2 weeks brand new boiler and radiator leaking

needhelppls

These are brand new installed. I had no issues for the first week of winter but now water keeps coming out of the air valve. I had to close the air valve of 2 radiators to prevent water from shooting

Jamie Hall

You could start by running the second pressuretrol -- the one without the push button -- down to where it should be, just above the 0.5 marking at the bottom of the scale. It's much too high now.

Then I'm not sure what kind of "air valve" that is; it is not familiar to me, but I wonder if it is, in fact, a proper steam vent. If it is, it's very much in the wrong place on the radiator (it should be about a third of the way up from the bottom).

ratio

Silly question, but do you have a pic of the old boiler?

mattmia2

Some pictures of the boiler and the piping from far back. And of the "vent" on some other radiators. Those valves you show are expansion disc type automatic hot water air vents although I think they say something about steam in their marketing, they really are for hot water.

ScottSecor

Admitttedly, I am not a detecitve but I have been working on steam and hot water heating systems since the 1980's. When I look at you photo that includes the lower gauge glass cock, I'm amazed it's only two weeks old. There is already a little green 'growing' on the valve body and the handle is loaded with dirt or dust. Not that it really matters, but was this a used boiler?

The gauge glass indicates the boiler needs a good cleaning. Perhaops the boiler was inatalled as an emergency and the contractor planned on coming back in the near future?

The radiator vents appear to be for hot water radiators, not steam systems. This system requires vents deigned for steam.

The gray (non-windowed) pressure control should be set lower as others suggested.

needhelppls

doing all this and will send pics of updates! Thank you all 

EBEBRATT-Ed

I sure hope he didn't put a steam boiler on a hot water system.

My gut is feeling funny on this one

needhelppls

I just updated the PSI to .5 and uploaded all pics of the vents. Please lmk. The contractor will be back to take a look himself. Advise what i should ask / change 

mattmia2

Put steam vents on those 2 radiators. Those hot water automatic vents likely are allowing air out but not back in so the radiator may be filled with condensate.

The boiler needs to be skimmed if is wasn't as part of the installation, probably a couple times. The oils from the new piping will make it surge and throw water up in to the mains.

ScottSecor

The water in the gauge glass looks a little better, that's a good thing. Could you post a picture of the radiator from a little furhter away (so we can see the piping that supplies the steam). It almost appears as the radiator may be designed for a hot water system.

With regard to the 3/4" black pipe that goes from the bottom of the boiler to the top (where the manual reset pressure control sits) is an unusal way to install this. Typically, the second (m.r.) pressure control would come off the same piping as the first pressure control. The tapping that the installer used is actualy designed for the boiler drain. I suspect it will be impossible to fully drain the boiler without this drain in place, In my mind the sediment will always want to sit on the bottom of the boiler. Yes, I see the drain on the return tee a few inches away, but this is an inch ot two above the tapping I am referrig to,

needhelppls

Now that the PSI is at .5. The boiler and radiators are all silent. No water flying out at the moment

needhelppls

The boiler isn’t firing up now and is silent. I don’t hear it boiling water to create steam. 

Jamie Hall

needhelppls said:

The boiler isn’t firing up now and is silent. I don’t hear it boiling water to create steam. 

Are you asking it to? If so, what are the settings of the two scales on the pressuretrol?

needhelppls

when i move the psi back to 2, it fired back up. Any thoughts? 

ScottSecor

Pigtail could be plugged or you went below the threshold on the pressure control. Raise crank the flat head screw slightly.  

STEAM DOCTOR

Interesting piping on the manual reset pressuretrol

needhelppls

okay I’m done playing with the setting since nothing works. I’ll have a to do list for him:
skim the boiler
replace the air valves

Are any of the radiator actually hot water ones? That i should ask to replace 

Jamie Hall

needhelppls said:

when i move the psi back to 2, it fired back up. Any thoughts? 

Differential was set too high.

JohnNY

The siphon tube running top to bottom on that boiler is a way of adding a LWCO or a condensate pump controller on some commercial/scotch marine installations. It gives the installer height options at which to set the system's water line.
It's not helping the manual reset pressuretrol.
That, the high pressure setting, and the fact the installer couldn't resolve problems with the system above the boiler room leads me to believe this was installed by someone with commercial/industrial boiler experience. It's very different from installing equipment at the residential level.
I'd love to know what it says on that piece of white tape and it looks like there's another one behind the pressuretrol.
I'd also like to know why there's a manual reset pressuretol at all. Perhaps this is a multi-family or mixed-use building.

needhelppls

This is a SFH which is even more crazy from what I’m reading from y’all now… i hope he’s above to resolve this. It’s been freezing lately and i can’t have the heater down