Looking for steam heating expertise in the southwest Wyoming, Ogden, Salt Lake City area

adamfal22

Hi, we recently bought a home in Kemmerer, Wyoming, which is just 2 hours north of Salt Lake City. The home has a steam boiler and very old radiators. We love the heat but don't think the system has been maintained much since the boiler was installed.

We replaced all the air vents on the radiators ourselves but we still get water hammer from some of the radiators and leaking from some of those vents, especially if they haven't been on a lot. I think some of the radiators need to be sloped more for sure. I think the PSI on the boiler might be too high also. We're not there right now but when I checked it it was well over .5 PSI.

There is some noticeable gunk on the pipes going into the boiler that I'm unsure how to clean or maintain also. The gunk is on one of the top pipes (the main one?) and also the valve on the side that you open to release water I believe (I forget what that's called - it's the dark image that's hard to see, but the gunk looks similar to the white gunk on the main pipe).








The system is new (for me) so I don't feel too comfortable messing with it much yet and so am looking for someone who is knowledgeable and has a passion for steam heating who lives in or can travel to the area. We need someone who can be a reliable troubleshooter/maintainer/upgrader for our system that we want to keep in good working condition!

We are willing to pay for commuting if that is helpful.

I've attached some photos of the boiler itself.

Please let me know if interested to learn more - happy to

hot_rod

Might try Harris Dudley in Salt Lake they work on steam
Or the Bell and Gossett rep would know some steam guys, Gritton and Associates

Steamhead

I've been to that part of WY- one of the most beautiful places I've visited. But the travel time from Baltimore would be a bit much.............

adamfal22

@hot_rod thanks for the tip

leonz

Your boiler needs some serious tender loving care from a steam licensed plumber and a new header pipe made from threaded pipe. Does this steam boiler have a skim port and a low water cut off switch?

As a suggestion you should invest in three of Mr. Holohans excellent books on steam heating through the Heating Help Bookstore; they are THE LOST ART OF STEAM HEATING, WE GOT STEAM HEAT and GREENING STEAM.

You can purchase them the Heating Help bookstore web page and they will ship them to your door.
Buying these fine books on steam heating through the Heating Help Bookstore eliminates the middleman and all profits go to the author.

Mr. Holohan writes his books well enough in plain language so the lay person-you and me as well as the journeyman plumber understand how our heating systems work and can work very well.

If you invest in these three books you will have a good understanding of steam heating and be confident in talking to your future steam plumber about the work your boiler needs to bring it up to par and save fuel.

adamfal22

@leonz hey thanks for the suggestions. I don't know if it has a skim port, or even what that is. It does have a low water cut off switch, which is also corroded, but it has one.

leonz

Hello adamfal22,

The skim port is a large pipe tapping which allows you to skim off any oil in the boiler water. The oil comes from cutting and threading the pipe joints and fittings.

Any residual oil in the boiler water causes foaming and will wreak havoc with the pressuretrol, low water cut off and pig tail piping.

The B+G folks recommend that two low water cut offs for a steam boiler to provide a secondary low water cut off to protect the steam system from boiling dry and possibly exploding is water is back to the boiler in error if it hot and has no water in the steam chest.

Judging from your photo images you apparently do not have an automatic water feeder with a blow down valve.

Do you know where the main vents are at the end of the header pipes in the basement and what size they are or if you have them at the ends of the header pipes?

You have to have the correctly sized radiator and main vents to correctly balance the stem heating system.

About your water hammer issue you should check the header pipes in the basement for level using a bubble level to assure they slope back to the boiler to allow the condensate to drain back.

With your system and the generous amount of overhead height that you have you should consider installing a drop header or double drop header to create dry steam will help you tremendously heating the radiators faster with dry steam at a high velocity. A double drop header will consist of a header pipe the size of the boilers steam chest tapping's and the lower header is one or more sizes larger to allow the wet steam to expand faster and allow the condensate in the wet steam to drop out and drain back to the boiler as the dried steam travels faster to the header pipes in the basement that connect to the riser pipes going to your radiators.

The 3 books about steam heat written by Mr. Holohan which I suggested that you purchase to learn more about steam heat explain this in great detail that is easy to follow and understand.

Please check the header pipes in the basement to make sure they slope back to the boiler as your water hammer may be occurring because condensate cannot drain back to the boiler water line when the boiler stops making wet steam.

You can purchase steel shims from Mcmaster Carr to raise the radiators slightly if needed but you may only need to adjust the slope of the header pipes in the basement as they have probably sagged a bit since they were installed.

I do not know what the recommended amount slope in percentage would be or how to correct it but it would not be very much.

A small magnetic torpedo level will show you how much or how little slope exists in the basement header pipes that reach out from the boiler riser pipes.

If you have a 4 foot+ long aluminum bubble level that will work too if you don't mind working from a small step ladder to use it.

Being a layman/homeowner I offer my apologies to Clammy, Steam Head and Mr. Holohan if I forgot or mistated something.

adamfal22

@leonz thank you for the thorough response! I am not at that home right now so can't check the things you recommended, but I know the radiators are original to the house (built 1910 or so)...One of them started doing water hammer after we had to move the whole radiator down over an inch so we could remove flooring that was beneath it.

I know there is one main vent above and near the boiler but haven't checked level on it - good idea.

BobC

The pipe slope to that radiator may have been changed so I'd start there. Old houses settle so it does not take a lot of movement to throw things out of whack. Check the pipes to be sure they slope so water can find it's way back to the boiler. It might be worth lifting that entire radiator up (shimming the feet) to see if that helps.

Bob

leonz

About this specific radiator, can it be re installed at its original height?
moving the radiator to remove the flooring apparently started your
water hammer issues.

adamfal22

@leonz and @BobC yes and no...the water hammer was still an issue with some of the upstairs radiators (but just two of them), the water hammer on the downstairs one started after the movement I described.

Do either of you know if I can use wood shims or do they have to be metal?

bburd

Wood is fine.

BobC

On one radiator upstairs I have a strop of 3/4" plywood under the vent end a strop of 1/2" plwood at the sipply valve end.

Bob