Bad Radiator Valve?

Tom_42

One pipe steam system, just serviced. After about an hour and all the radiators are pretty hot there is one radiator that started hissing, not from the vent, from the valve. I tried to turn the valve off and it did not work. Looks like it is possible broken. So I tried tightening the top of the valve and that seemed to slow down the escaping steam. Then I decided to take the vent off and see what happens. Bad idea. Tons of steam started screaming out of the vent. I suppose I was really lucky in not getting scalded. Anyway I turned off the boiler and it took a few minutes for the steam to leave the pipes. This makes me nervous. Should there be that much pressure in the pipes? Shouldn't the boiler shut down at say 5 PSI? Makes me nervous.

Al Letellier

hissing

Tom, normal operating pressure for a residnetial system is 1/2lb to 1 1/2 lbs. 5 PSI is way too much. It sounds like the stem packing is bad on your radiator valve. Call in a good steam guy to correctly set the pressure (and probably put on a new gauge, and repair the valve. It's not worth getting hurt over what the job will cost. And the education will be worth every penny.

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Tom_42

Thanks Al

I have someone coming on Saturday. I got his name from this site. Anyway, I think my burner might be overfired. It is rated at 1.25 gph to put out 420 sq ft of steam. By my calculations the load is only 330 sq ft of steam and the fire rate was set to 1.5 gph. What should I do?

Mad Dog

Wait for the pro to come over

good luck Mad Dog

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Tom_42

Thanks

Mad Dog. Should I call back my service provider and have them change the fire rate back? I am not sure if the steam expert would want to do that. I am on a contract with a service provider. What do you think?