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roznmatt

radiator vent that spews water

roznmatt
16 years ago

Steam radiator vent spewed water. I was told to replace the vent, and I did. The problem continues. Any suggestions?

Comments (4)

  • tmajor
    16 years ago

    I don't know why they do that. The old high, cast iron radiators usually don't. The more modern baseboard steam radiators will. So, there isn't "water" until the steam cools and condenses. That would be where the valve is. My suggestion: raise the other end of the radiator, so that it can drain better (that's if, it has the drain on the end opposite the feed). You can even try another new valve ... they aren't that reliable anymore.

  • dchhat007
    16 years ago

    I have a question on an issue I have with a steam heating steam that works fine throughout all the radiators in the house except for one very important radiator. I have a total of 9 radiators in the house and all of them work fine depending on the room temp, but the biggest radiotor doesnt work. I askd some professionals for a fix and the price just to come down and having a look was approx $170 and labor extra. So I am trying to save some money.

    Two years ago or more, the radiator that doesnt work had water coming out of the vent (bleed valve) and it wasnt driping water, but instead it was splashing out was like water coming out of a fire hydrant in NYC streets. After that instance we turned the entire heat system off and let it cool for some time. After a few hours we turned the heater/boiler on and that radiator the spewed never gets hot again. I removed the vent to sense if the hot steam air was pushing out but all i hear is a sound similar as to when you boil water and along with that was cold air coming out.

    No other radiators have this issue and I was wondering if anyone can tell me a solution to this major problem. Please advise as my living room stays so much colder now than before.

  • kframe19
    16 years ago

    Roz,

    See my replies in this thread:

    http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hvac/msg051941087342.html?5

    What you're describing is water getting trapped in the radiator as steam condenses to water. The force of the steam moving into the radiator is actually pushing the water up and out of the vent.

  • kframe19
    16 years ago

    I'm not sure if I've addressed this or not...

    Water being jetted out of the steam valve can also, in an otherwise perfectly functioning system, be caused by steam pressure that is too high.

    This is often the case as "steam techs" who don't have the experience they need to work on vapor steam systems.

    The pressure settings on a home steam boiler should never be set to give more than 1 psig.

    Over the years I've seen settings that are FAR higher than that.

    All that does is waste fuel, cause performance issues, and can destroy the air vents on the radiators.

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