My home is heated with gas fired steam radiatiors. Im getting a loud banging from a pipe when the heat is comeing up. Several different tones, and the upstairs radiator doesnt get hot. I just finished an addtion, but that is heated w radiant. Any idea on why this one radiator is crying so loud when the heat comes on? All the other radiators seem to be working ok. Thanks in advance
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Your floors are sloped creating the wrong pitch for the rad. Water is flowing back into the steam feed. Same thing happens if the steam feed to a shower is pitched back. Use a shim to correct it. If it's bad you may have to address the pipe feed height.
As for the unit which is not getting hot, replace the steam vent. It looks like a chrome torpedo or maybe a bicycle bell at the opposite end of the rad from the valve. DO NOT bring it with you to the supply house or hardware store (both will have them) because then when the heat is cycled on while you are away you'll have serious problems. The styles, as far as I know, are not interchangable - don't know why. Also, the crucial dimension to get is the diameter of the male thread. It'll be 1/4", 3/8", 5/16" etc. I can remember many trips to the hardware store thinking "Oh, I'll recognize it when I see it." Wrong! $10 item.
Edited 12/19/2002 6:30:39 PM ET by Frankie
Do you have 1 pipe leading to the radiator or 2?
If you have only 1 pipe, then first try the steam vent mentioned above to get the radiator to heat. This is your simplest and cheapest scenario.
If you have 2 pipes leading to the radiator (One larger dia. supply pipe, and a smaller dia. condensate return pipe witha round steam trap assembly on it) that means you won't have any vent on the radiator. Does the pipe that's banging...supply the radiator that's not heating?
If you have a 2-pipe system with a steam trap at the radiator, spin of the top of the trap body (Turn off the boiler first so you don't get scalded). This could be a real chore if it hasn't been opend in a while. Once opened, see if the mechanism inside is corroded, stuck, gunked up w/ sediment, etc... Some times you can clean this up and it works fine, sometimes you'll have to replace the "guts" to the trap (there are diff types, F&T, thermostatic). Take the guts to a local supply house and get them to match it up.
When steam pipes bang, it's actually the noise caused by the steam "flashing" between being a gas (steam) and a liquid (water). There are several causes of this (a sagged line not draining right, a stuck trap not letting steam flow through as usual, etc...).
Supply more info and I'll try to help further. You might also try HeatingHelp.com. If you have the time to buy and read some books offered there...you can figger' this out for yourself no problem. If not, the "Wall" discussion board there can help too.
Edited 12/20/2002 5:28:37 PM ET by Stray