Noisy steam vents

theONEendONLY

All my steam vents are brand new Gorton's. They all huff and puff as my system starts heating up (from cold). A LOT of huffing and puffing... I'm talking at least 10 mins straight. It sounds like a dog taking deep sniffs.

I have a Gorton 2 on the main and that does the same thing.

Is this normal?

Secondly,

When the system is warm, and when it is heating, the vents are hissing on multiple radiators. After the boiler has been running for 15+ mins(minus the intermittent low water cutoff test) they're still hissing and at times maybe gurgling.

Most of the piping in my basement is now insulated but not all. Pressuretrol is at 1 and 1.5. water is pretty clear. All rads slope towards inlet. (Is too much slope bad?)

Appreciate any advice. I can't seem to get these things to keep quiet.

JUGHNE

Do you have a low pressure gauge to confirm the operation of the pressuretrol?

This is a 0-3 or 0-5 PSI gauge, not the 0-30 that comes standard with a boiler.

neilc

new vents on the main(s) also ? are they noisey?
you're set to 1.5, but what does the gage say you're running at?
can we see a picture of the boiler, floor to ceiling so we see the piping above?
and another of the sightglass and Ptrol, one big picture shot if you can so we get the lay of the land down there.

theONEendONLY

I do not have the low psi gauge installed, but if it's definitely necessary I'll stop by plumbing supply and grab some fittings tomorrow. The pig tail is 100% clear because I cleaned it out recently. The 0-30 psi gauge stays pinned at zero and never moves.

My house is small (7 rads). I have one Gorton 2 at the end of the single main which is brand new. I used pipe dope on that one, could that somehow clog it?

Can send pics in the morning.

BobC

Huffing and puffing points to water sloshing back and forth in a pipe somewhere. Put a level on the mains and radiator feed pipes and the strech a string along the pipe to make sure there isn't a belly in a pipe that can collect water.

Bob

Big Ed_4

Boiler not producing enough steam for system . Pipe insulation would work and an must if gas boiler . Oil system you would need a larger nozzle , if you can

dopey27177

some where in the steam piping water is being held back. The water is causing erratic steam supply. Although the amount of water in the piping is not causing banging there is enough water ti cause huffing and puffing.

Jake

theONEendONLY

Took your advice and installed a low pressure gauge. Pressuretrol is not working!! Cleaned it out and it's still no good. Spring/arm isn't moving when it's supposed to be.

Gauge was showing almost 3 psi and it wasn't cutting out.

theONEendONLY

I still dont think that's the only reason my steam vents are so noisy though, because it happens while the pressure is still low

nde

Any idea of if/how much your boiler may be oversized vs calculated EDR. Sounds to me like a oversized boiler, such a boiler pulls steam in and air out faster throughout the system. When I ran a 50% oversized boiler all vents did as described on huffing/puffing. Would also explain why you are building too much pressure too fast which will cause gurgling if the rads cannot condense the steam fast enough. On my current correct sized boiler I dont hear any air sounds, even with 30 minute runs and pressure never gets over a few ounces.

neilc

were you able to blow thru the pigtail back into the boiler ?
can we see the Ptrol and the white wheel inside ?

theONEendONLY

Pressuretrol replaced and working great. Still have groaning noisy Gorton vents

Big Ed_4

You will get panting if the steam condenses faster than steam is producing . System load too big for boiler . Insulation on the steam mains will lower the load on the system . First time walking on the job I would ask what changed ? Oil or gas ?

ChrisJ

What size are your steam mains and how long are they?

What size boiler?

I personally found anything over 1/4 PSI made vents noisy in my book, but I'm picky.

If the noise is happening when the system is starting up the Pressuretrol is irrelevant as it shouldn't be doing anything that early in a cycle. To me that suggests your main vents and perhaps radiator vents are all grossly undersized.

Early on when the system is starting up the only reason pressure can build is because steam isn't being condensed. The solution is to get the steam to the radiators (condensers) faster and the only thing stopping it is air.

theONEendONLY

@ChrisJ

My main is 2" and about 31' long. The branches are 1". I have a Gorton 2 on the end of the main. The radiators all mostly have Gorton 6's.

The boiler is an osb-3. Here's a link to the specs

https://www.williamson-thermoflo.com/products/thermoflo/osb-oil-fired-steam-boiler-series-3

ChrisJ

theONEendONLY said:

@ChrisJ

My main is 2" and about 31' long. The branches are 1". I have a Gorton 2 on the end of the main. The radiators all mostly have Gorton 6's.

The boiler is an osb-3. Here's a link to the specs

https://www.williamson-thermoflo.com/products/thermoflo/osb-oil-fired-steam-boiler-series-3

That sounds respectable.

How much radiation do you have?
As the radiators first start heating do they seem to slowly heat across the tops or does the bottom get hot all the way across with little or none at the tops of the sections?

What style radiators?

theONEendONLY

@ChrisJ


I just watched this one and the heat moved evenly from left to right (supply to vent). Bottom to top was hot.

As soon as the steam was close to the vent I started getting the excessively loud venting which sounds like groaning. Then when the boiler stops and the steam retreats I get the same thing.

ChrisJ

theONEendONLY said:

@ChrisJ


I just watched this one and the heat moved evenly from left to right (supply to vent). Bottom to top was hot.

As soon as the steam was close to the vent I started getting the excessively loud venting which sounds like groaning. Then when the boiler stops and the steam retreats I get the same thing.

If they're all behaving similarly I'd say the boiler is oversized unfortunately.

But it sounds like you have your venting pretty good if your rooms are all comfortable.

You could try increasing your main venting but it's not going to help what's happening once the radiators are full.

You could limit it with a vapor stat set to yep at 4 to 8 inches.

theONEendONLY

Big Ed_4 said:

You will get panting if the steam condenses faster than steam is producing . System load too big for boiler . Insulation on the steam mains will lower the load on the system . First time walking on the job I would ask what changed ? Oil or gas ?

Most of the lines are now insulated (bare pipes when I bought the house) and nothing has changed as far as I know. Last home owners were neglecters and probably just dealt with the noises. It's oil.