Hoffman Vent Question

marcusjh

Hi-

Just finished reading "Lost Art" and I loved it.

I just bought all new Hoffman specials for my radiators, and I'm a little concerned whether they're Chinese knock-offs. Got them through supplyhouse.com. They all say Hoffman special on them, and they came in red boxes with cardboard tubes over the nipples, and instructions.

They seem really touchy - have to pull the ring forward when screwing down the nut to make sure there's resistance when I blow through it to test - otherwise, it seems like they're always on 6.

Also wondering if I should have gotten something else, or whether these will do ok. I'm on a single pipe system in a 2 floor 2400sqft house.

Thanks!

Marcus

ChrisJ

Supplyhouse.com sells the real thing.

Not sure what you mean by "Hoffman Specials".
Do you mean 1A vents? The adjustments on them are terrible and the company making them should be embarrassed. With a small change to how the make the adjustment ring they would work properly but apparently that's too much to ask.

The only reliable way I found to adjust them was to blow through them with my mouth while making the adjustment because the numbers on the ring mean almost nothing.

Fred

I use the Hoffman 1A's on all of my radiators too. What you got sounds like the real thing and from a good source. They are a bit sensitive (some would say sloppy) in the way the venting is adjusted but if you take the screw cap off, set the dial hood on the number you want (#3 setting is equal to the venting of a Hoffman #40), Hold that hood firmly in place with one hand and screw the cap back on with the other hand, they work very well. Once you do one, the others will be a piec of cake!

nicholas bonham-carter

The Hoffman radiator vents are a little fiddly to adjust.
The main vents are the ones which do the most work in allowing the air to escape, so what did you put on there?--NBC

JUGHNE

"Hoffman Specialty" is the brand name trademark. Maybe that is where the "specials" term comes from.

marcusjh

My apologies, yes, it's the 1A. The "Main" vents are in the basement, and there's three of them. We had an addition put onto the house in the early 70's, and that's a whooole 'nuther question I'm pondering about. The main steam pipe goes from a 3 (I think), down to one nearly half its size, thru a wall, to a vent, then up, and into the addition, and then up to the second floor addition. I'd have to take a bunch of photos with descriptions to show you, but I'll save it for another time. Right now, I'm just trying to balance the system enough so the kids are warm in the morning when they get up to go to school.

It takes about 40 minutes to get most of the radiators up - and it's always taken about that since I was a kid. I WAS convinced it should be less, but after reading about piping, I'm thinking we're probably a little stuck with what they did.

The good news is, I finally got several radiators to stop banging every time the heat came up. My Dad always said to keep them tipped toward the feed pipe (which they were), but I never figured there could be condensate collecting in the elbows under the floor!

One of the Hoffmans is already clogging with water, and not letting steam through - is this normal? Is there a trick? Should I soak in white vinegar? Soapy water?

Thanks-

Marcus

BobC

Hoffmans do clog on some systems. I replaced mine with Maid O Mist (Gortons would work as well) and that problem went away.

Bob

ChrisJ

I had constantly clogging problems on my system, but I run very low pressure as well.

I complained to the manufacturer and they actually took my 10 1 year old Hoffman 1As back and refunded my money. That part I was very surprised about.

Fred

Try setting the vents on about 3 or 4. Have you checked the pressure on your system? It should not run more than 1.5 PSI max. Do you have a 0-3 PSI gauge on the boiler so you can really see what's going on? The 0 - 30 PSI gauge that is standard is required by code but is useless to really see what's going on. Have you ever cleaned out the pigtail (looped pipe) that the Pressuretrol is mounted on? High pressure can cause the radiator vents to get water logged and/or not open when they should.

ChrisJ

Fred said:

Try setting the vents on about 3 or 4. Have you checked the pressure on your system? It should not run more than 1.5 PSI max. Do you have a 0-3 PSI gauge on the boiler so you can really see what's going on? The 0 - 30 PSI gauge that is standard is required by code but is useless to really see what's going on. Have you ever cleaned out the pigtail (looped pipe) that the Pressuretrol is mounted on? High pressure can cause the radiator vents to get water logged and/or not open when they should.

Oh really?

marcusjh

Ugh - I tried setting that particular vent to a "Medium" setting, and it was way too much. I'm tempted to put the old vent back on, which was an original Dole 1A. That was touchy as well, but it drained.

Pressuretrol is set to .05 outside, and 1.5 inside. The pigtail was cleaned last month, and it's a 0-30 psi gauge, which:
Doesn't.
Move.
At.
All.
It's very boring to look at. It moved all the time when the pigtail was clogged, but now it just sits at 0.

Is there a trick to putting a new gauge on, or do you just buy one and screw it on?

Marcus

Fred

ChrisJ said:

Fred said:

Try setting the vents on about 3 or 4. Have you checked the pressure on your system? It should not run more than 1.5 PSI max. Do you have a 0-3 PSI gauge on the boiler so you can really see what's going on? The 0 - 30 PSI gauge that is standard is required by code but is useless to really see what's going on. Have you ever cleaned out the pigtail (looped pipe) that the Pressuretrol is mounted on? High pressure can cause the radiator vents to get water logged and/or not open when they should.

Oh really?

Yep, At least when my boiler was running rampant at about 5 PSI the steam was pushing condensate into the vents and even spitting some out. I had to take them off and shake them out. Maybe a teaspoon of water.

BobC

You have to have the 30 PSI gauge on the boiler to keep the idiots at the insurance company happy. If you want to add a 0-3 mount it on the pigtail with your pressuretrol like this.

Bob

marcusjh

The 30psi is already attached to the same pipe (off the pigtail) as the pressuretrol.

Fred

marcusjh said:

The 30psi is already attached to the same pipe (off the pigtail) as the pressuretrol.

Yes but that 30 PSI gauge is not sensitive enough to tell you what is going on in a low pressure system. Add a Tee to that pigtail and add a 0-3 PSI gauge. Pressure should never get above 1.5PSI, 2 PSI worse case.

marcusjh

If I do this, would I need to calibrate the gauge or anything?

Fred

No, adding another gauge doesn't change anything, just gives you the ability to see actual pressure. If you do need to recalibrate the gauge, at some later time, it is simple using the scres on the face of the gauge. Here is the gauge most of us use:
http://www.valworx.com/product/low-pressure-gauge-25-0-3-psi

marcusjh

Thanks!