Heating system help

Do you have thermostatic traps on the condensate returns from each radiator?

Are the return lines pitched to return all of the condensate to the boiler?

Was the heating system checked and tested at the time the 'furnace' was replaced?

The sounds are most likely 'steam hammer' phenomena due to a section of pipe full of steam and suddenly encountering cool/cold water. Do you have a one or two pipe system?

A one pipe system would supply steam to the radiators and return the condensate in counter flow downhill to the boiler. This is a setup prone to steam hammer.

A two pipe system supplies steam to the radiators and a separate pipe returns the condensate from the radiators to the boiler.

Water hammer can be eliminated by properly installing the piping with hangers and pipe routing that allow for thermal expansion. Avoid long straight pipe runs. Install thermal expansion joingt or coils between fixed hangers. Allow only one fixed hanger per straight run. With only one fixed hanger per straight run all other hangers must be guides rather than fixed.

The loud popping noise results when the hot pipe expands and is forced to slide at a fixed hanger. The moderated popping noise is the reverse slide when the pipe cools. With thermostatic control systems, the thermal expansion/contraction occurs repeatedly at each cycle.

Good advise is to replace the steam heat with a corn stove air system, NESCO Amaizablaze Model 7100 corn stove. No heating fuel cost less than corn. www.groups.yahoo.com/group/cornstoves, www.msnusers.com/cornstoves

Please refer to it as a low pressure steam boiler.

I miss my single pipe radiators :^( best heating system ever developed in my opinion.

It is simply a case of hot low pressure steam meeting cold pipes-no need to worry.

Just be sure to check the water level in the boiler every week unless you have an automatic water level detector/delivery valve in the new boiler.

Dont forget to check the water sight gauge weekly and to have your plumber pour descaler into the boiler water system every year to remove rust.

If you have a manual water filling system do not over fill the boiler during the heating season as it will try to send more water than vapor into your radiators.

As said above, steam hitting cold water is invariably the culprit for banging in your system. Since steam systems are usually installed properly in the beginning, referring particularly to the pitch of the lines to return water to the boiler, check to make sure the radiators which may have been disconnected and moved or changed are properly pitched after they were reinstalled. Also check to make sure all your radiators are getting hot in a timely manner. If water is not draining properly there may actually be enough water trapped to prevent steam from reaching some radiators.

yes and no. It is a result of the steam hitting water in the pipe and the water (condensate) flashing to steam. It creates a load banging. It means your system condensate returns and steam traps are not working as needed. Then again you did not say what kind of steam piping you have. There are many books on this subject any of them will begin to "enlighten" you.

I suppose with the replacement of the furnace no major change are made to the
rest op the steam piping system.

First of all de-aerated the whole steamside of the piping system from air as air is a non condensable medium which can block some areas in the system and causes a non proper
drainage of the condensate with might the reason of the waterhamer

To answer your question, Is this a serious problem? ........YES, it can be. You didn't say, but I suspect you had a cast iron sectional boiler, which had a relatively low recovery rate, such that the condensate formed considerably slower that with yuor new boiler. With a high recovery rate, the new boiler produces steam at a higher rate. With gas fired equipment, the system will cool off rapidly (as opposed to coal fired equipment) which upon sartup, the steam will condense at a rate of some 3 - 4 times its normal rate. This condensate is pushed ahead of the steam until it hits the end of the main. Here it is drained off by the trap. If the trap can't drain the condensate fast enough, a sevier high pressure spike will occur........this is water (steam) hammer. This pressure can destroy the trap and even cause the pipe and fitting to split. You better find an "old" steam man to correct the problem, such as repitch piping, install larger capacity traps, etc.

G Scott

Thinking some more...IF there was no banging in your system before you replaced the boiler, then the cause is unlikely to be in radiator and piping pitch as those items have not changed.

Analysis of recovery rates is beyond my level of expertise.

I replaced a not too old, oil fired steam boiler for a new, gas fired boiler about 6 years ago and found the pitching of my radiators to be the cause of banging in my system.

You can listen around and determine if all the risers are banging or you can isolate a specific riser to narrow the scope of your issue.

Question - Did you have these before the replacement.Else, the cause is known as water hammering and this is due to excessive wet steam and carry over.Undertake the followings:

1 . install an in-line moisture separator with an engineered steam trap (inverted Bucket).

2 . At intervals of 100ft-150ft install drain pockets(equal diameter of pipe & 1ft-1.5ft length) tapped with either engineered Thermodynamic/Inverted bucket steam traps.

3. At the end of the main installan equal tee (dimensions as per drain pockets) with a TD/IB trap minstalled at the bottom & an automatic air vent on top.

Since you have not mentioned the steam generating capacity of the boiler/generator and the size of the main therefore, I cannot engineer the traps.

Most common is using a 213/12, 1" IB trap on the separator and TD42, 1/2" on the drain pockets, at the end of the main a 213/12 1" IB trap with an AV20 Air Vent.

Look up Spirax sites for all Separators/traps/air vents and their models.

You can then select the same from Armstrong/Ayvaz products.

Serious problems - not much except the mains can rip off blasting everything & everybody in sight. If you cannot handle this then Yes, serious.