Radiator blows steam/water

pugman2

We have one radiator that blows steam/water at the end of the morning heat cycle. We replaced the main 2" air valves and they hiss all the time. The boiler was completely cleaned and flushed. This problem started last heating season when I replaced some radiator air valves with new Groton valves. All other radiators are workin' well. This problem radiator is the last one on a 2" main. The system has been in this house for decades. It's a new Burnham as of 2013. I have a can under the air vale to collect the water.

Jon_blaney

My guess is there is condensate in the radiator which is not draining back. Check the radiator and pipe pitch. Or don't use a setback so there is no morning heat cycle.

pugman2

OK. Thanks. The radiator is pitched by 1/2 a bubble. We pulled it off to check out the service valve. Everything seems normal. This set back has been in place with the new Burnham in 2013. I don't understand this.

Intplm.

If it is pitched back to allow the condensate to drain. At this point, the best thing to do is send a few pictures of the radiator and, if possible, the piping serving this one radiator.

Jon_blaney

Did you change the valve on this radiator?

pugman2

The pitch on the pipe for this radiator isn't the best, but it's been this way since the house was built. 1925.
This all started when I changed to Groton air valves last year. The new main air valves hiss during the entire heating operation. Shouldn't they stop at some point ?

nicholas bonham-carter

What is your pressure in ounces?
Hissing vents would indicate high pressure, perhaps caused by a plugged pigtail.—NBC

pugman2

OK. I'll pull it off again and double check. It was cleaned out at the end of last season. Hell, I'll try anything right now. If I brought in my portable air compressor, should I be able to blow thru the radiator air vent ? Could the bottom of the radiator be blocked ? I'm desperate.

delcrossv

Do not blow through the air vent. The pigtail on the boiler may be clogged or your pressuretrol is adjusted too high. Can you post a picture of the boiler gauge and pressuretrol with the boiler running?

pugman2

The pressuretrol is set at .5 and 3 PSI. I sat with the boiler this morning as it was nearing the thermostat setting of 70*. Near the end, the pressure gauge read 2 PSI. At 3 PSI the boiler shut off and restarted 8 times. It restarted and ran for 15 seconds to a full minute for eight times. The radiator in question was pushing out water while the thermostat was reading 68*. I then went down to watch the boiler. I have no idea if the thermostat was satisfied near the end. There was over 1/4 cup of water released by that radiator air valve during this mornings initial heating cycle.

delcrossv

Photos of your boiler piping and main vents would be helpful. 3 psi is significant pressure.

Were the new vents you installed of different size than what was there previously? i.e did you replace faster vents with slower ones or vice versa?

KC_Jones

How much are you setting the heat back at night?

Agree with the above we need to see boiler piping and the pressure setting is too high. Problem is, when you lower it where it should be the short cycling you describe will get worse. I suspect oversized boiler, poor piping, inadequate venting, or a combination of all three.

The water you are seeing is the effect, the cause, most likely, isn't at the radiator.

If you have hissing vents, you most likely don't have enough vents. Average house mains should get fully hot in 5 minutes or less, mine take about 2. Do you have any idea how long yours take to heat?

We need to remember the pressure is a function of the boiler size, system EDR, to venting capacity. The pressurtrol simply cuts the system off when it hits a pressure, it can't "make" pressure. If you are getting to those pressures, it's not really a pressutrol issue and that can and will be a distraction when troubleshooting.

pugman2

I replaced the HD air vents with Groton #4's. Prior, too many radiators were constantly hissing and I was replacing boiler water every few days. The radiator in question is the last one on this main. The set back thermostat goes to 65* at 11 PM. The boiler is a Burnham from 2013 and everything has been fine till the end of last season. The two main vents are new and shut down after the steam hits them in 10+minutes.
I just removed the Pressuretrol and pigtail and everything was clean. My steam plumber doesn't return my calls. He gave up. I'll try to post a pic. Thanks to everyone ! I appreciate the knowledge and help.

KC_Jones

pugman2 said:

I replaced the HD air vents with Groton #4's. Prior, too many radiators were constantly hissing and I was replacing boiler water every few days. The radiator in question is the last one on this main. The set back thermostat goes to 65* at 11 PM. The boiler is a Burnham from 2013 and everything has been fine till the end of last season. The two main vents are new and shut down after the steam hits them in 10+minutes.
I just removed the Pressuretrol and pigtail and everything was clean. My steam plumber doesn't return my calls. He gave up. I'll try to post a pic. Thanks to everyone ! I appreciate the knowledge and help.

That helps a bit, or at least makes me feel a little better about some of the comments. So there were some issues prior, and now you have different issues.

Could you elaborate on the replacing boiler water comment? Was/is the boiler losing water, or were you draining it?

Hissing is pressure/lack of venting. Mains should be vented fast. 10 minutes seems long to me, unless you have really long mains (75' or more each). If you measure the length of the mains and the diameter we could recommend a proper amount of venting.

Also, to be clear, that amount of water at the radiator means water is getting into your system, when it should not be. The old vents, or other issues, could have been covering this up. Now that you are changing/correcting things, other existing problems may be coming to light, and that's what we are trying to figure out.

delcrossv

Really need to see the near boiler piping.

What main vents were installed? Can you post pictures of those and their locations?

neilc

and turn that pressure setting down,
cut in 0.5, or less,
cut out, 1.5, (2 max)

pictures man, pictures.

pugman2

One main run is about 20' and the other one runs around the basement for about 35'. The new main vents are Gorton #1. $50.00 each. I'm tryin' to post pic's, but there's a problem. This computer is new and there's some glitch preventing me from downloading pics. My plumber called before and told me to lower the 3lb setting on the Pressuretrol to one full turn lower. My thanks to everyone helping with this problem.
Let's see what happens tomorrow morning.

neilc

so no pictures , , ,

does that Ptrol have 2 scales on its front? and a big ole plastic cover , , ,
set the one on the right, "main" to 1.5, this will be your cut out,
and the scale on the left to 1, for differential, and boiler will cut in at 0.5 ish

if it's one scale on the front,
set the scale to 1.5 for cut out,
and inside, under the grey cover, is a white wheel marked 1 - 5, set it to 1, for differential,
and boiler will cut back in around 0.5