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 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...
The system is leaking. Do you have buried return lines? If so, they may be leaking.
You may be asking for too much. Since a steam system is open to the atmosphere and constantly rusting and corroding, it's very difficult to keep the water pure. You shoul...
1. Long ago, a Dead Man decided to heat a big building with a steam system. Since it was such a big building, and since pipe, valves and fittings have never been cheap, t...
Need to get rid of the water hammer in a steam heating system? Here's a checklist of things to look for. I hope you find it a good one to keep on file.
A New York City contractor called me a last winter to tell me about a situation that he had gotten himself into. We’ll call him Augie because that’s close enough. "The ol...