On Nov 7, 6:10*am, "alta47" wrote:
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message

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"Alta47" wrote in message
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Mine had a ton of crud in it and he said it needed a new blow down valve
and a new site glass (which had a leaking fitting).

Can I assume he also showed you how to blown down the boiler? *Do it at
least once a week to get the crud out. *Probably the most important step
in maintaining a steam boiler. *Be sure the low water cut off works too.

Yes, he showed me how to do that.

Sue,

if the radiators are getting warm but not hot, it sounds like bad air
valves. These are the most common problem in a one pipe steam system.

Carfully take one valve off and see if that radiator then gets hot..
wear gloves remember live steam is invisible and burns badly...

On each radiator, the air valve first is supposed to be open when cold
allowing air to leave the radiator so steam can enter the radiator.
When the raditor is filled with steam (it will then be HOT, not warm)
and the steam gets to the valve, the valve gets hot and then it
closes. Steam is bascially at 212 deg F. If the radiator is not near
212 F then there is not steam in it.

If you are reading steam pressure but your radiators are not hot then
unless you have a massive clog (unlikely) then the air valves are the
problem. It is very common for ait valves to go bad. Try this before
you waste any big money.

Mark