End of main vent of some sort part #20-1885

dead

Harvard Medical School old steam system partialy converted to hot water has 3 air vents?part #20-1885 pat.june 1863(thats all info I could get off them)looks to be installed upside down and piped together they have 3/4 pipe running to each one seperatly installed in top of building 20 feet above all piping.one is hot the other two are cold.Before I tear the walls apart and trace back piping I would like to know exactly what they are.I need more info on system and am working on that.  

nicholas bonham-carter

a picture is worth a thousand words!

some pictures [even cel-phone pics]  would help one of the very old timers here recognize this vent. as i presume this is on the steam side of the system, it should not be difficult to find a replacement. what are the symptoms which prompted your visit?

when you say the system has been partially converted to hot water, is that with a hot water loopf the boiler?--nbc

jpf321

have a look at...

the pictures in the following PDFs perhaps you'll see the thing you seek...



1901 - Practical Treatise upon Steam Heating..... - http://books.google.com/books?id=UggKAAAAIAAJ



1903 - Modern Plumbing & Steam Heating .... http://books.google.com/books?id=7tVAAAAAIAAJ (starting around PDF pg 220)