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.
A visitor to the Wall asks, "I'm getting expansion noises from a cast-iron radiator and trying to figure out where it coming from." "Maybe the pipe that comes through the...
Gerry Gill is brilliant when it comes to solving steam- and hot-water-heating problems. Learn more about him HERE.
Looking for ways to stop water hammer in your steam heating system? Here is a list of common causes for water hammer and how to prevent noisy pipes. This is an excerpt fr...
You're looking for more pressure than you need. It doesn't take much pressure to heat a building. The Dead Men sized their pipes so that the steam would create a very sli...
The radiators are too big for the space they serve. There once was a time when people were afraid of the air in a closed room. They thought "vitiated" air (the name the u...
The steam traps have failed in the closed position. If a thermostatic radiator trap fails in the closed position, no air will pass through it, so little or no steam will ...
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...