Tudor Vapor System in Easton, PA

Steamhead

This started as a consulting job and the owners then asked us to do the work. Of course we'll travel for something like this!



The Tudor was the original Orifice Vapor system. We're not sure if it was ever officially known by that name, but now that we know who invented it we generally use this name when we run into one of the original versions. To see a discussion of this system as well as several of Frederic Tudor's patents (thanks to Steve Pajek for the patent research), go here:



<a href="http://www.heatinghelp.com/files/articles/1302/492.pdf">http://www.heatinghelp.com/files/articles/1302/492.pdf</a>



The house is at the left in this block of 3. Not sure if the other two have the same system but maybe we'll find out.



The old radiator shutoffs were long gone, replaced by ordinary hand valves and TRVs. The TRV heads were all gone, so we replaced the valve stem assemblies and put on new heads. We had to orifice the hand valves on the first floor and the second floor bathroom, so they would match the resistance of the TRVs which were installed in the bedrooms.

Steamhead

Someone added this radiator years ago

when they added the laundry room. This radiator had a surprise in it: the return bushing where they installed a trap was actually a "bushing trap" water-seal unit from what was likely a Vapor Regulator Co installation! The owner said that radiator always gurgled and never heated well, and now we know why.



The bushing trap patent is here:



http://www.heatinghelp.com/files/articles/1366/374.pdf



We don't usually make "pagodas" out of multiple bushings, but in this case it helped us extend the return ell so it would reach the pipe.



This radiator, at 24 square feet EDR, got a 5/32" orifice. It doesn't take much. This worked out to a 1-PSI differential.

Steamhead

Easy way to drill an orifice plate

clamp a union in a vise and clamp the plate in the union. Use a step drill so you don't have to keep changing bits. This was Gordo's idea- yet another reason why he's the best partner I could have. I keep that little drill and step bit set up, it's handy for drilling test holes in boiler chimney connectors.

Steamhead

Some shots of the system itself

the piping is a bit different from the Tudors we've seen in Baltimore, but it's still a Tudor. The steam mains pitch down to the loop seals on this one rather than pitching up from the boiler.



The first pic shows the near-boiler piping. The dry return vent is a Hoffman #75 up in the floor joists. You can see the loop seal for the short main behind the water heater.



The second pic shows the loop seal on the long main. You can see the two Gorton #D vents we installed on the end of the main.

Steamhead

And when we were done

all the radiators heated to 85-95% on seven ounces of pressure, as shown on the gauge. Any higher and the newly-installed Vaporstat tripped. The dry return vent never closed.



Frederic Tudor, wherever you are, I hope you approve.

gerry gill

looks like you had fun!

i think mr. tudor would be happy..another steam system made to run well..what was the background on the road trip? no one around there could figure out what they were looking at i'd imagine..well done steam guru's!

Steamhead

You pretty much nailed it, Gerry

especially on Orifice systems- they're so simple, the average tech can't figure them out.



The owners had the boiler replaced last year, and overall the installers did a pretty good job. Aside from the Vaporstat, the only thing we really would have done differently would be to enlarge the header to at least 2-1/2", and to use a wet-base/power-burner boiler instead of an atmospheric.



We hope to have some fuel-consumption figures on this one next year.

DanHolohan

Mr. T.

Here's some more background on this, and a delightful (and lengthy) quote from Mr. Tudor himself, who believes he invented just about everything that had to do with heating. 

Steamhead

Well, he did

come up with a major advance in Vapor heating, seen here. One wonders if it was just too simple then, as it is now?



Here's an old thread about a Tudor we found in Baltimore.......



http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/98133/Vapor-System-Saved