Posted by jennifer on November 12, 2001 at 21:27:28:
In Reply to: Re: more questions posted by jtown on November 12, 2001 at 20:28:25:
I don't see a safety valve on the boiler, just what I described earlier. I do have a discharge pipe that drains into a sink, I'm assuming this is connected to the expansion tank since it was draining when the tank was overflowing. I don't see a lever to lift or a weight to change leverage, all I see is one pipe that drains into the laundry sink and the other end makes it's way through the ceiling of the basement. If the sight glass looks like a thermometer on top of the boiler then maybe there is one, but it looks like it's been broken since the 1950's.
My radiators have 2 big pipes on either end but they are at the same level, both about 4 inches off the ground. Would I be able to see a try cock to tell me when the water is high enough (is this in the boiler or the expansion tank?), because there was nothing that indicated to me that the water was too high until it began leaking out of the tank. Both pipes on the expansion tank are at the bottom of the tank at the base and parallel to each other.
The leak was above normal water levels, (at the top of the expansion tank which is about 6 feet off the ground of the top floor) so do you think because it's not leaking now I don't need to replace it? Obviously it is not air or watertight any longer. But you are saying it doesn't have to be and maybe never was?
Here's another question more related than I had thought. The original reason for all of this was a leaky radiator stem valve. We removed the handle and nut and realized we needed a new valve. Apparently these are a little difficult to replace. The guy at the hardware said before you go to all the trouble try packing graphite under the nut to see if that stops the leak. We thought it did, but I checked it today and it's still leaking regardless of whether the valve is on, off or in the middle. It's a slow leak, but it seems like the right thing to do is replace it. The guy at the hardware store gave me some pretty crazy tools, and said I may have to MOVE the radiator in order to replace the valve. This seems like a nightmare, do you have any suggestions around this to replace it.
And after we replace the stem valve, is it ok to use the current expansion tank? when refilling the entire system with water, how long do you let water flow (from the city) before turning it off to let the pressure go back down?
thanks again for your help.