Criticism and tips welcomed
Comments
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1- the steam header ends in a "bullheaded" tee where the inrushing steam slams against the side of the tee. This can cause a wave action inside the boiler. See @DanHolohan 's excellent book "The Lost Art of Steam Heating Revisited" for a more in-depth discussion of this.
2- is there a main vent? If so, please post a pic. How long is the main, and what pipe size?
3- looks like there's at least one open hole in the side of the junction box where the switch is.
But we've seen a lot worse. Is this your first try?
Baltimore, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting
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2 different jobs?? I don't care for the bullhead tees on the equalizers, but I have seen a lot worse. I take it both jobs are counterflow?
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Top 2 pics is my second steam boiler I wrapped up this week. I reused the junction box but replaced the switch, having that hole closed up would be a lot cleaner look. Bottom 2 pics is my first swing at a steam boiler I did for my parents in December of 2025, original one was from the 40’s!!🤣. I learned about that bullheaded tee today and wish I piped for a better separation chamber.
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yes 2 different jobs. Top 2 pics is my second steam boiler (wet return) and the bottom 2 was my first try at a steam boiler for my parents (single pipe counter flow).
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Top 2 pics is my second steam boiler I wrapped up this week. I reused the junction box but replaced the switch, having that hole closed up would be a lot cleaner look. Bottom 2 pics is my first swing at a steam boiler I did for my parents in December of 2025, original one was from the 40’s!!🤣. I learned about that bullheaded tee today and wish I piped for a better separation chamber. Not many guys in the area my age know anything about steam and we have a lot of it around, figured it’d be a good niche to find.
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Where are you located?
Baltimore, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting0 -
you can get a knockout seal to shove in the hole.
like others said the mains should connect before the equalizer:
this is completely optional but i would turn the ell at the end of the main 45 degrees and put a 45 on the riser wherever it needs to be to bring the riser up at a 45, it makes an easier path for the steam and makes it easier for the condensate to drain:
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you should drip the main before the riser from the boiler too if it is counterflow.
or is it parallel flow and the dry return/end of the main/main extension runs just behind the riser to the main ?
i can't quite tell in the pictures what is in front of/behind/connected to
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Massachusetts
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I believe the piping on that system was a One pipe counterflow
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parallel flow=the steam and the condensate flow in the same direction and there is a return at the end of the main that goes back to the boiler. the main will pitch away from the boiler. it could drop to the floor at the end of the main and run along or under the floor as a wet return or it could be at the same level as the main and loop back to the boiler as a dry return (or "main extension" since it is really part of the main in a 1 pipe system. in a 2 pipe system returns are separated from the mains) then drop down to the boiler near the boiler. it could have a main vent anywhere between the last runout for a radiator and where it drops down below the water line.
counterflow=steam and condensate flow in opposite directions. the main is pitched toward the boiler. there should be a drip in the main to allow the condensate to drain in to the return before the main connects to the boiler. the main will end at the far end away from the boiler with just a vent, there will be no return piping at the far end. the steam flows away from the boiler and the condensate flows toward the boiler.
some systems can be a combination f the 2, especially if they are working around an obstruction. just remember the low pots i the main have to have a path for the condensate to get back to the boiler and that path shouldn't be through the header.
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ahhh okay so that means as I understand it the first one I did was a counterflow and the second one I did had a dry return.
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Your right about 1 thing and that is there are fewer and fewer steam guys around.
Best way is to follow the MFG piping diagram in the manual.
If you want to know the right and wrong pick up a copy of The Lost Art of Steam Heat on this site or Amazon
Most of what you did is ok and they will probably work fine. We see a lot of horror stories here and many boilers are way oversized.
Hang out here there are still a lot that know steam that hang out here.
Where in MA. are you? I am in MA.
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I see two different jobs here, and there are some comments about the bullhead tee. Here is the diagram in the IO manual.
This is what you have piped, as far as I can tell, in the first two photos. See, there is a difference, and some pipe sizes are reduced from the manufacturer’s specifications.
If you wanted to follow the instructions more closely, you might change these pipe sizes and make the main riser come off of the horizontal, rather than having it come off of a bullhead as you did. Here is a rough drawing of what some of us might have done.
Now, I am only guessing at the pipe sizing, so you may have different pipe sizes than what I can see in the photo perspective. It appears that your steam main is 2-1/2", but I could be wrong. If it is 2-1/2", then the 2" nipple you used to connect the 3" header/equalizer bullhead tee to the 2-1/2" existing main is the wrong thing to do. You should have reduced to 2-1/2" at the smallest, or kept everything at 3" until you reached the 2-1/2" main.
Having said all that, if it heats properly and there is no banging or other problems, then don't change anything. @ethicalpaul has shown in some of his videos that improper piping may not cause problems. So, if your non-spec piping is working without any problems, then if it ain't broke … don't fix it!
Just do better on your next steam install.
Edward Young Retired
After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?
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