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@ethicalpaul

I really enjoy your videos. Is it practical to replace the bushing coming out of the boiler so that the supply starts out immediately reduced down? That would bring the higher velocity down closer to the steam chest.

Your experiments are fascinating and entertaining… but, forgive me if I look at it from the standpoint of an engineer… you have too many variables involved to draw general conclusions, since your are not varying some of the more important ones.

As I have said, residential and small commercial heating steam systems are incredibly forgiving. Arrangements work just fine which seemingly have no business working at all, and which violate many guidelines. In fact, there aren't that many guidelines which really are all that critical.

That said, the guidelines and general rules of practice are of value, as coming reasonably close to them almost guarantees the system will work, at least "well enough".

: I need help sizing a steam radiator. the current radiator in the room is 16 sections, 26 inches high, 5 regular tubes. I'm trying to find out how many BTU's this radiator is and I want to replace it with the highest radiator available so I can maximize wall space. please help

thank you

@ARobertson13

You explanation IMHO is flawed. It's a matter of Physics that when the steam collapses the air has to get back in the system.

Do you agree?

Nothing in the statement you posted:

"It has to do with do you understand what is going on and what methods to correct it. If the pressure is high, lower it. If the vent is not operating properly, test it and replace it with one that was tested. If you need a steam control device to operate the boiler instead of a thermostat, get one. Basic problem solving:"

gives any information or tells anyone how to fix the problem we are talking about.

"It has to do with do you understand what is going on?

Yes, I do, the change in volume from steam to condensate is 1700x

"If the pressure is high lower it"

I agree low pressure is better in most cases. But as @ethicalpaul mentioned this has 0 to do with steam collapsing and the resulting vacuum.

"If the vent is not operating properly, test it and replace it with one that was tested."

Vents vent air and let air in. They close when they sense steam. They should not leak water. They should not pass excessive steam. That's all there is to it.

There is no mystery here. Air has to get back in the system when the boiler cycles off.