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Heating & Air Conditioning

Hot Water Heat Problem

14 years ago

We have an old house with hot water heat. It has worked fine in the three years we have owned the house until now.

The boiler is in the basement and the expansion tank is bolted to the basement ceiling. We are getting a terrible clanging from the tank and then there is a water/steam release. This happens frequently after the heat comes on. We had someone in today who thought he had figured it out but now it is doing it again. Any theories?

Thanks

David

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Comments (7)

baymee
14 years ago
The first thing to check is to see if the expansion tank is full of water. That would cause the boiler relief valve to pop off when the water heats up.

The tank must then be drained. Isolate the tank from any other part of the system by closing off all isolation valves. With luck, you'll have one between the boiler and tank. If you only have one drain valve, when you open it, water will come out until the pressure is relieved from the system and then it will stop. The tank is now in a vacuum lock and still full of water. Breaking the vacuum is best left to a pro. The water is hot and you can get severely burned.

Some ceiling tanks work forever without problem. Some fill with water. If you have problems like this, I would install an Extrol tank.
dmanders
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks. The pro in yesterday drained the tank and then refilled the system. So that didn't seem to work or maybe the tank refilled?
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baymee
14 years ago
The next thing to check is to see if your hot water coil has a pinhole leak. If you have one.

Reduce the pressure in the boiler to normal. Shut off the cold water inlet and hot water outlet. See if that stops it.

Test for a few hours.
dmanders
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks. We have another pro coming in tomorrow. I will mention this possibility. My wife, who has been dealing with the plumbers, told me a perhaps crucial bit of information. The plumber in yesterday said he was concerned that the boiler was getting too hot. Since the thermocouple was recently replaced by an HVAC guy (that may have not known what he was doing) I'm wondering whether the thermocouple is not adjusted correctly or is defective. The banging started after the installation of the couple when we turned on the system.
dmanders
Original Author
14 years ago
So the system is fixed and working now. Had to replace the aquastat AND reverse the direction of the circulating pump that was installed incorrectly by our previous contractor.
baymee
14 years ago
Your problem doesn't seem related to a reversed circulator, but that was a curve ball, and easy to do, if you're not careful.
dmanders
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks again for your help. We are happy to have radiator heat again. Our electric backup couldn't keep up.

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