Leaking Steam Radiator

MaplewoodRick

I have a two pipe system with traps installed in my house which was built in 1919.  My 2 column 26 row radiator has started leaking from the "top" of the bottom connection joint.  This was determined by my putting a wad of paper towel at the top of the connection between one row and the next.  The paper got very wet.  Water doesn't usually leak out of the TOP of things.  The radiator gets very hot top to bottom & front to back.



Is it possible the trap has locked in the shut position and condensation is building up within the bottom connections and leaking out the top of a connecting joint at a weak point?

Jamie Hall

Leaks at the top

I have had some really interesting experiences tracing leaks -- I've always been told that water flows down hill, but somehow the word doesn't seem to have gotten to leaks.



It is unlikely that the trap is failed shut; if it were, the radiator would heat poorly, if at all, as the air wouldn't be able to get out.  It is possible, though, that the trap may not be working properly -- it is supposed to open on about a 20 degree differential, and it might not open properly once heated by steam, or it might be that the condensate is just too hot to let it open.  Neither one is particularly likely.



That said, a leak is a leak and undesirable.  Some folks have had decent luck sealing radiator leaks with J.B. Weld; I've not, but that may just be me.  My preferred approach is to take the radiator apart at the offending joint, carefully -- very carefully -- clean all the surfaces, and put a bead of red silicone RTV all around the joint (not too much -- but enough) and then reassemble.  Others prefer to take the joint apart and if they discover a rotted nipple -- quite likely -- replace it, but I've never bothered with that and the RTV trick has always worked.  So far...