Fixing Steam Boilers

December 29th, 2008 by Dennis

So far this year, we’ve had to re-pipe 4 steam boilers, with at least 2 more that we know need it, but haven’t been done. This may be because the owner’s can’t afford it, or may be because they aren’t really convinced that they need it. These are mostly newer boilers that were installed incorrectly, usually by the lowest bidder or  by the gas company installers, which are the same thing.

Here’s what happens.

First we get a call the the pipes are knocking, banging, it sounds like someone is hitting the pipes with a hammer, like someone is trying to break in, or like the pipes are going to break. We visit the house and look over the system and usually find our 2 most common problems.

The first is lack of maintenence. You should really have your steam boiler professionaly cleaned once a year. The manufacturer’s of the new internal low water cutoffs say that the probes need to be cleaned each year, and that’s a job for a professional. That probe is the only thing standing between you and a new boiler.  When we clean a steam boiler, we also remove the site glass and valves and clean them all out, replace the pigtail that protects the pressuretrol, clean the boiler and skim clean the inside of the boiler. We also check the external parts of the heat exchanger and clean them, looking for evidence of incompete combustion. This job takes a few hours.

We also look at the boiler piping, and this is the second most common problem. It’s very interesting to us, as everything you need to know to install a steam boiler the right way is shown by the boiler companies in the instructions that come with the boiler!! In the Burnham book it’s been on page 17 for a few years now.  This piping is vey important. It is the most common problem that we find when we get those banging complaints, after the lack of cleaning.  The schematic shows some important details, such as the size, heights, and the locations for the system feeds, equalizer line and Hartford loop, and THESE DETAILS MATTER!! This is because without these details being attended to , there will be a lot of water carrying over into the steam piping system. When you watch the glass on the side of your boiler and it is surging down to the bottom of the glass, that is the water actually going UP the steam pipe, wreaking havoc with both your peace of mind and your wallet.  Nothing can cure this but correcting the installation.

When you get a price on replacing that boiler, make sure that the installer knows steam. Just because they can cut and thread pipe (and even worse some installers use copper) doesn’t mean they know what they are doing. The installer needs to get his head out of the boiler room and check the system for radiator sizes, pipe sizes and insulation.

By the way, all your steam piping should be insulated.  Running without it will make your noise problems worse, and waste money.

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Comments

Comment from Plumbing courses
Time: February 10, 2009, 4:54 pm

Fantastic article, I think all plumbing trainees should visit your site, they will learn a great deal about plumbing related issues.

Comment from Dennis Foley
Time: February 10, 2009, 11:59 pm

Thanks for the kind words. We see a lot of sub standard work. I’ll be happy if I can decrease that by a few jobs anyway.

Comment from Bob
Time: September 30, 2009, 11:58 pm

Getting someone who knows steam systems is like looking for hens teeth! i have not found anyone in the Quincy area that does a proper job on my boiler.

Do you folks ever wander out to Quincy and if not can you pass along the name of a good steam man?

thanks,

Bob

Comment from Dennis
Time: October 1, 2009, 12:31 am

Yes we do!
Give us a call at 617-628-9740 and we’ll see if we can help you.

Comment from vern rich
Time: December 13, 2009, 6:28 am

should you be able to hear or feel air coming from the bleeder valves at the radiators? I have a 100 yr old house with a single pipe steam system. when i bought the house 5 years ago i replaced the original boiler. the system is pictched perfect and never makes any noise. when the boiler was replace all the bleeders on the radiators were replaced too. they have a dial adjuster on them numbered 1 thru 9. i am not sure they do much becasue i never hear or feel anything from them regardless of were they are set. thoughts are appreciated. thank you.

Comment from Peter Belmont
Time: January 31, 2010, 3:46 pm

I like these explanations.

WE recently had a new boiler installed in a 5-story building with one-pipe steam. Old pipes of large diameter above the boiler were removed and replaced by smaller-diameter pipes. RIGHT AWAY two things happened:
[1] the largest radiator (in a 1st floor public space) sprang a leak.
[2] the highest radiator (a small bathroom) ABOVE the leaking radiator (so maybe on the same riser) STOPPED GIVING HEAT (except on a VERY, VERY COLD NIGHT, and then only for a moment).

It appears that EITHER the manner of installing the new boiler OR the fix for the leak STOPPED heat from reaching the 4th floor small bathroom.

What might have happened (I know, you are in Boston and I’m in New York City) ??

Thanks for any attention you can give.

Comment from Dennis
Time: February 1, 2010, 6:20 am

These comments reinforce what I said about boiler installation.
ALL those problems can probably be traced back to the boiler installation. The new pipes, if changed in size, should probably have been LARGER than the old pipes. Get the manufacturer’s instructions of the boiler and look for an installation diagram, as they usually have pipe sizes on them as well. If not, call the manufacturer and tell them, if you know, how many square feet of steam heat you have, and what the boiler size is. If you don’t know any of that, got to http://www.heatinghelp.com and find a contractor in your area that is qualified to evaluate steam systems.

Comment from Tom
Time: March 19, 2010, 10:38 am

What type of steam boiler do you use for new installs.We have a Burnham with a cracked block.Burnham is not covering the warrenty after only 8 Years.Our oil company is installing perrless WBV’s.But the supply house were I go some times says that model is having the same problems as Burnham with the blocks.

Comment from Dennis
Time: March 20, 2010, 5:14 am

I have heard the rumor that Burnham had some bad cast iron blocks, but I haven’t experienced it myself. I mostly install Burnham steam boilers. Improper boiler installation can also lead to cracked cast iron sections. Burnham’s megasteam is the most efficient oil fired steam boiler that I know of.

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