Steam Riser Vents Questions
I have a steam riser in each of my apartment's bathrooms. We are on the top floor of a 12 story building. We recently bought this apartment in a co-op building constructed in 1917. Each bathroom has a steam riser and they both have a vent near the bathroom ceiling. Both these vents are pretty small- comparable in size to a Hoffman 40. And both of them are venting steam- in one bathroom, a decent amount of condensate is forming on a nearby shelf. The super brought a plumber by to look and he said they can't be replaced until heating season is over. Is this true?
Also, one of the bedroom radiators seems to be pushing air out rather aggressively and having difficulty closing. Would a too-small vent on a nearby riser be causing this aggressive venting from the radiator? Is inadequate venting on the riser causing the radiator to be doing the riser vent's job.
The previous owner didn't know jack about the radiators or didn't do an y upkeep or maintenance and kind of left me with this mess to untangle. We bought the unit in the summer while all the heating was shut off.
Comments
-
You and the other owners should have a come to Jesus meeting with the building owner(s).
They need a licensed steam plumber to fix it before it gets worse as they obviously did not know what was what with the heating system in your entire building.
0 -
The super told me if a room got too hot I could leave the radiator shut-off valve halfway open to reduce the heat. I don't know a ton, but I know not to do this. So it seems the super isn't well versed in steam heating. Certainly well-intentioned, but not up to speed.
1 -
They are probably running the pressure too high.
I find it hard to believe they can't shut down to change a vent but if it is a huge building then maybe not. If you shut the valve off will the pipe cool enough to have the vent replaced?
0 -
its a 12 story building with 36 apartments total. pretty big. the pipe gets cools off between boiler cycles. seems to me like they could do it then. I need to get an assessment I think from a plumber because the Super is kind of BSing me about it.
1 -
do you know how I can find out what pressure they are running things at?
0 -
Have to get in the boiler room and look at the pressure gauge.
1 -
If they keep putting you off; a call to the plumbing inspectors office will force them to open a door to look at the boiler.
0 -
Here are pictures I took today of the vents. I brought a ladder over and was able to use my iphone to get these images. These look like tiny vent for a small radiator- why would someone put them on a steam riser- and would having them on the riser be causing problems for my radiators? I don't really know the function of a vent on a riser and have had a hard time looking it up online.
I forgot to add in my earlier comments- I have one radiator that is working great, buty I don't think it is serviced by any of the steam risers in my unit, as it is next to a shared wall with another unit and on the other side of the wall is my neighbors bathroom, which I am assuming has a properly vented steam riser in it. All the bathrooms in my apartment have steam risers in them.
0 -
Most likely too high pressure on the system or insufficient main venting in the basement. If those risers were intended to be main vents for the entire 12 story risers then yes they would be too small but without pictures from the boiler room I am just speculating.
0
Categories
- All Categories
- 87.4K THE MAIN WALL
- 3.2K A-C, Heat Pumps & Refrigeration
- 61 Biomass
- 429 Carbon Monoxide Awareness
- 120 Chimneys & Flues
- 2.1K Domestic Hot Water
- 5.8K Gas Heating
- 115 Geothermal
- 168 Indoor-Air Quality
- 3.7K Oil Heating
- 77 Pipe Deterioration
- 1K Plumbing
- 6.5K Radiant Heating
- 395 Solar
- 15.7K Strictly Steam
- 3.4K Thermostats and Controls
- 56 Water Quality
- 51 Industry Classes
- 50 Job Opportunities
- 18 Recall Announcements