Steam Heat and lack of questions

[jaykray]

:confused:

Hello all,

I have a few questions on my boiler/steam heat system

1- I have 2 size heaters small and large. I find the smaller ones do not get as hot as I would like. 2 are on the 1st floor and the other is on the 2nd. The boiler is in the basement of my 1920 colonial. What to do?

2- I am thinking of finishing my basement. The one problem I have is that the steam pipes for the heating are all away from the back walls and sort of in the middle of the room. Is it a big undertaking to have them moved all out towards the outside walls?

3- Is there any mainenance I should be performing on my boiler and or my radiatorts and if so, what and how.

I would REALLY appreciate input on my questions!

J

[KField]

The answer to your first question is based on whether you have steam vents on the radiators. If you do, they should be adjustable or replaced with ones that are. Then the hotter ones can be adjusted lower to give less heat which will make the small ones seem like they give off more. Does that make sense to you? It could be more complicated but lets start there.

The answer to your second question is YES, it is a very big deal to move those pipes. They need to be black steel pipe and they need to pitch up from the boiler all the way to their end. That makes it very difficult (expensive) to reroute them.

The only maintenance needed on the boiler is to flush the low water cutoff periodically and have the burner serviced regularly.

I hope this whets your appetite for steam system knowledge. Post back anytime with any other questions. You are the owner of a strange beast but it will take care of you if you take care of it.


Ken

[jaykray]

OK, I do have the little stainless steal things on the front of the radiators. Most of them have a adjustable screw which I assume regulates the air flow. I checked 3 and all were tight as can be. How should they be. Another thing I noticed is that the hole opening is larger on some (same size readiator) then others. I assume that the ones that do not have the adjustable opening, need to be replaced with ones that do.

As far as the radiator, I have only had one problem since I moved in 2 years ago. Actually, it was the 2nd night we were in the house. The heat stopped working. I called someone and they replaced some box on the unit that had a lot of wires attached to it. (Made by Honeywell). Thay also talked me into putting on a water regualtor that would automatically bring more water to the boiler when the water level was too low.

BTW, I have a Slant Fin.

When the guy cames, he drained water out of the unit via a spout on the unit. The water looked like fudge for a while. He had to bang on the pipes to get it going. Since then, I was able to get the water out and then it stopped. I assume this is not a good thing. Is this an easy fix? Replace the valve?

Thanks