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Water leaking out of air vent

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genka28
genka28 Member Posts: 5
in Strictly Steam

i have a burnham 8 boiler, installed 2021 ever since the instalation the main boiler vents were spitting out steam like an old train, the system was loosing allot of water. I changed the main vents last year and all was working fine. But this year i noticed water level high, so i changed water feeding to 1 gallon w a 6 min delay since its a 3 story old home. The issue im having is one radiator on the 1st floor is leaking water out of the air vent, 1/2 gallon of warm watet comes out usually early morning when the schedule changes 1 degree higher on the thermostat. Once the water spits out the radiator starts working fine. I use

IMG_9621.jpeg IMG_9622.jpeg IMG_9619.jpeg

varivalve adjustable vents

IMG_9624.jpeg

Comments

  • genka28
    genka28 Member Posts: 5

    The water level goes a bit higher them the pic after the boiler adds water wattet

  • genka28
    genka28 Member Posts: 5
    image.jpg image.jpg
  • genka28
    genka28 Member Posts: 5

    i changed 2 air vents, on the one in the pic i set it to “close” but radiator is still hot

  • genka28
    genka28 Member Posts: 5
    IMG_9625.jpeg
  • leonz
    leonz Member Posts: 1,780

    I am a home owner and not an expert on steam heat;

    Has the boiler ever been skimmed of oil residue and had a boiler cleaner added to the water? Where is the skim port tapping?

    That would be what I would want to have done first as your boiler water should be clear enough to see through.

  • dabrakeman
    dabrakeman Member Posts: 879

    Good news is that the piping looks reasonable to me.

    With water getting to the radiator and main vents there are a number of possibilities that need to be sorted out.

    1. You could still have oil in the water from the installation but it has been 4 years now so I would think that should have dissipated to some extent over time even if the boiler were not skimmed when installed. Nonetheless, if your water in the site glass is bouncing more than an inch while it is steaming then do some skimming.
    2. Maybe your pressure is getting too high. The pressuretrol setting is not bad but you could probably tweak it down a quarter or half psi (remember your cutin is subtractive from your main). Also, make sure the pigtail is clean so the pressuretrol is actually seeing the pressure.
    3. How is your boiler sized comparing the 633sqft rating to the total connected sqft of the radiators?
    4. I would insulate your NBP and mains
    5. If you have Varivents on the radiators you may be venting the radiators too fast and not have enough main venting. With that size boiler I would expect a bigger main vent than you have. What is the total length of your mains and pipe size of the mains?
  • patrykrebisz
    patrykrebisz Member Posts: 57

    Next time your boiler fires, watch it for a few minutes and see how far the pressure climbs. I wouldn't be surprised if that pressuretroll was not calibrated straight from the factory. Mine was set just like yours and yet i would constantly get pressure up to 5-7psi! Turns out it was never calibrated (there is a screw in the back).

    Watch Silent Steam Heat videos on youtube to see how to calibrate it.

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