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I just bought a house with an oil/steam heating system. Big cast iron things. When the heat comes on, some units do not appear to be heating up properly. Only a section or two right next to the inlet. Valves are wide open. Some aren’t really heating up at all. Others get quite warm, like I’d expect them to.
Do these things need to be removed and cleaned out sometimes? If so, how do you do it? I’m sure some of these things are well over 200 pounds. Not a lot of fun to carry up and down stairs.
Since we’re coming into the heating season, anything else I should be checking out? I’ve had the boiler and my flu cleaned. What else?
Thanks for help.
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There's a site on the web for steam heat, but I don't have the URL, try a google search.
I'm also posting this to get it back to the top.
I [i]think[/i] the most common cause of the problems you describe is malfunctioning of the steam valve thingy on the side of the radiator: the 1" diameter tube about 1/2 way up.
When cold, it's supposed to be open to allow air to escape from the radiator and let steam in; as it warms, it's supposed to close. If it closes too soon, limited heat.
I wonder, though, from your description: perhaps (this is a quess) it isn't opening at all?
Are you sure it's a steam system? Many people confuse steam with hot water. Hot water radiators will have a small bleeding valve at the top of the readiator to bleed accumulated air from the radiator. Steam rad's have that valve thingy 1/2 way up or so at one end.
*Whether it be steam or hot water those big cast iron things do indeed need to be cleaned once in awhile. Easy way is to break them apart. Many I've seen do come apart in sections. If yours are like that you need to take them out of the system, break them apart and clean them.BUT, it is a big, dirty job. So my First Choice is to find someone to do it. Besides, they are cast iron. That can be tempermental sometimes and handled wrong can crack and break.If it were me I'd also price just replacing the radiators. Could be that compared to repairs replacing them would be just as cheap. Check around your plumbing and hvac contractors. Someone will do the job for you.
*It's definitely steam, not hot water.I followed Bob's suggestion and did a google search for "steam radiator". The top link suggested cleaning the steam vent by boiling in vinegar for 10 minutes, which I'm doing now. Smells great :^I always thought those things were pressure relief valves. I had no idea they were integral to the working of the radiators.I hope this works, because (obviously) I'd really like to avoid taking these apart for cleaning, or buying new ones.I'll report back how this works.-Ron-
*It was the valves. I had two radiators not working. I boiled the valves in vinegar. This fixed one, but not the other (also did a great job of bringing the polish back to the chrome). I then replaced the valve on the radiator that was not working with a valve from a known working radiator. That worked.So one cleaned up o.k., the other needs to be replaced. It looks pretty sealed up, otherwise I'd take it apart and try to clean it further.One of these was in our baby's room. It was pretty urgent I get this fixed, or I was going to be woken up every morning at 4:00 a.m. by a finger in the eye.Thanks, guys.-Ron-
*Boy did I goof! It never occured to me that you hadn't checked all the system, including the valves.
*Glad the easy fix worked, FredB was right on, there's a whole other level of maintenance/repair.If you have access to a good public library, see if they have back copies of "Old House Journal"; it's covered steam heat countless times and can also be a good source/reference for finding older house components. (If a tradesman tells you "they don't make that any more" s/he's probably wrong; you just have to know where to look.)
*There is a book by Dan Holohan called "The lost art of steam heating." He's a columnist for some publication (I forget which one) as well, and an expert at all things hydronic. I self-installed a multiple-zone hot water system using one of his other books as a reference, and I'm not a plumber by any means. He's very clear, concise and funny as well.I'm pretty sure he's got a web site where you can order the books.Steve
*Ah yes: Dan. His site is http://www.heatinghelp.com/
*I strongly second Bob Walker's message. Steam heating systems are complicated. You would be best off going to http://www.heatinghelp.com and asking your questions there...that board is populated by the most educated heating guys in the country. DO NOT take the radiator sections apart....you will have to order new metal nipples to put them back together...that would be difficult, costly, time consuming and unnecessary. As a last thought, I am a die-hard DYI person with a good deal of knowledge about plumbing (thanks to my Dad the plumber)...still, I personally would have someone look at a stream system for me before I tired to fix it myself. Best of luck.
*Here is Dan Holohans url:http://www.heatinghelp.com/He also has a good g&a area
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I just bought a house with an oil/steam heating system. Big cast iron things. When the heat comes on, some units do not appear to be heating up properly. Only a section or two right next to the inlet. Valves are wide open. Some aren't really heating up at all. Others get quite warm, like I'd expect them to.
Do these things need to be removed and cleaned out sometimes? If so, how do you do it? I'm sure some of these things are well over 200 pounds. Not a lot of fun to carry up and down stairs.
Since we're coming into the heating season, anything else I should be checking out? I've had the boiler and my flu cleaned. What else?
Thanks for help.