Call (973) 709-5323Call

Boiler Repair in Wayne, NJ

Steam boiler and hot water boiler repair, radiators and baseboard heat across Wayne and nearby towns.

Blue cast iron boiler with its flue pipe and copper piping in a home basement

Hot Water and Steam Boiler Repair in Wayne

Gas heats about 87 percent of homes in Wayne, and about a third of the township's houses were built before 1960 (Wayne housing and heating data). Houses of that era are where boilers and radiators are found. We repair both kinds of boiler heat: hot water heating systems with circulator pumps, zone valves and baseboard or cast iron radiators, and one-pipe and two-pipe steam with a sight glass, a pressure control and a vent on every radiator.

Boiler repair covers these parts:

  • Circulator pumps and their flanges, couplings and relays
  • Zone valves, zone valve end switches and zone control panels
  • Aquastats, high limits and boiler control boards
  • Igniters, pilot assemblies, flame sensors and gas valves
  • Expansion tanks, air separators, fill valves and pressure relief valves
  • Low water cutoffs, pressuretrols, sight glasses and water feeders on steam boilers
  • Main vents and radiator vents, radiator valves and bleeder valves
  • Oil burner nozzles, pumps, filters, transformers and cad cells on oil-fired boilers
  • Tankless coils and indirect water heater zones that share the boiler

Boiler Heating Repair for Older Wayne Houses

Pressure gauges on insulated hot water heating pipes in a boiler room

The median Wayne home was built in 1967, and about a third were built before 1960. Wikipedia's history of the township describes summer bungalows around the lakes turned into year-round homes during World War II, then farmland turned into housing developments after the war (history of Wayne, New Jersey). Converted lake houses can have heat added in stages: a boiler sized for the original cottage, baseboard run to an addition later, and a zone that never gets quite warm. A postwar house may be on its second or third boiler, piped into the original radiators.

In those systems the boiler itself is rarely the failure. Pumps wear out, zone valve motors burn up, expansion tanks lose their air charge and make the relief valve drip, and air collects in long baseboard loops. On steam, sight glasses clog with sediment, low water cutoffs need cleaning and radiator vents stick, which is why one room heats and the next stays cold.

Radiator and Baseboard Problems in Wayne Homes

Most uneven heat in a boiler home starts at the radiators or the piping, not at the boiler. Hot water radiators collect air at the top and need bleeding. Baseboard loops that run long, like those in split-level and ranch houses, can lose flow at the far end. Steam radiators need the right pitch back toward the pipe so condensate drains, and they need working vents so air leaves and steam can enter. When a second floor stays cold, the usual causes are main vents, an undersized circulator, a zone that is air-bound or radiators added without balancing the system.

Boiler Repair in Wayne or Replacement

A cast iron boiler with sound sections and a working burner is almost always worth repairing. Replacement comes up when a section cracks and leaks, a steel boiler rusts through, the same control or burner part keeps failing, or parts are no longer made for the model. Basements along the Passaic River and the Pompton River that take on water during floods add another reason: a burner, gas valve or control board that sat under water needs to be replaced, and the boiler needs a full check before it fires again.

For a boiler that has stopped in cold weather, see emergency boiler repair in Wayne. Homes that heat with a furnace are covered on the furnace repair page. We repair boilers in Totowa, Pompton Lakes, North Haledon and the rest of the Wayne service area.

Boiler Repair Questions

Why is my boiler not heating?

The burner may not be firing, or it may be firing while the heat never leaves the boiler. A burner that will not fire points to the igniter, flame sensor, gas valve, control or low water cutoff. A boiler that gets hot while the house stays cold points to a failed circulator pump, a stuck zone valve, air in the pipes or, on steam, a low water level or clogged vents.

Why is my boiler running but no heat?

If the boiler is running and hot but the radiators are cold, the water or steam is not moving. On hot water systems the usual causes are a circulator pump that hums but does not turn, a zone valve stuck closed and trapped air. On steam systems it is often a radiator vent that will not open or a main vent that stopped letting air out.

Why is my boiler giving me hot water but no heating?

Boilers that make domestic hot water through a coil or an indirect tank use a separate zone or valve for that job. When hot water works and heat does not, the burner is fine and the fault is on the heating side: a heating zone valve, its end switch, the heating circulator, a thermostat or the wiring between them.

What is the most common problem with boilers?

Loss of circulation and burner faults lead the list. On hot water boilers that means circulator pumps, zone valves, expansion tanks that lost their air charge, and pressure relief valves that drip. On steam boilers it means low water cutoffs, pressure controls, sight glasses that clog and radiator vents that stick.

What are the warning signs on a boiler?

Water on the floor under the boiler or relief valve, a pressure gauge that climbs high or drops near zero, banging or knocking pipes, a burner that short cycles, radiators that heat only part way and a boiler that needs water added often. Each points to a part that can be repaired before the boiler stops altogether.

Is it worth fixing a 20 year old boiler?

Usually, if the boiler itself is sound. Most boiler failures are parts: pumps, valves, controls, burners. Replacement comes up when the boiler itself leaks from a cracked section or rusted tank, when the same major part keeps failing, or when parts are no longer made for an old model. The condition of the cast iron decides it more than age.

Why are all my radiators only lukewarm?

When every radiator is lukewarm, the problem is at the boiler. The aquastat may be set low, the circulator may be moving too little water, the burner may be underfiring or the system may be full of air. On steam, a pressure control set wrong or a clogged main vent keeps steam from reaching the far radiators.

Why is one of my radiators cold even though my heating is on?

A single cold radiator usually has air trapped in it, a closed or broken valve, or on steam, a radiator vent that is stuck shut or a radiator that is pitched the wrong way so condensate cannot drain. Bleeding a hot water radiator or replacing a steam vent fixes most of them.

Can you replace a steam boiler with a hot water boiler?

Yes, but it is more than a boiler swap. Steam radiators and single-pipe steam piping were not built to carry pressurized water, so the conversion usually means new supply and return piping, checking every radiator for leaks and adding an expansion tank and circulator. Two-pipe steam systems convert more easily than one-pipe systems.
Boiler Not Heating?

Boiler, furnace, heat pump and AC repair in Wayne and nearby towns. Call (973) 709-5323.

Call (973) 709-5323