Condensate flowing out of Air Vent on Steam Radiator

leathernecke5

On a cold startup in this system I have condensate that will spit outall over the adjacent wall. Replaced the Air vent it had the side split wide open orginally. Now there is a hammering in the zone and in the system. Old original system never had a hammer issue ever, talking to engineers I replaced the Main Vent 46 yrs old. It seems the radiator fills up with condensate and hammers not draining. Installed a VentRight Air Vent. Any thought radiator could be blocked up? Heater will get hot but hammering comes eventually.

Jamie Hall

Is the valve to the radiator -- the one on the pipe, not the vent -- fully open? And is it a steam radiator valve? Are you sure? Older valves, particularly if they have been operated much, sometimes fail in such a way as to block the condensate return. Is the radiator pitched towards that valve? Are the pipes leading from the mains to that radiator properly pitched?

leathernecke5

thank you for the response, First this is a one pipe and it feels like valve is operating since I can close off radiator, piping is original and my next step is to check pitch but no obvious change visually. Never had hammer issue at all in entire system. Gonna pull off the wall to visually check internally. Dont know what the heck changed.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Have you had a new boiler installed?

leathernecke5

It’s all the original system piping and in the years I’ve been servicing and repairing the boiler never had a hammer issue at all. Again I didn’t check pitch with level but visually looks unchanged. But on a cold startup condensate pours out the vent and you can hear water in the radiator. Gonna check radiator shutoff valve and inspect for blockage 

JUGHNE

What pressure is this set at?
Pigtail clean?

leathernecke5

on 1/2 off 1lb and boiler cycles on and off okay, not trying to sound difficult but this system is all original worked well for a long long time just cant see what has created this issue.