Restarting steam system after long disuse

nysteam

I have an older family member who stopped using their steam heat radiator system when their boiler stopped working - maybe 15 years ago. (house is from the early 1900s) I am helping them do some long overdue maintenance on their house and would like to get the system up and running again.

I assume some work needs to be done beyond putting in a new boiler. What should I look out for and what needs to be done to get a system in working order? (beyond hiring a competent heating professional to do the work, haha.)

Are there common problems that occur when a system has been lying dormant?

Thanks!

Jamie Hall

Depends a little on whether you are dealing with one pipe steam or two pipe. If it's one pipe, I wouldn't assume that the vents work, or at best work right. You should run it and see — but I would assume that at least some of them may not be right. The same applies to two pipe for the main vents, but there you need to be aware of the traps. Again, they may — or may not! work (traps usually either work, or fail completely open or completely closed). Again, start the system and see what happens.

Then there are wet returns — return lines below the water line. It's very good odds that one or mor of these may leak, so before you run the boiler, fill it above the Hartford Loop and see if it will hold water level. Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you will find a length of pipe which looks like a fountain…

Now. You haven't looked at the vents or traps yet, but you have put water in the boiler and checked that there are no obvious leaks (or even less obvious ones). The next step is to make sure you have clean fuel. If this gas, either it is or it isn't — but if it's oil, and it's been sitting even for a year unused, it might not be a bad idea to have your oil company come by and remove the old fuel, check the tank integrity, and add new fuel. If they will, have them change the filters as well.

Now… and this may be better left to a tech., but not necessarily. If it's oil and an older control, you will probably need to prime the system (new controls often have a prime feature — use it). This is better, in my opinion, left to a burner tech., but can be done by a competent DIY person. If it's gas, not a problem.

Now. Be brave. Find the shutoff switch. Turn the thermostat up. Turn the switch on. Most of the time, after some grumbling, the thing will light off. Otherwise, again, burner tech. time.

Assuming it has lit off, the next step is to check the safeties. There are various kinds of low water cut off. Some you can test by pressing a button. Some you have to check by opening their blowdown valve. In either case, the burner should shut off. OK. Nest one is the pressure. Check and see what it is set at. It should not be set at more than 2 psi for the cutout. Depending on the kind of pressure switch, this may be actually visible on the control, or the control may give you a cutin pressure — which should not be more than 1 psi.

Now. Wait patiently. While you are waiting, feel the mains to see if they are warming up. If they are, trot upstairs to see if any of the radiators are getting warm. Now trot back downstairs. Odds are there is no decent pressure gauge (there might be…) but look at whatever gauge there might be, and also check the water level in the sight glass. The water level may well have dropped — but should be holding at some lower level. The pressure gauge should show a bit of a rise after most of the radiators are hot and, at some point, the boiler should be shut off by the pressure control. This may take a while, so patience.

If anything looks out of line — or particularly if you smell smoke in the area of the boiler — shut it off again.

mattmia2

Probably worth a second opinion on the boiler from a good steam tech, unless it is leaking it almost certainly can be fixed.

Steamhead

@nysteam where exactly in NY is this located? We know some great Steam Guys up that way………….

nysteam

House in question is actually in New Jersey. Outside of New Brunswick. If you have recs in the area, they'd be appreciated!

Steamhead

Try @EzzyT , @clammy or @JohnNY . Can't go wrong with any of these three.

EzzyT

@nysteam I service the New Brunswick area.

You can reach me at (201) 887-8856