Wall Hung Steam Rad

Daniel_22

If all the piping is visible then check the pitch. It's possible a short horizontal branch is pitched wrong and filled with condensate. This would cause hammer slightly once in a while as I've seen the same circumstance before.

Jeff_101

Wall Hung Steam Rad

I have a 3 floored Victorian home with one-pipe steam heat. I have perused this site for the past 6-7 years and have learned quite a bit. I also have Dan's book...LOST ART.

Here is the dilemma:
ONE, STUBBORN WALL hung rad, installed in 1934 in a 3rd floor bathroom UNDER a pedestal sink and behind a low-down toilet. It refuses to heat. I have followed all of Stemahead's advice with the mains vented. He actually calculated how many vents I would need, etc. based on the diameter and the run length. My pressure is 1/2 oz cut-in and 1.5 oz cut-out. This third floor radiator is served by a steam main with a 10-foot 1.25" diameter run-out to a riser. The riser shoots into a 2nd floor bedroom through its ceiling, makes a right turn for about 6 feet and then comes through the bathroom floor (the 3rd floor bath), where it is now a 1" diameter pipe/valve. There is no problem getting the riser hot...it heats just as quickly as all the other rads in the house. The main vents have allowed all the steam to reach all the rads basicaly at the same time...yet once the steam hits that pipe to the valve....NOTHING....even if the vent is removed...I get some air coming through and MAYBE the first rung on the rad will heat...then almost NOTHING. Once in a blue moon...during the dead of winter on a bitterly cold day when the boiler runs long...it MIGHT get a little hotter. There is a D-size vent on the radiator (and I have tried even smaller vents to see if the steam is condensing too quickly...and NOTHING....same old story. HELP....the 3rd floor cast iron tubs, toilet, and sink are getting cold in North Jersey!!!

Daniel_3

If you have no water hammer during a fairly strong fire-up in the dead of winter and the valve gets hot then the problem most likely exists with your radiator. Sludge and scale could be blocking the supply. I would disconnect the radiator from the wall and inspect it inside and out and then flush it through and through.

Jeff_101

Actually

there is a slight hammer every so often...BUT again, the only one that does it. The rest of the house is soooo quiet. People who come over and visit cannot believe how quiet my steam system is. I cannot thank Dan and this sight enough for that. That wall rad is a B!tch to get out from where it is. Is there something else I might try before I resort to removing all the bath things and then the wall rad?

John_173

How about

(a layman's perhaps dumb test)

1. get somebody by the boiler
2. shut down the boiler
3. disconnect the supply at the rad
4. turn on the boiler
5. when/if steam arrives in the bath, shut down the boiler.

Now you know whether steam is getting TO the rad.

Assuming supply is good, you could try putting a bit of pressure on the return to see if that's plugged. (You did say 2-pipe, didn't you?) If the supply is clear & the return is clear, the problem is in between - valve, rad or trap, assuming you've got all three.

[Edit - I see you say 1-pipe. The above would still work, I reckon, but the flushing-out would be more of a hassle. At least you'd know you didn't have a supply problem.]

Too bad it's on the 3rd floor, but convenient that it's in the bathroom. You could probably rig water to flush the rad & send waste to the bath drain. I'd have some sacrificial towels handy. (Note: that's not those fancy towels your wife puts out for special company.) Also some sponges, a mop, buckets, etc.

No doubt there are better ways to do this, but this shouldn't be too dangerous, except for the steam coming out the supply. If you have a supply valve (& if it works) you could disconnect the rad downstream from the valve & have a means to stop the steam.

Don't get burned. No doubt there's a better method....

Jeff_101

Steam is

making it up the riser from the cellar, into the ceiling of the 2nd floor (floor of bathroom) and across (there is a 90 bend about 5 feet through the floor). Once the steam gets to the valve...MOST days...and I mean MOST..the steam dies... and gives up its ghost. I am guessing there is a water puddle somewhere that is causing the steam to condense and not move any further.

ALH_4

Valve

I dont know if I missed where you mentioned you checked the valve to the radiator? If you haven't you might take the guts out of the valve to make sure it's opening fully.

John_173

Uh, oh,

one pipe steam - maybe a slug of water in that run under the floor? (Says this rank amateur.) That would certainly shut down the supply, I should think

Do you know if the bathroom pipe has slipped down or the second floor supply has been pushed up (causing a trap-like condition)?

When did the bathroom rad last work well & consistently? What changed after that time?

Mad Dog_2

Are you sure the boiler is up to the task?

Or not dirty? Mad Dog

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Al Corelli_2

No Heat

Did you check to see that the vent hole is not plugged. Ran into this today.

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John_173

and that

is the simpliest, most elegant solution. I'd be interested to hear if that solves the problem. Nothing like the scientific method.