Very hot return in boiler

Mike1980

Hi all, I don’t know anything about boilers. We bought our house 2 years ago, heat worked fine. Now it doesn’t. A tech came out and said a valve was off (another tech later told me it’s the return). He turned it in and the heat works, but the return is so hot it makes the floorboards creak and pop (I assume the pipe expanding from heat) and it’s too hot to touch. Is that normal? Am I gonna die in my sleep? 

mattmia2

Probably normal. if the system is designed with a 180 degree supply and a 20 degree drop over the emitters, 160 degrees is still pretty hot. The pipe will expand and contract, it should be installed such that it can move and doesn't make noise when it does.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@Mike1980

Is your boiler hot water or steam?

If it's hot water it should have a temperature gauge on it. As long at the temp is below 190 you should be fine. You can probably do some work on the pipe hangers/supports to reduce the noise

Mike1980

EBEBRATT-Ed said:

@Mike1980 Is your boiler hot water or steam? If it's hot water it should have a temperature gauge on it. As long at the temp is below 190 you should be fine. You can probably do some work on the pipe hangers/supports to reduce the noise

It’s hot water, the temperature gauge goes up and down a couple degrees but sits around 180. Thank you so much all!

dopey27177

If your boiler has a coil in it to produce hot water the 180 degree setting is needed to produce your domestic hot water.

it sounds like the piping where it goes through the floors is rubbing on the wood flooring and there was not enough room between the wood and the piping. What is happening there is when the pipe expands and moves in vertically you get the rubbing and the noise due to the pipe rubbing on the wood.

Additionally, as stated redo some of the pipe hangers and supports for the piping in the basement before you open some of the walls to before you cut away some of the wood where the pipe rru on the floor penetrations.

Jake