Heating Help

Hoffman vents

@ February 11, 2011 1:24 PM in Hoffman vents

Can anyone please tell us which straight Hoffman vent has the smallest hole for the lowest venting capacity?

radiator vent tapping

@ May 19, 2010 12:31 PM in radiator tapping

thanks that sounds perfect.  I guess we will put a level on the hand drill and use some 3 in 1 oil then just take it slow.

by the way i didn't know it was ok to use a high and low vent on the same side of the radi .sounds like if there is no weird vacuum effect that we would have nothing to lose
thanks again

radiator tapping

@ May 18, 2010 5:31 PM in radiator tapping

Thanks Charles, the rad is in good shape, probly 1950's age so not super thick or tall.
Someone plugged the normal vent tap half way down the radiator with something like epoxy and put the vent up hi on the rad with a bushing where the top side nut goes so the rad doesn't get hot enough and it is a cold northern room with a gorton d on it.  we tried all size gortons. 

We can't torch the epoxy out, just drilled through it so we need to re-tap the hole or somehow get to the original threads for the new vent placement while we plug the top bushing hole.  or we could try to drill and tap elsewhere on the proper height of the cast iron and pray it doesn't crack.  we have the hanson 1/8 tap npt but that calls for a 5/16 drill bit which seems to thick.  thanks for your help!

radiator tapping

@ May 18, 2010 2:37 PM in radiator tapping

is it ok to tap a new steam vent hole in a old cast iron radiator

steam system nuances

@ February 17, 2010 10:15 PM in Radiator Very Slow To Heat

rod, props on explaining with such a clear example.  even after reading dan's books, it sometimes takes an answer to an actual problem to really catch the learning curve.  your explanation is like the visual experiment in science class that u remember for a long time because it all ties together.  thank u for explaining why the vacuum problem is caused by the venting so clearly.

i overstand why u dont want the vent at the top of a radiator. we have a radiator with the vent in the middle of the last section rather than 1/3 from top.  could this be part of why the radiator does not get as hot as the others?  we did give this the fastest vent in the building,  d sized, and even insulated the wall the radiator sits against to reduce condensate, and of course the pipes.  we will try to raise the branch pitch if it can be done without risking breakage. thanks again!

run 2 heating thermostat off 1 boiler in a series like a chain

@ February 4, 2010 7:48 PM in can i run 2 heating thermostat off 1 boiler in a series like a chain

thanks, that sounds pretty logical, almost like 2 light switches.

i think u are saying, put the red on the first thermostat and, instead of putting the white return on that first therm, continue the red from the 2nd (white) wire of that thermostat and continue it to the next zone to hook it to the red on the second therm.. then take the white wire on the second therm and return it all the way straight directly back to the boiler on a home run.

we will try this with our basic old fashioned round honeywells, u know, the kind in the living room wall in the 1970's! 

ps. do we have to worry about bizarre behaviour of the anticipators, could that cause any real problems?

run-2-heating-thermostat-off-1-boiler-in-a-series-like-a-chain

@ February 3, 2010 5:19 PM in can i run 2 heating thermostat off 1 boiler in a series like a chain

thanks! we want to run them in series so both events must occur. 

can this be a chain using our existing 2 wire run or will we need to snake more thermostat wires?

also, should we just use your basic honewell wall therm?

can i run 2 heating thermostat off 1 boiler in a series like a chain

@ February 3, 2010 12:43 PM in can i run 2 heating thermostat off 1 boiler in a series like a chain

can i run 2 heating thermostat off 1 boiler in a series like a chain

email link to post replys

@ January 24, 2010 7:10 PM in ability to be contacted by email to follow a thread

great, i think i saw it working. 

1 other idea. on the page that lists all of our posts under our user name history, if it was possible to see the count of if there are any replies, or when was the date of the last reply, you wouldn't have to fish through your old threads to check for anything recent within them.  this is probably a touch request, but thought it mite help! thanks dan.

gas usage

@ January 13, 2010 7:19 PM in Steam - is this normal?

we have 925 sq ft of radis, and the gas meter shows 4 burnt in 1 hour, i assume thats like 400! does this tell us anything of our firing rate for curiousity?

we noted your advice of 100 minimum usage on 400 edr, but is there a maximum expected?

wet-steam

@ January 12, 2010 11:31 PM in wet steam

Thanks Clammy,

we are insulated, and have properly pitched rads and mains. 
the boiler is 2 years old with the problem of wet vents starting when the old boiler was running all the time since it had a hole at the top until we got the new 1.

we skimmed, blow down weekly, and did a blow down from the bottom drain valve while running.  the bottom drain water release was pretty weak since the standard drain valve is kind of small, but the water was pretty clean, certianly cleaner than the lwco blow down water.

we sent smith the piping photo and they said it looked ok, although the riser has some elbows in it to get the 28in. height before joining with the mains/equalizer config. would elbows effect steam velocity?

steam velocity

@ January 12, 2010 11:20 PM in wet steam

u certianly did a lot of upgrades, hows your heat bill now? i am sure u read up on downfiring, and think your usage would tell u something of ur efficiency.

1 interesting idea for u since it sounds like u r stuck with the oversize boiler - dan has some interesting stuff on running a hot water rad loop and/or a domestic hot water supply with the large amount of steam - many limitations, but just a thought since u have it.

re = trv vents - here is an old dan h article - if u read the end on p. 3 it says trv does not work well with 1 pipe steam. period.  i will try just 1 or 2 for now for our odd problem, but was surprised that dan said not a good idea.

http://www.masterplumbers.com/plumbviews/2003/thermostatic_radiator_valves3.asp

i am trying to figure out the steam velocity thing - it is interesting, sounds like it is simply the piping size vs. the boiler capacity, but i cant' figure out if the fact that our riser out of the top of the boiler having elbows will effect velocity. 

wet rad vents

@ January 9, 2010 8:26 PM in Steam Radiator Vents

thanks for the vari valve rec.

at this point spitting would be fine if the radi doesnt stop working! 

do u know if it has a design with vacuum breaker?.

we really appreciate the tip!

measuring steam velocity`

@ January 9, 2010 8:11 PM in Question on steam velocity

i hope u dont mind a dumb question, but it sounds like the steam velocity is not readily measured, rather it is calculated by the formula. 

therefore, it sounds like if u have the proper above boiler pipe sizes and heights you would be assured proper steam velocity.  is this oversimplified or is there a way to check it?  thanks clammy!

steam velocity

@ January 9, 2010 7:30 PM in Noisy one pipe steam system in Pittsburgh

we own and manage buildings so we understand your approach.  however, dan's books makes the firing rate way beyond us, and i would check whether downfiring could hurt your efficiency and keep heat bills from being reduced. 

i understand that an ideal flame and ideal combustion/emissions is the key to the firing rate and efficiency, and a temporary  solution might cost more in the long haul than correcting problems like piping when u have a chance.

please confirm my advice with a pro if u pursue it

Steam Radiator Vents

@ January 8, 2010 12:39 PM in Steam Radiator Vents

Our gorton vents have a float that closes them when they fill with water from wet steam.

Does anyone know a less impressive vent that does not have this safety feature so we can try a different vent temporally while we solve our wet steam problem?

great news

@ January 8, 2010 12:20 PM in ability to be contacted by email to follow a thread

thats great news.  i am glad i stumbled on your suggestions section.
 if your computer people can set it up that fast please send them to me! its rare that i get good news with out an immense struggle!

ability to be contacted by email to follow a thread

@ January 7, 2010 9:02 PM in ability to be contacted by email to follow a thread

I am sure u have considered this, but, just in case, it would be great if u could check a box when u post or reply that would alert your email when someone responds or adds to the thread.  this feature is found on some websites, but is probably technically not easy to set up. good luck with this great site!

water filling radi vents, but no spitting or banging

@ January 7, 2010 6:39 PM in wet steam

that ineresting.  will try on 1 and maybe a tiny street elbow on another, and the worst 1 could enlarge to a small gorton 3/4 straight valve.  perhaps the extra turns or sizes might make the water want to drain back into the radi rather than sit full in the vent.  we tried a cone shape vent which has a little syphon lip but it didn't help, and the size of the orifice doesn't make a notable difference either. must have more to do with the outdoor temp and condensation or maybe the length of the boiler cycles.  we can't get any pressure to read on our new 0-5 guage even on a 1.5 hour cycle.

btw, which way should the mains be pitched in this 1 pipe system?  there r dry returns at the end of each of the 2 mains which drip down to the wet returns and back to the boiler by the hartford loop.  the building has settled over the last 100 years and has lolly columns in the cellar. 

thanks for all ;your help, hopefully someone else will chime in or i will let you know a title for a new thread since this might be old soon!

wet rad vents

@ January 6, 2010 9:50 PM in wet steam

the boiler was put in last year.  the old boiler started doing the same thing when it was being run all the time as it was dying.  the new boiler runs more normal periods and is very efficiient, IF the dumb vents get dumped!  we sent smith pics of the header/equalizer and confirmed all pipe dimensions. does this help?  we would like to slow down this water filling while it is so cold out while we trouble shoot if u have any ideas!

wet rad vents

@ January 6, 2010 9:39 PM in Water in Steam Vent

is there any way to slow the water down while we are trouble shooting?

some bedrooms get very cold if every vent doesn't get dumped in this weather. 

wet rad vents

@ January 5, 2010 7:36 PM in wet steam

agreed, the problem is bad, but has so few symptoms other than vents filling fast with water. 

there is no heat at night unless it is super cold, but all the pipes are insulated. we even drilled holes into the floors and dropped the "gerbil" type insulation into them to insulate around the rad supply pipes. 

could the pipes get so cold at night that they get mad condensate in the am?  if so, everytime someone has no heat u would think they would have this problem right after.