I need a quiet radiator vent

RyanC

Can anyone suggest a quiet radiator vent?  The sound of the air is not all that loud.  Just a quite "whoosh" really, but it is when the darn thing closes.  It makes a very loud "PA-TING."  It sounds like someone shooting a metal bucket with a bb-gun.  During the week its not that bad because it happens about the time I have to get up anyway.  But on the weekends it starts making its music and two minutes later my 3 year old is standing next to the bed saying, "Come on Mommy and Daddy it's time to get up.  Daddy can you make me waffles?"  Then of course the 3 year old left the bed room door open so now the cat is standing on my chest nose to nose with me and of course he is a drooler.  Really, I just want a little extra sleep on the weekend and as far as I can see its the vent that's ruining it :)

The vent that is there now is a Watts.

jpf321

i have gortons ...

until I turned the stat up this morning 3dF above where it had been .. my system had been completely silent except for sound of oil burner in the basement...sometimes I wish I could hear them close .. but even with my ear next to it, it's hard to hear my gortons close.

Big-Al_2

Bimetal

The vents that use a bimetalic spring instead of an alcohol-filled bellows close slowly.  Gorton and Maid-O-Mist are the two brands I know of.  They are the ones that look like chrome plated snuff boxes.  My experience is that the Maid-O-Mist vents can be a little quieter.   The HeatTimer Varivalve vents also close gradually, even though they are the bellows type.

I do have a couple of the Hoffman 40 bellows type vents.  They make an audible ping when closing, but I'm guessing you must have the Watts vents.  I had them all over my house at one time. Your description of a metal bucket hit by a bb-gun is quite accurate.

Patrick_North

Don't blame just the vent...

We have a mix of Gorton and Hoffman radiator vents. Up until this year, our boiler was grossly oversized, and our pressuretrol was not exactly up to snuff. LOUD clinks, pings, etc. from the Hoffmans. (Frankly, I came to find it soothing- in a Pavlovian sense, it was the sound of warmth!) This year- new appropriately size boiler with Vaporstat. System never exceeds 8oz. The Hoffmans? Quiet as a field mouse fart.

Your mileage may vary, but those loud vents could be telling you something about your system.

Good luck,

Patrick

RyanC

I dont think it is a pressure issue

But then again I dont really know.  My vaporstat is set for 12oz and the gauge never goes above 13oz.

Big-Al_2

Not Pressure

I doubt that pressure has anything to do with the sound of the vents closing . . . hissing while open, maybe . . . closing, no.  Hoffman and Watts vents, among others have an alcohol-filled chamber inside with an inward-domed bottom made like an old fashioned oil can.  When the alcohol boils and it builds enough internal pressure, the domed bottom of the internal part POPS out, driving a plunger into the opening at the top of the valve.  It's a snap-action valve, and that snap action makes for a more positive seal.  I have three Hoffman 75 main vents at my house.  They close long before the boiler makes any measurable pressure.  The 75s are big, and when at least one of them closes, it makes a sound like it fell off the pipe onto the concrete floor.  The Hoffman 40s do the same thing on a much smaller scale.  The radiators act like a sounding board, and seem to amplify the noise.   If you have Hoffman vents and they don't ever plink shut, then I'd wager that they are never seeing steam. 



A Gorton or Maid-O-Mist valve will close gradually as the bimetalic element slowly heats up.  In my experience, the snap-action type vents seem to close off a little more reliably though.  The Gortons seem to need an occasional tap to get them to seal off completely.  It's a trade off..