Steam pressure noise from steam riser pipe

mtordjman

I live on the 3rd floor of a 1939, 6-stories, 65-unit, building.

Throughout the building, there are vertical steam riser pipes carrying very hot steam in the various lines of the 6 floors and run through every bathroom from the basement to the last floor in the entire building.

For the past 3 years or so, during the winter months, every time the radiators crank up, a loud noise (steam pressure noise) from the steam riser pipe in my bathroom is heard. The steam sound is so loud it keeps me up at night and disturbs my day, for about 30-minutes each time the heat cranks up.

I have been living in my apartment for many years, and I have never experienced such noise.

In April of 2020, there was apparently a radiator leak in the building lobby in my line. Since the leak was fixed, the steam pipe noise in my bathroom started. The steam pipe noise is louder in the lower floors, including mine, but less loud, as you up to the higher floors.

The "end of the line" release air-valve attached to my line's steam pipe on the 6th floor has been checked and replaced. Still, the steam pipe noise did not go away.

In the boiler room, I noticed a fairly “new looking” manual bypass valve attached to the end of my steam pipe piping in the basement. I have looked around the basement, and there’s no other steam pipe ending in the basement with a manual air-valve attached to it. I believe this valve has been added in April 2020. Could this valve be possibly associated to the steam noise, which would be obstructing the free flow of steam? Or could it be something else?

Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Thank you.

Jamie Hall

I'm not quite sure what a "steam pipe noise" is. A clank? A bang? A ticking noise? A whoosh? Can you describe it further?

mtordjman

The sound is like steam pressure boiling, no bang, no hissing, no clank, just pure steam pressure noise. I have a video of the sound. I am not sure if I can upload the file. Thanks!

ethicalpaul

You can't upload a video directly, but you can post it to somewhere else and link it here. Youtube is good, you can even keep it "unpublished" and just put the link here

mtordjman

Here's a link to the sound https://youtube.com/shorts/BkFe7ePP4MU?feature=share

EBEBRATT-Ed

Ther is probably nothing you can do outside of insulating it to reduce the noise. The boiler is probably piped wrong or is being run at too high a pressure.

ethicalpaul

You might ask the person above you on the 6th floor what their experience is. They might have a very loud vent in their apartment and that's what you're hearing. But like Ed says, nothing much to be done except to get the building management to hire @JohnNY to fix it

mtordjman

Thank you both for the input. I will ask the building plumber to check the boiler to see if it's being run at high temperature. Is there a specific speed that can be recommended in order to avoid heat reduction throughout the building, in case of a temperature reduction setting? As far as the 6th floor, the steam sound is not heard as loud, if anything. Also, a new valve was installed in the top floor, but it didn't help.

ethicalpaul

Not high temperature-- high pressure. It should max out at under 2 psi

mtordjman

Thank you so much. I will relate the recommendation to the building plumber. Keeping my fingers crossed

Mad Dog_2

If that doesn't help, do what most NYC dwellers do...Turn up the volume on the CD player and drown it along with the L train screeching to a halt right outside your window.  Mad Dog

mtordjman

Hi ethicalpaul - I checked the boiler pressure gauge this morning as heat was cranking up through the 6-stories building. The gauge was pointing to 5. Any suggestions?

ethicalpaul

There is a control on the boiler that limits the pressure. It should be set to about 1.5 PSI by the people who are running the boiler.

exqheat

What is the stem pressure output at the boiler. It should be less than 2.5 lbs.

mtordjman

I am about to contact the boiler company. However, I am a little confused. My building is using a Stealth control panel (see picture attached). I thought I should tell the boiler company to check the boiler pressure and that it should be set at 1.5 PSI. What's the normal setting, 1.5 or 2.5? Thank you so much!

ethicalpaul

No, it looks like one of these probably:

ethicalpaul

I think that is a control that determines when the boiler should fire to maintain temperature in the living spaces. See your other post for examples of pressure controls for steam boilers. They are called "Pressuretrol" or "Vaporstat" typically

Erin Holohan Haskell

@mtordjman, I've merged your duplicate discussions into one here to prevent confusion. Thanks!

EdTheHeaterMan

@mtordjman. The management has to make those adjustments. As it appears you already know that. There was a repair just before the noise changed. Pre-repair, little or no noise. Post repair, unacceptable noise. Seems that the repair company did not know enough about steam and made an adjustment that increased the noise and most likely increased the fuel usage. It takes more energy to make higher pressure steam.

Your information to the management company should include the information that they should review the fuel oil gallons or natural gas therms (not the price) are probably higher since the repair in April 2020. If they get a steam expert in there, the noise complaints and the cost of operation may be substantially reduced.

Management looks at $$$ first and tenant satisfaction second. Not saying they don't care... Just that they have priorities. Hit them with the $$$ and you may get faster relief

mtordjman

Hi Ed,
Thanks for your help. Can you recommend a licensed steam expert in my area? I am in Brooklyn, New York.