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Steam condensate

joshua2002
joshua2002 Member Posts: 8
in Strictly Steam

looking for any ideas as to why this may be overflowing. Customer has a pit in back of building where condensate dumps and is pumped back to the boiler. Pit will over flow and steam up entire room.

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Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 25,190

    How does water get into the pit? Is condensate from the system dumped directly into the pit (VERY bad idea) or is it taking water from the condensate receiver (grey tank with the pump on it)?

    How does makeup water get into the system? What controls that?

    What controls when water is transferred from the receiver to the boiler?

    There are a number of ways this could happen. I really need to know more about the system…

    I might add that if actual steam is appearing in there, you have at least one bad trap on the system…

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    ethicalpaul
  • joshua2002
    joshua2002 Member Posts: 8
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1833182#Comment_1833182

    condensate dumped directly into pit, then pumped into receiver tank which pumps back to boiler across building.

  • Intplm.
    Intplm. Member Posts: 2,272

    Condensate should NOT dump directly into that pit…or is it a sump pump pit receiving water build up in the basement?

    Either way it should not be going in there. The condensate return tank/condensate receiver should take the condensate,

    Im guessing but I believe the pipe coming out of the wall to the left is where the flow in question is coming from? If that's the case then the condensate should be piped to that tank.

  • Grallert
    Grallert Member Posts: 829
    edited January 9

    That condensate pump is pumping the condensate water back to the boiler, or somewhere out of frame. The pipe dropping into the pit looks like a discharge from a submersible pump. Makes me think that receiver tank is grossly undersized if that pit is needed to keep the boiler full. And what is that black pipe on the left? Is it another condensate pipe? What calls the submersible, the float on the receiver?

    Miss Hall's School service mechanic, greenhouse manager, teacher, dog walker and designated driver

  • Intplm.
    Intplm. Member Posts: 2,272

    And you can tell that that room has been full of water before. Im wondering if the OP is confused as to what is happening and possibly experiencing the condensate over flowing onto the floor and into the sump pump.

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 25,190
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1833342#Comment_1833342

    That's why I ask stupid questions…

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,307

    Is the black pipe coming out of the wall on the left dumping hot condensate into the floor pit, then that

    pump lifts that condensate up into the above floor condensate pump tank thru the overflow connection (copper pipe)?

    The black pipe is too low to connect into the cond tank inlet with the others and is perhaps why the water is

    relayed thru the below floor pump. That pit looks to be cast iron, maybe for receiving hot condensate.

    However the pump in it might not be rated to handle hot condensate and may be failing.

  • Pumpguy
    Pumpguy Member Posts: 706
    edited 12:52AM

    If this condensate pump's tank is overflowing, first check the float switch.

    Does the switch linkage pivot freely and start and stop the pump reliably? This is very easy to check by working the linkage by hand.

    Keep in mind that this unit's job is to move condensate, not to store condensate. It may be a good idea to reset the travel stops on the linkage dial to minimize the float travel.

    Also, check the temperature of the condensate. This is easy to do with a battery powered IR gun. If the temperature is close to boiling, the pump may cavitating and not be suitable for such a high temperature.

    There are special 2 foot NPSH type high temperature condensate pumps available, but you shouldn't need one.

    Also, if you have leaking traps that are allowing steam in the return lines, this could be the root cause of this problem.

    What is your system's steam pressure? If you're at over one PSI, its probably too high and is contributing to this problem.

    Try cutting back on the steam pressure. This should allow more of the steam to condense in the radiation and less will leak past bad traps into the return lines.

    Long term, do a trap survey and repair or replace any that are leaking steam into the return lines.

    Hope this is helpful.

    Dennis Pataki. Former Service Manager and Heating Pump Product Manager for Nash Engineering Company. Phone: 1-888 853 9963
    Website: www.nashjenningspumps.com

    The first step in solving any problem is TO IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM.

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