| Author |
Message |
    
rachael
Citizen
Username: Rachael
Post Number: 22
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 2:28 pm: |     |
Are radiator valves supposed to hiss?
I replaced one in the living room that would HISS really loud, blurring out the television noise. It would hiss every hour for over 3 minutes. Now that it is replaced, it doesnt make any sound.
Other radiators make small hissing noises, or dripping water type noises, usually when the heat first comes on. Should these valves be replaced?
How quiet or loud should the valves be? How long should the heat be off before I can put new ones on? |
jgberkeley
Supporter
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 3422
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 4:36 pm: | |
Good valves, (vari-vents) will have a slight sound, like a shush, shush, shush during the start of the cycle and at some point will make a light click or pop as they seal.
At the end of the heat cycle one radiator will drop pressure first and will make a loud sound as air is sucked from your house back into the steam pipes and headers, filling the vacuum of cooling steam.
The drip or spitting sound you hear is a valve that just will not seal and may have water in it.
Since you replaced the loud valve, it is likely that one other in your system is now weaker and will drop out first and vent the air into the system. It has to happen, you just moved it to another room. I moved my weak valve into the guest bed room where my mother-in-law from Yonkers loves to move in. After a few days she is on her way home. Can't sleep. Bummer.
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. |
Master Plvmber
Citizen
Username: Master_plvmber
Post Number: 182
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 5:07 pm: | |
Good main vents should help, too. It's amazing how many homes don't have them.
Master_Plvmber
|
jgberkeley
Supporter
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 3423
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 6:49 pm: | |
MP,
I replaced my Main vents and re-sized them to the correct specifications.
My mother-in-law still drives 45 minutes from Yonkers and moves in for a week or two.
The new mains did not seem to help.
Any suggestions? (BTW, her apartment is alway over 78 and she keeps two windows open. My home is well regulated and during awake hours is at 68 Max. She is always cold here and tells me about it all day long.)
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. |
NRL
Citizen
Username: Nrl
Post Number: 457
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 9:54 pm: | |
I will jump in on this one also. I have also re-sized my main vents(much larger vents holes) and most if not all of my radiators have new D vents. I still cant get my rads to stop hissing, quite loudly sometimes. Its usually only one at a time and they alternate. Its mostly the first floor radiators. They also spit a little. I dont know if the 2 symptoms are related. Mostly happens at the end of the cycle. Any recommendations? I have also tried pretty much everything in Dan Holohans book, but I can figure it out. |
Master Plvmber
Citizen
Username: Master_plvmber
Post Number: 186
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 10:27 pm: | |
You may be making steam too quickly, NRL.
Did you calculate your load versus your boiler output?
Master_Plvmber
|
amh
Citizen
Username: Amh
Post Number: 22
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 7:41 am: | |
Is it possible that having too much water in the boiler could be causing this? I got a new boiler last fall and started the Winter by filling the boiler with water all the way up to the line that had been drawn on the sight glass. The hissing was horrible. After a few visits from the plumber, he realized the problem. The line was meant to mark where the water level should be when at full boil. Just by dropping the water back to the appropriate level (but still above the cutoff level), the hissing problem has largely disappeared (now if only I could fix all of all the knocking pipes!) |
JGTierney
Citizen
Username: Jtg7448
Post Number: 137
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 10:55 am: | |
OK.....
1)we've only been in our house 5 months, so we're newbies to this - in
just the past two weeks we've noticed what sounds
like A LOT of water draining from our bedrooom radiator. by a lot i mean that it acutally sounds like a sink draining, lots of gurgling. we do have a steam system
what is this about?
2) gateway has replaced 3 valves for us and put in three new vents. they are working like a charm (and look nice and shiny too)
if you notice steam coming from other valves in the house does this mean they need to replaced? the vents don't seem to stay open, and i have to check them all the time.
3) what causes a radiator to flood?
4) anyone else live in a house that was NEVER maintained - ugh.
|
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 2145
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 12:11 pm: | |
JGT,
Steam escaping from a radiator vent or shut-off valve means that the vent should be replaced. If it is the shut-off valve, simple tightening might need do the trick, but if it is an older valve, replacement is probably the answer.
George,
Why not add more vents. I replaced the vents on my mains before I knew any steam heat theory. I figured that if one was good more must be better so I have 3 vents on one branch of my mains and 1 vent on the other branch. It helps. I would think you could always add a Christmas tree to a main so you could have 2 or 3 main vents. |
Richard O'Connor
Citizen
Username: Roconn
Post Number: 135
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 12:19 pm: | |
JG .. sounds like you have a water buildup problem in your bedroom radiator...is the shut off valve all the way open? If yes, is the radiator pitched appropriately towards the valve?
if both yes...then probably calling gateway is not a bad idea.
Richard (ROC)
--Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.--
--AIM: ROConn |
ashear
Citizen
Username: Ashear
Post Number: 932
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 4:05 pm: | |
JG - what did they charge to replace the valves (replacing the vents is a total diy job) |
JGTierney
Citizen
Username: Jtg7448
Post Number: 139
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 4:23 pm: | |
Eeeks....
I hope you don't mind - but I really don't
want to discuss what they charged to replace the valves.
Except that I can say it was TOTALLY reasonable.
I got myself in trouble once before with sharing prices for contractors and I don't want to repeat it 
|
themp
Citizen
Username: Themp
Post Number: 439
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 6:30 pm: | |
What are main vents? I don't think there are any vents on my lines except the ones on the radiators. Are they inline vents in the basement? |
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 2150
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 7:10 pm: | |
Probably, there are some 2" iron pipes branching off of your steam boiler. From these 2" pipes there should be 1 1/4" iron pipes that feed individual radiators - typically, one riser per radiator. Configurations vary considerably, but what I have described is "normal" for residential steam.
Anyway, the 2" pipes are the mains. At the end of each main, there should be a copper colored main vent. The idea is that air should be driven out of the mains as quickly as possible. In a perfect world, the mains will be filled with steam before steam has made much progress up individual risers. |
NRL
Citizen
Username: Nrl
Post Number: 458
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 7:37 pm: | |
Master Plumber, I thought making steam quickly was the idea. Steam Quickly then heat Quickly then more efficient. No? Please elaborate. How do I do a load vs, output ratio and how will I know if its correct?
BTW, My main vents are at the end of my return lines. |
Master Plvmber
Citizen
Username: Master_plvmber
Post Number: 188
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 7:47 pm: | |
If your boiler is oversized or overfired, it will make too much steam too quickly. You'd have to calculate the EDR of all your radiators and match it to the output of the boiler. It's a pain in the neck.
Master_Plvmber
|
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 2152
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 7:49 pm: | |
NRL,
If the boiler is making steam too quickly, it makes me suspect that the boiler is oversized. The boiler capacity should match the connected radiation load. If you are so inclined, you can estimate the total square footage of your attached radiators and compare that to the square feet of steam rating of your boiler. I think that HeatingHelp.com has charts to help you estimate the sq footage of different radioat models.
In my house, I estimate that I have 250 sq ft of radiators attached to a boiler rated at 442 sq ft of steam. The system works well and never hisses. Doesn't make much sense to me. I would have thought a smaller boiler will do. I guess that is why steam heating is called an art. |
NRL
Citizen
Username: Nrl
Post Number: 459
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 11:47 pm: | |
When you say oversized do you mean, boiler too big and not enough radiators to handle the output of the boiler?
I have the radiator in my kitchen completely turned off. (I know its not good to do that) but I'll bet thats the cuplrit. I turned it off because we put a desk around it and the heat coming from the rad was too hot under the desk. In that case the boiler is sized to steam 11 radiators, instead it only has 10. Therefore too much steam going to 10 radiators will cause the hiss. Am I onto something?
|
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 2154
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, January 30, 2004 - 6:37 am: | |
That's what I mean by oversized, but unless the boiler was already too big, I wouldn't expect that turning off just one radiator would make the whole system start to hiss. |
jgberkeley
Supporter
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 3432
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, February 1, 2004 - 10:02 am: | |
Temp,
Although they come in many styles, here are a couple of Main Vents. Look for them in the basement.
Note the location and the riser. This one is at the end of the mains and the start of the wet return, away from the 'ell', with a nipple to keep water out of the vent.
This unit looks crudy, but still works well.
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. |
themp
Citizen
Username: Themp
Post Number: 461
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 2, 2004 - 10:13 pm: | |
I'll get my flashlight. Thanks. |
themp
Citizen
Username: Themp
Post Number: 462
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 2, 2004 - 10:27 pm: | |
You know, I don't think I have them. At a certain point, each of my three mains dips down to a lower level, where I guess it becomes a return. Each main has maybe two/three leads coming off before that point. A couple mains are capped because someone replace radiators with baseboards units (which are a pain to adjust). |
jgberkeley
Supporter
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 3445
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 2, 2004 - 10:53 pm: | |
themp,
Bummer, not having your mains vented is costing you.
Perhaps you should use one of the capped risers and vent your mains.
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. |
Richard O'Connor
Citizen
Username: Roconn
Post Number: 143
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 3, 2004 - 8:39 am: | |
Main vents are not to hard to install .... even if you never had them .... took me about an hour to do two ... and I'd never done it before.
Richard (ROC)
--Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.--
--AIM: ROConn |
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