steam system is losing water

matt_16

i got a 2 pipe steam system that is losing water daily. there are no signs of leaking anywhere and it has a new vent. there was 1 return blocked but i closed the valve to isolate the radiator but i am still losing water

Thad English

water loss

I am a homeownder not a pro and I had the same thing happen to me and did the same thing: closed the valve to isolate the rad. But the valve is about 95 years old and it still let steam in which condensed and there was my water loss. How much water are you losing over what time span?

matt_16

close to a quarter of the glass on a cold day and i think the valve is holding the radiator is staying cold

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

is there steam

coming out of the chimney when the boiler is firing? or are any of your vents or shutoffs leaking? bob

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matt_16

no steam out of the vent. i will check the chimney

matt_16

any other sugestions?

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

no little leaks

around the shut off valves? did you check the chimney? or do you have any underground returns. does the leak seem to be getting worse?

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matt_16

the valves and the chimney look good. there are no underground pipes.the boiler also looks ok,its only a few years old.i still dont see any signs of leaking. what do you guys think about throwing on a auto fill untill the leaks aare vissable

techheat_2

Any

Buried returns? A leak above the water line in boiler is not always visible as steam in chimney

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Billy_3

flood the boiler

then if it is leaking steam the leak will be visible because you will see water coming out onto the floor. Also if you check the water line when it is firing it could be surging

steve_38

sounds like

the returns might be where your leak's at.
but it could be comeing from anywhere. not easy to
work blind. Example - I recieved a service call for
the excact problem your having. first thing I noticed
when i got in the basement, there was no water in the boiler
so i manually filled the boiler back up to half way up the gauge glass and i looked at the water level carefully and noticed the water level was dropping without the burner even running. the customer had a finished basement so it wasn't to easy to inspect the returns, but i asked the customer where the water main was for house. he brought me to a closet and there it was "the water main". from there I was able to peak behind the wall with my flash light. I noticed the returns were in pits tottaly corroded and rotted right through, that is where i found my water leaking from. and another ex. i found a pin hole on the crown sheet of a peerless steam boiler, and i found that one because i noticed the boiler had serious back pressure and that's when i checked the sections and found the pin hole. but steam heating, compare to hot air, and hydronics, is a whole nother animal.