Replacing or repairing steam pipes in a single pipe steam system

zeb_3

keep it the same size & material. DON'T use copper!!!!!

Tim Nicholson

Old pipes

My single-pipe steam system is about (at least)60 years old.
Lately, it seems every time I come home from work I smell the unmistakable odor of soaked asbestos insulation--another
pipe has sprung a leak. It is alwys the same; a small hole
on the bottom of the pipe has formed. I've been simply drilling a self-taping screw into the hole to fix the leak.
I havethe feeling that I'm going to have to replace most, if not all, of the piping. It is 1-1/2 inch iron. Also,
my vents have been spitting and hissing alot as of late.
Any suggestions? I was told that the iron pipe can be re-
placed with 3/4 inch copper. This does not sound right.
(The boiler is only seven years old, by the way.)

Al Letellier

old pipes

We just did a job just like this one. I agree that you should stay with steel pipe and don't use copper, but I certainly don't understand why someone said 3/4"?????
Make sure that you have proper pitch on the new piping. It sounds like you have a problem with that. Make sure that from the highest point above the boiler the pipe runs downhill, away from the boiler(assuming you have a single or two pipe system). Keep it simple and replace the bad piping and pitch it. If problems arise beyond that, use the find-a-contractor feature and get someone who knows steam to help you out.

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Steamhead

Tim, are the leaks occurring

in the pipes that carry the steam, or the ones that return water to the boiler?

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Boilerpro

Not all systems pitch down from the boiler

You may have a counterflow one pipe system. Just repitched a counterflow system back toward the boiler after a previous mistaken contractor tried to pitch it away from the boiler...along with the installation of a properly sized boiler. All the banging and spitting air vents ceased. Oversized boilers in counterflow can really get you in trouble.

Boilerpro