This section is your comprehensive guide on steam heating systems with articles about proper steam piping, boilers, pressure, venting, radiators, water quality, and more. We'll also walk you through troubleshooting steam system problems like noisy pipes.
The one-pipe steam system has an odor. One reason the Dead Men invented two-pipe steam at the turn of the century was to get rid of the odor that often wafted out of thei...
The boiler is priming or foaming. Priming is the violent bouncing of the water. Foaming happens when bubbles form on the surface of the water.
The system doesn't have main vents. Steam will always follow the path of least resistance. Since it's a gas, it doesn't understand the difference between up and down.
There are sags in the mains between the boiler and the main vents. Sags in the main give condensate a place to lay. This creates water hammer when the system starts again...
You can't see all the pipes. If you can't see them, suspect them. This is especially true of buried lines.
The system is corroding. All steam systems are open to the atmosphere. Whenever you mix water with iron and steel you're going to get rust, and that rust is going to wash...
Are you sure they're supposed to? Keep in mind the Dead Men sized those radiators to heat the room to a comfortable temperature on the coldest day of the year. That's the...
Steam and condensate flow in the same direction, and the pitch is less than one-inch in 20 feet. There should be no areas where condensate can gather when the system shut...
The air vents aren't working. And if they're not, the system will trap air and drive the fuel bills up. Steam and air are both gases, but steam is lighter than air so the...
The strainer is clogged. There should be a wye or a basket strainer on the inlet to the condensate pump. This strainer's job is to collect sediment from the system before...