Why is water entering steam pipes?

juliei

Hello, I have a 1930s steam system (original black pipe, split supply, reverse return with a wet leg along the bottom of the wall with original Trane convectors/covers ) and am suddenly hearing water gurgling throughout the pipes in the basement. This has happened before and usually this is a clue, per the person who installed our new boiler 4 years ago, that it's time for maintenance. But, the water has recently been skimmed / drained, and it is clean.

I'm also not hearing any hammering accompanying the water gurgle - just a significant amount of water coursing through the pipes. According to the digital gauge, I'm not losing water in the system. At the glass gauge on the boiler, I can see that the water level, at rest, has dipped slightly (maybe 1 inch) from about 6 weeks ago when we last cleaned the water and filled it up to the top of the water line. Any thoughts on what else might be causing water to get sucked up into the steam pipes?

By way of history, when I moved into this house in 2019, I realized that the steam heat wasn't working efficiently (oil was being guzzled and the tank needed refilling in a matter of weeks and the rooms in the back of the house didn't seem to be getting warm). Sure enough a non-original oil boiler had been piped back in incorrectly and sans a proper Hartford loop. I live in the DC metro so not a lot of steam experts, but I eventually found one through this site and he and his crew replaced the oil boiler with a Peerless series 63/64 gas boiler and re-piped it back in correctly. No modifications were made to the supply or return pipes or the wet leg. We learned how to change the water properly from the technician who came out in subsequent seasons.

Because our water gets pretty dirty after the system runs for a couple of months, we usually need to drain/skim/slow fill the water about twice a season to keep the system healthy. Because the new boiler install was and maintenance visits are very expensive, my husband and I do our own maintenance (I also grew up in a house in Maine heated solely by a Jotul woodstove so like to do things myself, if I can). If you have any thoughts on what might be causing water to enter the steam pipes and what we might do to correct, I would really appreciate your ideas. Many thanks and stay warm.

JUGHNE

Pressure settings and gauge indication?

109A_5

Hello @juliei,
Could the wet return be plugged up or significantly restricted and the condensate is backing up into the main ?

System pictures may help the folks here.

mattmia2

Is there any additive in the water? Is there too much and it is priming?

Mad Dog_2

Just because it looks clear & clean, doesn't mean it is.  Mad Dog 🐕 

ethicalpaul

From your description, either dirty/oily water or bad piping is causing water to get thrown into your header and/or main piping. When you hear the gurgling, what is the level of your water? The inch or so you lost in 6 weeks could just be the normal water loss of a one-pipe steam system, I'm not talking about that.

Here is what it looks like if you could see it. In my case it was a combination of dirty water and bad piping. I was able to improve both to stop this "surging".

The action occurs at 40 seconds in. I have more videos on my channel that show surging

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSRvvNQ5WLc

mattmia2

If whoever installed it isn't already looking at it about once a year it would be a great idea to schedule them to test the safeties, check over the system, check combustion, and figure out the wet steam issue. If it has been checked then certainly you can try a few other things first but it really should be checked by a competent professional every year or 2 to make sure the safeties are functioning and it is burning properly.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Yes check the pressure. Assuming it is piped properly since someone from this site did it it could have a plugged or partially plugged pigtail by now.

juliei

Hi everyone, many thanks for you quick and thoughtful replies. We drained/skimmed/filled up the water (there are no additives in the water currently) again over the weekend and, though it looked clean in the gauge, @Mad Dog_2 was right, it was actually dirty and oily. Changed the water again (3x this season), and I've not heard any water gurgling for several days (and the system has been very active with the cold weather. System set and operates at just below 2psi). I'll keep an eye on it and as @mattmia2 suggested, probably time for a professional visit to check on the health of the system.

mattmia2

If there is oil, are you skimming it? Draining will not remove oil, the oil will just stick to the inside of the boiler as it drains and float to the top of the new water.