One Pipe System Losing Water

AVInstalls

Hi

My house was built in 1927.  The Boiler probably about 10 years old.  

The heat works great. The issue is though that the auto-filler is going off every few minutes. Does that mean a leak or can that mean too much steam is coming out of the boiler.  

In my basement underneath the floor in one area feels very hot, I’m assuming that’s where my return pipe is.

So two questions

- is it possible that being how much water I’m losing it could be because of steam being released by the boiler or by any of the radiators? (Typing this out i realized I can shut off all the valves to test the radiators- is that safe? )

- if I do rip up the area of my floor around that area that’s hot in my basement, can I just rip up that one area and fix the pipe? 

- any other possibilities I’m missing?

Thanks in advance 

clammy

Flood your boiler and check for leaks dripping if no leaks but the water level drops down to your Hartford loop height then you have a buried wet return leaking . Usually a repair while leaving the rest of the buried pipe in place is just a band aid . The 3 paths are cut the floor install a trough and install new pipe or re route the new wet returns above the floor and the final depending upon your piping height is to install a dry return w that being said you will need pitch and a mim distance above the boilers water line from the dry return to operate properly and not spit water from your new main vents optimum mim distance I stick to 34 inch above water line for dry returns and usually have no issues . Peace and good luck clammy

homers

clammy said:

Flood your boiler and check for leaks dripping if no leaks but the water level drops down to your Hartford loop height then you have a buried wet return leaking . Usually a repair while leaving the rest of the buried pipe in place is just a band aid . The 3 paths are cut the floor install a trough and install new pipe or re route the new wet returns above the floor and the final depending upon your piping height is to install a dry return w that being said you will need pitch and a mim distance above the boilers water line from the dry return to operate properly and not spit water from your new main vents optimum mim distance I stick to 34 inch above water line for dry returns and usually have no issues . Peace and good luck clammy

A 1 pipe steam system only has a single pipe going to the radiators. That is what my house has, the radiators should only have condensate in them as far as i know. I would suspect a huge leak if you're adding water. Do all radiators get hot?

Jamie Hall

If it's a lot of water, a buried return is the most likely culprit, if it's not a leak in the boiler.

homers

Jamie Hall said:

If it's a lot of water, a buried return is the most likely culprit, if it's not a leak in the boiler.

If its a leak at boiler it should be very noticable right? Unless its leaking into combustion chamber but then would notice it coming out chimney?  Im not a heat tech but enjoy learning and trying to help 

ethicalpaul

You can notice it coming out the chimney if you look up there, and if you have some historical knowledge of the previous amount of combustion condensation that emitted from it. But overfilling to the header as Clammy said is the better test

SteamBoiler

Also, check your radiators themselves. I have a leak in one radiator's input valve and it is a steady drip when the heat's running only realized it very recently after plaster starting sagging and peeling in the ceiling and wall below.

mattmia2

Are you sure it is actually filling when it is calling? Try filling it to the water line and turning off the water feed and watch the level in the sight glass, see if you're losing water.

Test the lwco first if it is a float type.

davidski

Hopefully not too much of a hijack on this thread, but I recently noticed my new-to-me 2 pipe system triggered its LWCO. My water feeder is an older model that doesn't recorded the amount added over time, so I don't know how often this is occurring, though any LWCO troubles me a bit. Would the same procedure of overfilling and looking for boiler leaks be appropriate?

I'm running a 2020 Weil-McLain. No buried pipes. I have one radiator with an occasional spit at a trap joint, but all the other radiators appear to be in good working order.