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Extremely cold today, VALVES are hissing ??

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misterheat
misterheat Member Posts: 158
edited February 2015 in Strictly Steam
Hi ,its the coldest day of the year here so far . I woke up to 2 valves hissing after a 3 degree set back recovery . ALSO one valve was turned OFF and the radiator is hot now with the valve hissing ? any help is appreciated thanks

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  • misterheat
    misterheat Member Posts: 158
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    Ptrol is at 2 and there is NO short cycling .The one valve that was turned on that was hissing is its own separate run off the boiler and we also discovered the one Valve that I thought was off was open just a bit . now its closed and no hissing out of THAT one now.
  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,576
    edited February 2015
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    All valves should be wide open, so as not to trap water. If you want to keep it off, then turn the vent upside down.
    Eventhough the pressuretrol is set to a value, the actual pressure should be verified by a low pressure 0-3 psi gauge.--NBC
    misterheat
  • misterheat
    misterheat Member Posts: 158
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    Don't have 0 to 3 gauge. I do see the gauge up around 1 ish and no short cycling . This equipment is new and was check out on Monday. I have plenty of main venting Gorton's #1 and #2 . I'm wondering if it being its own run coming out of the main header which at that point is 4 inch then to 1 1/4 has any bearing on it .its also not a very long run from the boiler. The radiator piping and valve are original 1927 .boiler is new .IN5 It is Record breaking cold here today. Basically the question I have is do valves go bad ?
  • Bio
    Bio Member Posts: 278
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    What kind of air vents valves do you have in your radiators, do you see steam? if not they're probably hissing and the end of the heat cycle, condensate returns to the boiler pulling air from the vents creating a great hisssss
    misterheat
  • KC_Jones
    KC_Jones Member Posts: 5,737
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    Can you determine where they are hissing? It could be they are leaking at the packing which is a fairly common problem that can be fixed. Since it is cold you are probably pumping more steam into the rads. Once the rad is completely filled with steam the vent is generally closed. If the system is still calling for heat and the packing is bad the steam will try and push out there because with the vent closed it has no other place to go. This is my best guess based upon your description and saying this is happening on a very cold day coming out of setback. Also by your description I am assuming you mean the inlet valve is hissing not the vent.
    2014 Weil Mclain EG-40
    EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
    Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
    misterheat
  • misterheat
    misterheat Member Posts: 158
    edited February 2015
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    Correct valve hissing ,not vent . what you said about packing sounds accurate to me . It is COLD HERE. Thank you guys !!
  • KC_Jones
    KC_Jones Member Posts: 5,737
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    When it is hissing you cold take a mirror and see if you can determine exactly where the valve is leaking. Keep hands back if you can steam hurts. If you determine exactly where it is leaking post a pic and we can recommend a course of action. Packing leaks are fairly common and most of the time not a huge deal to fix. A leak other than the packing is a bit more involved and you may want to wait for warmer weather. The leak should be addressed at some point though.
    2014 Weil Mclain EG-40
    EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
    Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
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    I'm with KC. I would guess the packing around the valve stem needs to be replaced. or the nut under the handle, around the stem may just need to be tightened down a bit but not too tight. Most supply houses sell packing kits for steam valves.
    misterheat
  • misterheat
    misterheat Member Posts: 158
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    quick question . How do you convert EDR
    into square feet ? Or BTUS ? thanks
  • misterheat
    misterheat Member Posts: 158
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    Ahhh !! Thank you . is 240 a temperature?
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
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    240 is BTU's (British Thermal Units) BTU is a traditional measure for a unit of energy.
    misterheat
  • Abracadabra
    Abracadabra Member Posts: 1,948
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    misterheat said:

    Ahhh !! Thank you . is 240 a temperature?

    No.. the units are BTU/hr / Sq.Feet Equivalent Direct Radiation

    So each sq. foot of EDR = 240 BTU/hr
    misterheat
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,280
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    No. 240 is the number of BTUs per hour which a square foot of a normal emitter surface will deliver to a space which is at 70 degrees F when the emitter is heated by steam.

    Normal emitter means a surface which is painted with a flat paint, or a metal surface which is significantly oxidized. A bright metal surface (shiny) will be much less, as will metallic paint.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    misterheat
  • misterheat
    misterheat Member Posts: 158
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    Hi all, I recently had the boiler serviced. They cleaned it ,added a skim port added a Gorton's # 2 and we have been running good. Past 2 days I heard the boiler kick off a few times right after the call for heat. I noticed that the water level which was at its normal height in the site glass ,above half way by an inch was really bouncing up and down and tripping the red manual reset on the low water cut off. What would cause this bouncing on the water in the site glass all of a sudden?
  • KC_Jones
    KC_Jones Member Posts: 5,737
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    The bouncing is usually because it needs skimmed. The oils will cause bounce in the water. If you have a skim port I would try skimming it some more. How much skimming has been done already? How much bounce does it have? 1/2"-3/4" is normal, anything more than that generally indicates the need for more skimming.
    2014 Weil Mclain EG-40
    EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
    Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
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    Did they add any new piping? Did they put any chemicals in the boiler water? If they added new piping, you are probably getting some oils back onto the surface of the boiler water and you need to skim it (even the piping for the new skim port is enough to tip the scale. If they added chemicals, they may have added too much or something that is causing some foaming. In that case, I would drain about half the water out of the boiler and refill it. That may dilute those chemicals enough for things to stabalize.
  • misterheat
    misterheat Member Posts: 158
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    A new radiator was added to the system which was brand new. Oil from that ?????added no chemicals .its a bounce of more than an inch .prior I had 1/2 inch of bounce tops.
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
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    Definately a new radiator will have a good amount of oils in it and the threaded fittings/plugs etc. You can skim it now and I'm guessing in a week or two you will need to skim the boiler again.
    I don't know why but Burnham Boilers (at least mine) seems to be super sensitive to the introduction of anything that has the least little residual oil (from manufacturing/threading) on it.
    misterheat

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