Rad should be hotter

Daniel_3

Do those former hot water rads have more sections or columns than the other two?

markZ

Rad should be hotter

Dear experts, many thanks for all the help w/ my one pipe steam system in the past. Recently expanded the steam system to handle a couple of extra Rads in an extension. Here is the issue, of the four Rads in the extension, two of them heat up hot as heck (very hot to the touch)and were previously used in the house w/steam while the other two, previously used on hot water, but converted, heat up hot, but seem to be about 10deg less hot to the touch. Positioning of Rads in extension relative to the main does not appear to be an issue. Any reason why I might see a slightly different heat output from a cast iron Rad previously used on HW than one that ran off of steam all along. Not a desperate situation, but would love to burn my hands a little on two of them. Help guys.

thanks, MZ

GW

t-stat

Is the stat shutting down before the rads are getting heck-hot? It's not an everyday occurance that steam rads get rippin' hot, unless the house is losing big heat and the system needs to stretch out its legs. Just an idea.

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Matt_67

another consideration

could the finish on those two be diferent could they mabye have many more coats of paint.

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GW

also

where is the air vent, up high or mid-way?

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markZ

Rad should be hotter

All, thanks so much the quick responces. OK, here's the lay-out. The two that appear to be slightly less hot are 4 tube w/ one at 13 sections and the other at 15 sections. For the two that appear to be slightly hotter, one is a 5 tube-10 section and the other a 4 column-4 section x 38" tall. All the others are standard? 26" tall. The furthest from the bolier is the 13 section-4 tube w/ the closest being the 4 column tall boy. The 5 tube-10 section and the 4 tube-15 scetion are practically equidistant from the boiler. In fact even the 5 tube (which appears to be slightly hotter) is ~12-13' length of riser off of main while the 4 tube-15 section is ~9' of riser off of main. All Rads were recently sand blasted and recoated w/ a powder coat type paint. As far as the other gentlemans' question regarding the stat...haven't a clue. I've never touched it, but w/ the extra Rads the boiler may be seeing and extra 20% increase in steam demand for the Rads. Maybe system may need some tweaking w/ stat. Appreciate the responces.

thanks, mark

markZ

Rad should be hotter

Gary, all air vents, from previous recommendations on this site are mid-way up. The originals that ran off steam and the two recent converts. They heat up properly, but seem to be slightly less hot....strange.

thanks, mark

GW

maybe a longer run cycle

what type of tstat do you have, can you stretch out the cycle a little longer?

All in all, is the room not heating up? Can you balance the super hot rads with slowing down the air venting? Like you said, seems like a minor issue. As long as the rooms are withing a degree ot two you're good to go

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Gordo2

Strange indeed

Do the vents get hot on the not-so-warm rads?

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markZ

Rad should be hotter

Gordo, thanks for the reply and jumping in. Did a little investigative work myself and here are the results. For couple of the Rads in the house that always got hot-quickly, I turned down the air vents to heat them up slowly and......voila! the other Rads that were less hot are now hot the way they are supposed to be. If I'm not mistaken, seems like I have a balancing issue here. What Rad to put at what air venting rate and/or setting.

Can someone let me know, if I can provide a radiator schematic in the house, if I have the air vents set properly? This might be a big help. Did notice the boiler is running longer to get steam into the 'outter' reaches of the 13 and 15 section main floor Rads. Next..

Do have a further question about my boiler output. Have an old Kolher type 'F' probably from 1940 era, model # AA 18x15, originally coal fed, now Beckette oil. Although I've searched extensively through the boiler info listed on this web site, can't locate the BTU output on this particular model. Help.

Last note: before I shut up and crawl into a glass of scotch. Heard the boiler shut itself off. Ran like a monkey on a wire from one end of the house to the other. All sections of the 'not so hot Rads' are HOT! Only one and the last section of a monster 5 tube-14 section Rad in a different part of the house if warm and not pistol hot. Seems like I have some more Rad air vent balancing to do. Any suggestions here to smoothe this out would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I know so little sometimes and I truely apologies for being as wordy and fast talking as an auctioneer. Thanks to all.

Mark