Trane vapor system

Steamhead (in transit)

it's pretty straightforward Vapor. I'd leave the Direct Return Trap in place unless steam is leaking thru it. Control the boiler pressure with a Vaporstat that cannot go higher than 1 PSI and you technically don't need the DRT, but I'd leave it in place as a backup.

Check those dry return traps. Are you sure these don't go from the ends of the steam mains into the dry return? This was a common configuration on Vapor, it routed the air from the steam mains into the dry returns, from which it was vented at a central point near the boiler. The vents were often made to hold vacuum, but that doesn't work well with oil or gas firing. Change them to standard large vents like the Gorton #2.

Dan C._2

I am replacing a boiler

It's a Trane vapor system. There is a direct return trap at the boiler. Do I leave that or take it out. Also there were two spots where there are traps on the dry returns in the basement that have a pipe that that just goes up and then back into the same pipe where it drops down. What are those for? I have looked in all of my steam books and can't find them. I also looked in the library under the trane system. I am assuming that it's a trane system because the trap at the boiler says trane direct return trap and the piping looks almost identical to the pictur in the library except for the traps on the dry returns.