Smoke, Oil smell venting from Steam Radiators

Bradley Feldman

I have a steam heating system in which two new window radiators where put in to replace a large, old, room radiator. Now, when the system fires up, the room (and subsequently the whole house) fills with a fine smoke and oily smell that comes from these radiator vents.

1) Is this normal? I asked the plumber who hooked it up and he said this is normal and will go away once the coatings on the new pipes and radiators "burns" off. Is this true? If so, I have to leave windows open as smoke, smell and fumes make it like I'm living in a diesel engine.

2) I unscrewed the radiator vents on this two new radiators as they seemed to be venting constantly (because of the smoke?). Found both to be filled with a liquid that smelled like the odor that's being emitted (oily, caramel color liquid with dark flakes). I emptied them out in the sink, shook them and flushed them with water to clean them out and screwed them back onto the radiators.

Any ideas on 1) what's going on and 2) how to get back to "normal" heating conditions here?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

*Bradley

Ken_40

Time...

Only time can solve the problem.

No. The smell is not "normal" - but, not that abnormal, considering the fact that the plumber may not have "carefully cleaned the threads of the new pipe nipps. carefully, or the pipe interior either for that matter. Within a few days (dependent of how much time/day the system is "on" (steams)).

And vents ARE supposed to vent constantly - until the temperature around the vent area gets to ~190F; at which time the thermostatic element within the new vent closes the vent - which does what it's supposed to do; namely, NOT ALLOW ANY LIVE STEAM FROM ESCAPING OUT OF THE RAD!

Give it another day or two (with attendent cold weather) and get back to us. If it does not diminish in intensity in a day or two, other more rigorous solutions may be needed.

My gut hunch is that exactly what you suspect, IS the problem - and it will go away quickly.

Stay in touch.

ttekushan_3

flakes...

The flakes indicate thread cutting and cutting oils. They are quite foul smelling even when not hot. If its only on the outside of the pipes and radiator, the smell will dissipate as others suggested. But...

There's a probability that these oils are on the inside and will also foul the boiler water. If other problems seem to develop mysteriously -like odd noises, odors from other radiator vents, vents that start to "breath" in and out, radiators that go cold- then the oils have contaminated the boiler water surface. It has to be skimmed and cleaned. There are good discussion on this website that describe this process. It'll take more time than it took to install the radiator.

-Terry