Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.
If our community has helped you, please consider making a contribution to support this website. Thanks!

Hammer He-double hockey stick!

Options
shilldude
shilldude Posts: 4
in Strictly Steam
20260929_151139[1].jpg

Someone installed this unit as a replacement last winter. The customer says it banged all winter. I tried to get it to water hammer a few days ago and got nothing. Maybe it's not cold enough. I ran it through 2 cycles and it was as quiet as a church mouse. Anyone have any ideas?

20260929_151139[1].jpg 20260929_153402.jpg 20260929_153721.jpg

Comments

  • AdmiralYoda
    AdmiralYoda Posts: 807

    Pressuretrol is set to 5psi with a 1.5psi differential. Way too high. Should be 1.5-2psi with a 1psi differential. Radiator vents don't live a happy life above 3 psi or so and will fail early.

    Also that water is nasty. Hard to see exactly but it looks like there might be some oil on top of the water. Was it skimmed properly? Really nasty water, especially with oils present will surge and send water up the mains.

    And is that single riser from the header split into two mains? If so it would have been easier to use both boiler risers to connect to the two mains.

    But those are just observations from a steam homeowner. The real question is….does the homeowner know where the banging is happening? It could be a poorly pitched radiator or a sagging pipe causing localized water hammer. Or the boiler could be puking its water into the whole system when it is running.

  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Posts: 18,889

    Well, the water in the glass looks dirty, which can't help.

    Is that a Force boiler? What model is it?

    Co-Founder, All Steamed Up, Inc.

    Semi-retired

    Baltimore, MD, USA

  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Posts: 11,636

    With that high pressure, is the return water backing up into steam piping, in some other room?

  • shilldude
    shilldude Posts: 4

    It is a Force. The model number is forcesteam06n-h. Someone brought up using the single riser and splitting it. I agree, i would have used both risers. But I don't believe that would be causing the water hammer.

  • shilldude
    shilldude Posts: 4

    All the homeowner knows is it bangs. I have several ideas but nothing solid. I guess I will take care of the low hanging fruit and see what happens. I also thought about blocked return pipes.

  • STEAM DOCTOR
    STEAM DOCTOR Posts: 2,661

    Definitely start with a good boiler water cleaning.... Should be done regardless

  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Posts: 18,889

    I checked the manual- using a single riser is permitted on that boiler. I'd flush the dirt out and see if that helps.

    Co-Founder, All Steamed Up, Inc.

    Semi-retired

    Baltimore, MD, USA

  • shilldude
    shilldude Posts: 4

    Thanks everyone. I will skim it and set the Pressuretrol and see if that helps.

  • ratio
    ratio Posts: 4,316

    Looks like the old mains have reducing 90°s where they turn down. Probably not the cause of the water hammer, but if you get to repipe, I'd change them.

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Posts: 27,807

    If it hasn't been run for a while, it may not begin to hammer right away if the problem is pooled water in a poorly pitched pipe. That may have dried out since it was last run, and it may take a few runs to get enough water to start up again…

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • 109A_5
    109A_5 Posts: 4,478

    With the changes here, I wonder if the pitch of the mains is now different allowing condensate to eventually puddle in the mains.

    image.png
    National - U.S. Gas Boiler 45+ Years Old
    Steam 300 SQ. FT. - EDR 347
    One Pipe System

Categories