot water system, the whole system is full of water and subject to freezing. An unoccupied hot water heated home should be protected from freezing by some means I always recommended adding anti- freeze solutions to any unoccupied homes with a hot water system

I had a job similar to yours and I recommended to the owner to abandon all the in the wall piping and install a completely new system with the radiation of his choice.