| Author |
Message |
    
JGTierney
Citizen
Username: Jtg7448
Post Number: 52
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 9:33 am: |     |
We only just got our radiators hooked back up yesterday. (Yep, it's been COLD in our house)
This is our 1st house - and our first experience
with steam heat. We understand how a 'perfect
system' is supposed to work. Well, I think we do - but this one is not perfect of course.
The radiator in our bedroom is tipped - the floor boards warped from what is obviously old water damage. This morning we woke to the equivalent of 2 cups of water on the floor. Now we know how the boards got warped in the first place!
Why is this happening?
And how to we stop it?
Is it because the radiator is tipped?
I just keep thinking that the first time this happend, the floor boards were even....it just wasn't addressed over time.
What to do? |
jfburch
Citizen
Username: Jfburch
Post Number: 994
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 11:46 am: | |
Even a tipped radiator shouldn't leak. We had one that was dripping--not quite as much as yours--and had been for a while (judging from the floor damage) and stopped it by tightening up the bolt that connected the radiator to the pipe.
Is it tipped toward the pipe or away from it? If it's away, the radiator won't empty (and thus fill) as efficiently as it should, so you'll want to fix the pitch. |
JGTierney
Citizen
Username: Jtg7448
Post Number: 53
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 11:53 am: | |
Well, the water is coming out of the vent.
It's not the pipe connection.
The radiator is parallel to the wall - and is tipping away from the wall.
I found an old post with a similar problem and it was thought that it might be the pressure setting.
I'll check that...
It might just be time to call Gateway - as we have a whole bunch of plubming changes we want to make in the house as well - moving the gas line, new sinks, new piping, etc. Ugh - I get depressed writing it... |
jgberkeley
Supporter
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 3217
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 11:54 am: | |
I agree, nothing should be leaking, and the radiator should be tipped, low side to the valve, high side has the vent.
A bad vent could be leaking steam, which will flash to water. If the Rads were just re-installed was a vent even put in?
Use disposable Alum. cooking pans to capture the water for now. Bend the around things to get under the drip.
Is the leak at the valve, the union that connects the Rad, the vent or just under the bottom of the rad?
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JGTierney
Citizen
Username: Jtg7448
Post Number: 54
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 12:06 pm: | |
Hmmmm...
We'll look for new evidence tonight. We got the
heat going, went to bed, woke up to water.
It was recommended by a family member that we purchase adjustable valves?
From what I've figured out so far - there hasn't been any maintenance on this system (except for a new boiler) in about 40 years.
Do you suggest we get the adjustable valves and new vents? (I hope I'm using the right terminology here????)
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jgberkeley
Supporter
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 3220
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 2:02 pm: | |
Every year, this is a topic of opinions.
Me, I go for the Vari-vents. Not the cheap things from Home Depot, the $10-$15 units call "Vari-Vent" sold at Palmer Plumbing.
I like them because you can adjust your system to heat the rooms the way and the order you like them heated. And for me I can change them when my mother-in-law comes over and tells me I'm freezing her out. |
ashear
Citizen
Username: Ashear
Post Number: 745
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 3:09 pm: | |
When your mother-in-law complains do you turn it up or down?  |
Master Plvmber
Citizen
Username: Master_plvmber
Post Number: 104
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 7:09 pm: | |
JGTierney, is the radiator valve (not the vent) in the off position by any chance? Does the radiator get hot?
A steam radiator valve should never be left off.
Furthermore, a leaking vent valve is most often a symptom of a problem in the system and rarely ever the cause.
I don't use adjustable air vents because there are methods we professionals use to properly match venting capacity to the application.
The best advice I can give you about venting valves is that they work best when they work together. By that I mean stick with one manufacturer on all the rads. It makes a difference.
Another major reason for water-spewing air vents is clogged wet returns. There's a lot to it! So don't go crazy trying to pitch your rads (one inch in twenty feet is plenty) and spend all kinds of money on vents (vents last a LONG time, in fact, if it weren't for painters..the vent manufacturers would have gone out of business a long time ago).
Master_Plvmber
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xavier67
Citizen
Username: Xavier67
Post Number: 279
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 9:01 pm: | |
"A steam radiator valve should never be left off."
Master Plumber, why not? Now you got me worried...I turned off one of my radiators in the living room 2 winters ago because it's next to our piano (which I can't possible move). What will happened if I never turn it back on?
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Master Plvmber
Citizen
Username: Master_plvmber
Post Number: 108
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 9:27 pm: | |
Dear xavier67,
For added drama, please read the following as if it were a spooky Halloween story.
The answer to your question is this: Maybe nothing. Or maybe steam will slowly seep past the closed the valve and turn to water inside the radiator which is too dense to get out the way it came in. Then maybe the water will keep building up and spill out of the air vent. Or maybe you'll open the valve sending a big slug of cool water into the boiler and flood it. Or maybe the cool water will even crack the boiler because it is very hot.
Or maybe the valve stem will snap because you read this and think that the answer is to make the valve REALLY tight.
Story over. Don't be worried, you have options.
If you don't want a radiator to give off heat in a steam system either remove it and cap the pipe feeding it or plug the air vent. Never leave a steam radiator valve closed.
Master_Plvmber
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tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 1840
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 21, 2003 - 5:57 am: | |
Xavier67,
I would say none of the above will happen, eve though it is often the case that the old shutoff valves don't close completely.
However, steam boilers are supposed to be sized according to the attached radiation load. If you shut off one radiator, in theory, the system will run less efficiently with the boiler cycling off and on more frequently due to hitting the pressure cutoff point. On a steam system, if you want to minimize the heat from one radiator, put the smallest size air vent on it that you can find. In this way, only or two sections of this radiator will be hot by the time the rest of the house is heated. |
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