steam radiators banging mystery

[dbick]

Hi,
I have had my house for about 4 years, single pipe steam radiator system, it has intermittently made moderate banging and semi annoying hissing noises, last week i decided i was sick of them and called BGE home services to inspect the system and see if they could improve anything, the technician came out told me i needed to drain the water more often as it was really dirty, but that there was nothing they could do about the banging.

since then the banging has been 100% worse! (irony) it is literally waking me up everynight souning like a sledgehammer hitting the pipes.
It may be that the technician overfilled the boiler? i have since adjusted the water level, Still banging... i also tried replacing the steam valve on the radiators that seem to be banging the worst, no luck.

Any Ideas?

Thanks Dave

[HayZee518]

on your boiler you'll see a big black valve shaped like a triangle. out the bottom is a valve and spigot. once a month you should open this valve to clear out any crap in it. single pipe radiators use an air valve one one side of them. the banging is the condensate draining back to the boiler. when the condensate hits steam it "explodes." there's nothing you can do about that.

[paul52446m]

Hi,
I have had my house for about 4 years, single pipe steam radiator system, it has intermittently made moderate banging and semi annoying hissing noises, last week i decided i was sick of them and called BGE home services to inspect the system and see if they could improve anything, the technician came out told me i needed to drain the water more often as it was really dirty, but that there was nothing they could do about the banging.

since then the banging has been 100% worse! (irony) it is literally waking me up everynight souning like a sledgehammer hitting the pipes.
It may be that the technician overfilled the boiler? i have since adjusted the water level, Still banging... i also tried replacing the steam valve on the radiators that seem to be banging the worst, no luck.

Any Ideas?

Thanks Dave

I would change all the air vent, because if the air does not come out fast enough, water can't get back to the boiler fast enough so it will keep adding too much water to the boiler. All your valves on the radiators open full?
Has anyone redone any pipes? What are your pressures set on your controls.
Do you have a site glass on the boiler to watch the water level?
There is something to be said about dirty water. If you fill a pan half full
of water and you have dirt floating on top of the water, put it on the stove and start heating it. When water boils it is boiling all over the surface of the water. But with dirt on top of the water it can not boil on the surface of the water so it built up pressure and pushes the water up out of the pan. This same thing can happen in your boiler. Look at you boiler and see if there is a taping in the side of the boiler about where the water line would be. That tapping should have a valve in it. this valve would be call a skimming valve. It is used to skim the dirt off the top side of the water. Do you flush your low water cut off, that will help get rid of some dirt.
Set by the boiler and watch the water level. Later Paul

[brettyg]

Too much water in the system