Rusty water on basement floor

[sluggo77]

Helpless homeowner here -- have a 1993 Honeywell cast iron steam boiler -- natural gas fired. Fill with water regularly -- however, had to refill yesterday and this morning level was down again. Noticed a puddle of rusty water to the back right of the unit. Replaced standalone water heater 7 months ago so it isn't that.

I'm not sure if the valves in the radiators throughout the house leak because they are always hissing -- but there aren't any puddles -- are they supposed to do that. Would that be causing me to fill the water level over and over again???

Can anybody help me?? I can't afford to get a professional in unless I absolutely need to. If I do need to -- who do I call a plummer or the gas company???

Thank you in advance for your help!!!!

[ralphtheplumber]

Those "valves in the radiators" are supposed to hiss. Those are air vents. You only need to be concerned if they stop hissing.

Those have nothing to do with your water leak.

Unfortunately, boiler repair is not a do-it-yourself project. You need a professional. Sorry.

[sluggo77]

What type of professional do I need - -the gas company or a plummer?

Also, am I putting my children at risk of the house blowing up if I wait and have the professional come in a couple of weeks???

[johnsp]

It could be a pipe or boiler leak. It will probably get worst. Do you have a Low Water cut-off on the boiler.

There's danger in the boiler firing without water in it. A LWCO would prevent the burner from firing if the water level were too low.

Why would it take weeks to get a pro to look at it?

[ralphtheplumber]

Originally posted by sluggo77
What type of professional do I need - -the gas company or a plummer?

It depends. The gas company or the plumber may or may not know anything about steam systems.. they're kind of a specialty anymore. Check your local listings for "heating contractors - steam", or go to heatinghelp.com and use the "find a contractor" link. There are some excellent guys over there.

Something else that might be worth a shot is to post some pictures of the leak, and some of the boiler. While you might not (or shouldn't) mess with it yourself, you could probably get somebody to walk you through a quick evaluation.. at least you'd know if you had an emergency on your hands or not.

[Dad]

This is a double posting

closed