radiator short circuiting?

jpf321

has anyone ever tried to short-circuit a radiator as described on pg4. here: <a href="http://www.heatinghelp.com/files/articles/1315/123.pdf">http://www.heatinghelp.com/files/articles/1315/123.pdf</a>



sounds like an interesting idea. thoughts?

Mark N

Short Circuiting

I think they are trying to stop the radiator from short circuiting not to cause it to short circuit.  No I have not tried it.



Mark

Unknown

Call Me a Chicken!

I've read this article and my feeling was that most people, myself included, would be a bit reluctant to dig through umpteen layers of paint and then try to get the rusted plug out of the end of the radiator and would just decide it is better to "let sleeping dogs lie".  - Rod

jpf321

fixing short circuit

Mark -- you are correct, my mistake ..

Rod -- chicken! .. i'll let you know if i'm able to get any plugs open .. the idea sound very useful .. it makes much sense...i'm especially interested b/c we base everything from radiator EDR .. but in all likelihood, for those of use that have hot-water rads, we probably aren't making full use of the rad's full EDR.



questions:

is the plug normally a standard NPT size?

are the plugs normally cast-iron as well?

can they be drilled out and replaced with a new black NPT plug?



fyi, i'm picking up a couple new (old) rads this evening from a cleanout in Brooklyn .. going to swap some BTU's around the house, my kitchen is especially under-radiated.



thanks.

malp

big @#$# cheater pipe

The plugs are NPT. I removed some 80 year old 2-inch plugs using penetrating oil, an 8-ft cheater pipe, and a pipe wrench. I lashed the radiators to 2x4s first to keep them from flipping over as I cranked down on the pipe. Honestly, I didn't have to put much weight on the pipe to break the plugs loose. Maybe 30 to 50 lbs.

Big-Al_2

Variable

I've recovered a few radiators myself, and have removed some 2" NPT plugs and fittings from very old radiators.

1) Some have unscrewed nicely with a 24" pipe wrench.

2) Some have responded to a 8 foot long cheater bar.

3) A couple would not budge at all, or broke off partially under force.  This is especially true of cast iron reducing bushings.  The pipe wrench basically crushes the part that sticks out.

If you are dealing with really stuck plugs, many of them are hollow and cup-shaped.  You could first use a sawzall to lop off the end sticking out of the rad.  If necessary, then you'd need to open up a hole in the middle of the plug big enough to insert a sawzall blade.  Make a couple of radial cuts outward through the plug, but stop just shy of the threads in the radiator.  You then use a hammer and chisel to try to knock the pieces radially inward and free them up from the tapped hole.

If you nick the threads in the radiator, you'll need to use extra sealing measures when you put a new fitting or plug in the hole . . . like RTV silicone instead of pipe dope . . . or even J-B Weld if you never plan to take it apart again. 

jpf321

as it turns out ...

as it turns out .. the radiators that I picked up yesterday were piped for Hot Water .. which meant I had to do along of plug-busting .. everyone of them (1-1/2") unscrewed nicely with a 5ft cheater...



now with regard to fixing the short circuit .. each section is spudded together so 1" pipe is too big b/c it hits the internal spud-ears .. I have to go get some 3/4" pipe and slip it across .. I got some Pro-Poxy to close up the ends of the 3/4" short circuit buster ... will report...at this point I have a new black plug newly tefloned on the top of the rads ... so it will be easy to retrofit this pipe over the coming days (likely today).



thanks.