It's 95* out & I got heat!! (Radiator Steam Heat)

Here's a good one. Even though the thermostat to my steamer is off I have heat in my pipes. Specifics: Pensotti steamer, Reillo burner, 40 gal super store hot water tank. After the heating season I first noticed a whistling/slight hissing coming from the bathroom radiator(closest to furnance) but it was only hot at the valve, so I closed the valve. Then the kitchen radiator started getting hot, shut that one off. It didn't bother the living room radiators but decided to go up to the second floor radiator(point of least resistance) and hiss and make heat. I shut that one off but, I'm still getting heat in the pipe going to the second floor, which is in my kitchen. the last owner of the house did not leave me anything(manuals etc.) on the boiler. Also, what is the proper procedure for draining, cleaning(if cleaning is something you do?) and refilling/purging thr system? Thanks for all your help.

 

It sounds like the boiler is getting too hot & making steam when it should only be making hot water for the indirect. What controls are on the boiler?

 

This is definitely a controls problem. There should be a temperature control on the side of the boiler, below the water line, to limit the water temperature to about 160 degrees when the boiler is only used for domestic water heating.

Please provide more information about the entire system. Pictures are always helpful and more pictures and information are more helpful than less.

 

Thanks for the replies. I personally don't know much about it. The previous owner was not, lets say, "friendly". She wouldn't give anything about it. I local oil company that has been doing the yearly check ups and such came out and gave me a quick tutorial. He said the water temp should be set at 160 and with a little difficulty I could see that it was. It's located on the back in the middle of pipes and the stack. The pressure gauge on the front usually read 4-5 psi. A few days ago I went down to look at it while it was running and it was at 9! Also, I incorrectly stated only the second floor pipe got hot, they all do. When I noticed the 9 psi I opened the closest radiator, it let out some air but the psi didn't go down. The water storage tank is set at 120* I took some pictures, but for some reason I'm not allowed to post attachments?

 

Nine psi is probably normal with all (or most) of the radiators valved off. The safety valve will operate at 15 psi although there should be a high-pressure cut-out switch that will stop the burner at about 12 psi.

My expertise is in commercial / industrial sized boilers but there should be a control that will stop the burner when the 160 degree water temperature is reached. Just off the top of my head I would think that an aquastat (the water temperature limiting switch) would be wired across the same terminals as the main house thermostat. It is possible that you have more than one aquastat and the one that you located may be for some other purpose.


Posting pictures requires that you upload the pictures to a photo-hosting site and then post the URL for the pictures on this forum. I like http://www.villagephotos.com/