ID this steam system?

Timco

Looked at a steam system today I have not seen. The large trap in the basement says Moline, as do the small valves on each radiator. Some radiators have a vent, I assume due to the Moline part being stuck or bad, and someone going down the wrong path to get heat back to those rads. System was being run at 8psi when I got there. Any ID on these valves on the rads would be great, as well as any literature or info on this type of system. Trane valves.  Last, what did they do on top of the trap with the water heater connector??? Just a hose bib up there and a strange vent on the end of the water heater connector.



EDIT for spelling....



Thanks,  Tim

Steamhead

Not Modine- Moline!

The lock-shield valve on the rad return is a dead giveaway.



Moline Heat is covered briefly in Lost Art, and Boilerpro is our resident Moline expert.



Where did you run into it? Is the vent with the water heater gooseneck the only one you found?



Molines generally used an ejector to pull air from the system. The ejector was powered by steam from the boiler. Not sure if the trap you found was actually an ejector- maybe BP would know.

Timco

Moline

In SLC, UT. Affluent area, homes from about 1915 or so.



Yes, that vent pictured was the only one I saw, and it looked more like a vacuum breaker. I just love the water heater connector. The radiator return valve...just on & off? Not a trap? You can clearly see where a key would fit in there...I assume to balance the system? I need to put together a estimate to get it straightened out right but need to troubleshoot the vents on rads issue, as well as making the main vent work right. I will pull out lost art later, as well as the other resources. Is this a vapor type system? As mentioned, it was up at 8psi or so....



Tim

Steamhead

Sounds to me

like an air venting issue. We know how the air got out of those systems. The question is, can it still?



The lock-shield return valve was just a shutoff for servicing. There was an orifice in the steam shutoff valve that balanced the various rads, and the steam could reach all the way to the ejector/main vent/vacuum trap.



I pulled out the Lost Art Companion. It shows a cutaway view of an air trap, that looks like it might be the one in your pic. If it is, this was the main vent. It could be used with or without a vacuum check on the outlet.



Look at the piping leading to the air trap. There should be a condensing radiator or pipe coil hung from the ceiling. The steam-powered ejector would have been piped between this condenser and the dry return, with a steam line leading to it also.

Timco

vents

Any time I see rad vents tapped into the hot water bleeder vent tappings on top of the rad, and just on 2-4 rads and not all, I figure something has gone wrong and we all know the correct solution is to just add a vent to the troubled rad and leave the pressure turned up to 10psi!!