Convert to vaccuum system?

Bill Stocky

Has anyone converted a one-pipe system to vaccuum?  How involved is it?  Is the improved efficiency worth it?

Bill

Unknown

Paul System?

Another poster was interested in doing a Paul System. They still make Paul valves for radiators.  They are supposedly much more efficient.  Look back a few days to last week there was some discussion there on the Paul System.

- Rod

Steamhead

That thread

is called "Paul System Retrofit" and it's several pages down from here. For some reason I couldn't paste the link- but you'll find it.

Patrick_North

I'm curious, too

I can see restoring a vacuum system, but I'm curious about why you would convert, too. What little research I've done suggests the Paul system was used to augment existing one pipe setups- would this benefit still apply with more modern setups?

I wonder- with good main venting and insulation, would it be worth the $$$ in a residential settion?

Patrick

Steamhead

It would have to have

an electrically driven vacuum pump, since there may not be enough steam pressure to operate an ejector. When the Paul and other air-line systems came out, they were originally used on systems that produced higher-pressure steam for power or process work, which is why the ejectors worked so well.



I have a feeling someone, somewhere, is going to build a modern Paul system in the near future. In the old days the savings were something like 35%.