Seeking suggestions for a heating tech with solid steam skills

Jmann

Jmann

Never gonna let you down.
Before I pick a heating service company at random, figured I'd ask if anyone knows a skilled heating technician. I'm sure here in northern-ish jersey most techs do deal with steam, but I know that a lot have mostly dealt with hydronic.
Trying solve the mystery of why my house sounds like a steel drum band when the heat comes on, and I'm just chasing my tail trying to diagnose it.
Thanks
 
Agreed with @mattybfat usually, that is air in the system. I have a HVAC friend that I have do all my work. I have hot water but he works on all kinds of systems. PM me if you want his contact info
 
mattybfat said:
Air in the system
Sounds like a system flush should fix that.
Click to expand...
It's steam so it would be the opposite -water in the system. I know it's either water hammer or the pipes expanding and clanging against brackets. If it was happening at the radiators it will likely be water hammer and easy to diagnose. But it's happening all over the place in the pipes. So that's why it's hard to figure out. Plus it's a two pipe system so it further complicates things.
 
we had a similar issue with our steam system when we bought the house, previous owner thought they could regulate heat by using the valves at the individual radiators (the ones on the inlet side), when i opened them all up all the way the banging went down to practically nothing.

I have also read (havent yet tested) that uninsulated steam pipes can cause banging as the steam condenses too rapidly in the pipes as the heat comes on, i have hopes that insulating those will finish off the (minor for us) issue.

Im watching this to see if you find someone and are happy with the outcome to keep in mind for possible future needs.
 
shrpshtr325 said:
we had a similar issue with our steam system when we bought the house, previous owner thought they could regulate heat by using the valves at the individual radiators (the ones on the inlet side), when i opened them all up all the way the banging went down to practically nothing.

I have also read (havent yet tested) that uninsulated steam pipes can cause banging as the steam condenses too rapidly in the pipes as the heat comes on, i have hopes that insulating those will finish off the (minor for us) issue.

Im watching this to see if you find someone and are happy with the outcome to keep in mind for possible future needs.
Click to expand...
The uninsulated pipe theory may be what I have going on. Most of the pipes are obscured by walls so I can't easily check them out. I have to tear out my basement ceiling to get to the worst clangers, thankfully it's a gaudy 70s finished basement I want to redo anyway.
I opened all the valves to fully open (I think they were all fully open already), to no avail. I also pitched the radiators but that did nothing. The heat works fine but I'm afraid a pipe is going to burst eventually
 
idk just how bad your banging is, ours is occasional and only at the beginning of the heat cycle, its not a constant banging, if your system is old enough to still be black pipe i would think it can take quite a bit of beating and i believe its just the water droplets banging into the elbows thats causing it.

something else i read to check (doesnt apply to our situation since it doesnt exist in our house) is to check for vents (same as on the radiators) at the end of long trunk runs and make sure that they are all working properly.
 
Make sure the radiators are pitched back towards their inlet side. Sometimes they get screwed up if a floor has been replaced - especially if someone adds a layer and moves
the radiator "up". it messes with the pitch at the bottom of the system.

See if any of the pipes that are exposed haven't been "moved" (like a shim added, or extra hanger) - they go high out of the boiler, then all pitch down to the return, with each radiator taking a feed - if any of the feeds have a low spot, they will bang.

there is also the possibility of pipe expansion, and it the way it interferes with the walls - this sounds more like a clicking, rather than a steam bang.

we had a great system in my parents' house. only problem is that it had integrated domestic hot water - so if you took a shower, the system couldn't get hot enough to make steam!!!
always great on a cold winter morning with people getting ready for work and school.

that being said, a good boiler guy would be a great answer. there are other solutions.
-
i heard there are some really cool radiator control valves (the ones that let the air out of the radiator until they get hot and shut down) which allow for room based control.
they learn how to balance the system, so one room isn't hot, while another freezes.
 
fidodie said:
i heard there are some really cool radiator control valves (the ones that let the air out of the radiator until they get hot and shut down) which allow for room based control.
they learn how to balance the system, so one room isn't hot, while another freezes.
Click to expand...


i bought the 'adjustable' valves for ours (they have a screw and you can change how big the opening is) and did this balancing manually over the course of last winter, a little time consuming but worth it in the long run.
 
fidodie said:
Make sure the radiators are pitched back towards their inlet side. Sometimes they get screwed up if a floor has been replaced - especially if someone adds a layer and moves
the radiator "up". it messes with the pitch at the bottom of the system.

See if any of the pipes that are exposed haven't been "moved" (like a shim added, or extra hanger) - they go high out of the boiler, then all pitch down to the return, with each radiator taking a feed - if any of the feeds have a low spot, they will bang.

there is also the possibility of pipe expansion, and it the way it interferes with the walls - this sounds more like a clicking, rather than a steam bang.

we had a great system in my parents' house. only problem is that it had integrated domestic hot water - so if you took a shower, the system couldn't get hot enough to make steam!!!
always great on a cold winter morning with people getting ready for work and school.

that being said, a good boiler guy would be a great answer. there are other solutions.
-
i heard there are some really cool radiator control valves (the ones that let the air out of the radiator until they get hot and shut down) which allow for room based control.
they learn how to balance the system, so one room isn't hot, while another freezes.
Click to expand...
Tried shimming the radiators but that didn't help, at least the ones I messed with (we have 13 radiators in the house, so that complicates things). I think an hour with a professional will be worth it as I won't have to keep wasting my time experimenting.
 
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