Need more help opening traps

Brian_74

In an earlier post, Mr. Gill shared his technique for opening traps. At least as I understood it, it works only when the trap is on your right and thus you need to stop the vertical pipe from moving downward. It worked great on the one radiator I tried. I can't get the traps to open on two other radiators where the trap is on the left and you need to keep the radiator from moving up. I even tried putting some pipes through the radiator and having a friend stand on them while I tried to loosen the trap. Obviously I need to get heavier friends because I could feel the radiator lifting up.



Most of the traps are in corners, so there's no room for an impact wrench. I think that I'm going to have to resort to a cold chisel and tap it loose. The cage elements/rebuild kits from B&J should have new covers. I'm not going to do anything destructive until I have the kits in hand. In the meantime, any other ideas?

jpf321

can you ..

can you decouple the radiator and then turn the trap (and perhaps) the nipple to 90deg or 270deg in order to get better access ? with caution of course. or unscrew the trap completely from nipple and then work on it on a bench in a vice?

gerry gill

get a bigger pipe wrench (36'') and grab the top of the trap

with the wrench facing downward..stand on this wrench and grab the lid with another wrench and yank upwards..should come off for you and only require one person..no beers before standing on the wrench lest ye fall off..

Brian_74

I thought about doing it that way,

but (and this is just me sharing my thoughts) I figured that I was at least tripling my work--two things to loosen plus one heavy thing to move. Also, I thought that where the nipple goes into the radiator (there's a spud somewhere in there) is a rather fragile connection, one I'd rather not mess with.

Brian_74

You're a stern task master, Mr. Gill.

But I will try as you suggested. As always, I appreciate the advice.

Brian_74

You know that feeling when you're not sure…

…whether you just loosened a stuck fastener or just broke something? Well, I just had that feeling. Thankfully, I got the second of seven Ideal trap covers off rather than breaking anything.



I had to go buy a 36'' pipe wrench today. That's a BIG wrench. Funny how everyone let me go ahead of them in the check out line. :-)



Thanks again, Mr. Gill.

gerry gill

i hate that feeling..

its usually followed by the two words my customers hate to hear...''oh crap''..glad its working out..you'll find as you work with your steam system that, that wrench will become your best investment.