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Clanging Steam Radiator Driving Me Crazy!

MikeMike
MikeMike Member Posts: 6
edited December 2024 in Gas Heating

I’m looking for someone who has some advice with how to quiet a clanging steam pipe. I’ve been living in this house for 3yrs and for 3 winters I’ve been serenaded by what sounds like a person hitting the front room steam radiator with a pipe. It’s especially bad in the morning but continues throughout the day. It’ll clang partially loud when warming up but it also clangs as it’s cooling. I’ve adjusted the slope, I’ve changed out the valve, I’ve had a tech come out and tell me it was going to be $ to flush the system and change the valve. I live in CO and many heating techs have told me they’ve never worked o a system like this and very few guys have knowledge about steam radiators. I’d like to ask this community what advice people have about what could be causing it and ways to fix it. Here is a link to a video of the serenading radiator.

Thanks!

https://youtube.com/shorts/EUd8PSEMEoI?si=GZ18fzOBCI8xImNC

Comments

  • delcrossv
    delcrossv Member Posts: 1,568

    Sounds like water hammer. Look below for any sags in the steam main that could trap water. Pics from below and your near boiler piping would be helpful.

    Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.
    ethicalpaul
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 11,150

    that is a monster of a radiator. it is going to be somewhat difficult to get the water and steam to pass each other peacefully.

    make sure the valve is open all the way. make sore it has pitch toward the valve. putting a smaller orifice on the vent might help. the runnout may be too small. can we see what is happening below it? it could also be set up as 2 pipe on one pipe.

  • MikeMike
    MikeMike Member Posts: 6
    image.jpg
    image.jpg
    image.jpg
    image.jpg

    Wow, thanks for the quick replies. The top two photos are the pipe that runs up to the living room (and yes that’s a radiator on the ceiling in the background of the 2nd photo) and then there’s the boiler.

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 11,150

    Put a level on this and make sure it pitches toward the main:

    image.png


    Try to see if you can see up in the ceiling at what happens here, there is usually an offset to get over the foundation. Does that look like it has slope?

    image.png

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 25,271

    I'm betting on that blue circled pipe in @mattmia2 's comment.

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    Intplm.
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,609

    Me too.

    Retired and loving it.
    Intplm.
  • MikeMike
    MikeMike Member Posts: 6

    all I have is a very tiny level but it looks like there some slope on the pipe, however when I pushed the pipe up to see if it would budge there was a clang. When the radiator/pipe clangs it shakes the floor.

    I tried my best to get a good pic of the pipe going down through the floor but the images didn’t turn out very good. I looks like there’s a short straight pipe that connects the white pipe elbow in the basement with the valve that connects to the radiator.

    IMG_3984.jpeg
    IMG_0201.jpeg

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 11,150

    Could be the pipe under the floor slopes the wrong way, could be some debris built up in that pipe that is holding condensate in it. The 2 things to try would be to raise all of the radiator up half of an in to an inch or 2 and see if that makes a difference or to try flushing a couple gallons of water through the runnout. Could be condensate trapped in the radiator too.

    MikeMike
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 6,982

    I'm interested to see that the OP says that it clangs also on cooling.

    Then he says it clangs when he pushes the pipe.

    Is this pipe movement noise and not water hammer the whole time?

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

    MikeMike
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 11,150
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1826087#Comment_1826087

    Could be, but pushing the pipe could have tilted something and caused some water to head in to steam too. That short, wide radiator is going to move a lot as it heats and cools. Putting some dense plastic under the feet could help it slide more easily. Could make noise as the sections move against each other too.

    Intplm.
  • MikeMike
    MikeMike Member Posts: 6

    Sorry all, I was away for a bit. I tried to loosen the nut connecting the radiator to the valve but I can’t get it loose. I have a pipe wrench and can’t move it an inch. I did have someone come about a year ago because there was a leak at the connection, he had to use a blow torch to loosen it. I’ve loosened nuts on other radiators but this one is a bear. I’ll try to lift it and put some plastic under the feet but the weight of the radiator is making it difficult to lifts.

    Does anyone know what it means when the nut is that tight? Could that be the issue? The nut it too tight and when the metal expands when heating it makes the clanging noise?

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 25,271

    When that union nut is too tight — assuming that it is being loosened in the correct direction! (it's a union — and, facing the radiator, it turns counterclockwise to loosen) — it means that some gorilla tried to fix a leak at the union by overtightening the nut. Which won't work. You may get lucky and the nut won't be cracked… but tightening more than half a turn or so beyond hand tight is not required.

    It's not likely to be the culprit for the noise, though.

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • MikeMike
    MikeMike Member Posts: 6

    Darn, I was hoping that might be it. Yeah, that nut is crazy tight. I’ve even put a pipe on the end of the pipe wrench to get leverage and the thing didn’t budge. Looks like I’m going to have to try to somehow lift the whole radiator as one piece and see if that helps solve the issues. I better get some friends and some strong pipes to use a leverage to get that thing off the floor.

  • MikeMike
    MikeMike Member Posts: 6

    Thanks to everyone who commented. Based on what mattmia2 said two days ago I finally got around to lifting the back of the radiator and putting some feet under it and it worked, no more clanging in my living room! (Attached are the photos) Matt, thanks so much for your insight, you solved the problem… no more clanging driving me crazy. Cheers!🍻

    IMG_4120.jpeg
    IMG_4121.jpeg

    mattmia2Waher
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,853

    Glad it's fixed. No need to lift the rad. 2x4 crowbar and some different size wood blocks will do it.

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