Question about replacing steam vents on rad

Linda R

the rads are all pitched correctly. I already fixed pitch 3 others (not the same rads with faulty vents) that had been recently installed perfectly level :-) for more on that see soon to be posted "whole story" of knucklehead stuff done to my system.

Thanks for the answers. I have Teflon tape and though maybe I should use it but couldn't see any evidence on the other radiators and had visions of it "gluing" the valve in place or something horrific. Will not use oil, girl scout promise :-).

Linda

Linda R

Question about replacing steam vent on radiator

Ok, I'm a newbie, homeowner and just read Dan's "We Got Steam Heat" book bought because my heating costs were ridiculous last month. I've found a bunch of stuff wrong with my system and I'm starting to tackle some of the small stuff I can do on my own.
So I have 1-pipe steam. I have 2 radiators with vents that are spewing steam when the supply valve is on (they're off now). I bought two Vari-Valve vents and its my stated intention :-) to replace those misbehaving vents.
Now I know that I turn the heat off first.
Then, do I leave the supply closed or open it?
Then I screw off the old valve.
And before I put the new one on, is there anything I should do such as clean, oil, or tape?

Thanks for your help - I know these questions must seem fairly trivial but I want to do it right.

Linda

Unknown

Linda, you did the right thing by buying the book.

However, if you have water really spitting out of the old vents, maybe its just the vent but with that amount of water, your boiler can be making wet steam due to dirty,oily water or impropered near boiler pipings. Can you please post some pictures of your boiler? We Wallies are addicted to them...

Kool Rod

Hi Linda-
With the system turned off - open the Radiator supply valves as this will allow any condensate to drain back to your boiler. These valves should always be Fully open or Fully closed . Having these valves open partially will cause water hammer. I would next check that the radiator is sloped correctly. It needs to be sloped towards the inlet pipe. This is so the condensate (water) will drain back to the boiler. Check the slope using a "bubble level". Put a shim under the radiator "feet" at the end away from the pipe if the radiators need slope.

On replacing the vents - First turn off the system and allow it to cool a bit. (Always be careful as steam burns are bad!) Remove the old Radiator vent and then just replace it with the new one. The vent should be vertical (point up) To stop the threads on the new vent from leaking use Teflon plumber's tape. (It's white and 1/2 inch wide and available at any place that sells plumbing) Wrap the tape around the threads once or twice and then just screw it into the radiator. It should screw in very easily and gradually tighten up.

The Vari - valve vents are quite large vent wise and can "spit" water when opened to their maximum open setting. I'd try them on a minimum setting first and then increase it if no spitting problems are experienced.

You mentioned using oil on the vents. You generally don't want to use oil on a steam system as it can contaminate the boiler water and cause surging.

There is no such thing as a trivial question. Questions are how we all learn and it is much better to ask a question than make a mistake!

- Rod

Linda R

ok will do as separate thread, but..

am good to go with replacing the vents? I want to do that today.
They don't shut off as they should after the air escapes and it's steam - not visible or wet really, that's coming out.