This is a tough one!

ttekushan_3

Placement is important for the steam vent. Steam is lighter than air so will travel to the top of the radiator and close the vent leaving the radiator nearly filled with air.

Since air and steam don't mix, you now have an air-bound radiator that will only put out a fraction of its total rating.

Under these circumstances the result of putting a larger vent on the radiator can be counter-intuitive, i.e., it might even make the problem worse. At the very least any increased speed with which the steam reaches the radiator may be totally offset by the speed with which the steam can close the vent.

The radiator should be drilled and tapped for vent placement where it really belongs. There should be an indentation in the casting in the traditional place for a radiator vent.

-Terry

Diane_2

This is a tough one!

You have been such a help in the past - please help now!
We have a ONE pipe steam system - except for two huge radiators that have two pipes. I put the gorton valves in them to let the air escape faster (according to manufacturer's suggestion). But they still don't heat up well enough and when it is really cold and the boiler runs a lot - the valves get water in them and essentially turns off the radiator. These are the only two radiators with two pipes AND the steam vent is near the top of the radiator instead of lower like the other ones. Any help out there??? Thanks for any and all suggestions!

Brad White_184

Diane- can you

post some photos especially the piping feeding these radiators from below? (If visible of course.) Also the near-boiler piping. Just to get a handle on if wet steam is an issue here. What pressure are you running? Do these 2-pipe radiators have traps or do they have loop seals (return pipe conducted directly to below the waterline)?