Richardson ball check unioun

Dennis Foley

I'm rehabbing a 2 pipe steam system with Richardson ball check unions. Some of the balls are missing. Has anyone already done the research to replace them? The check unions are all there, it's just that someone must have let them drop out and never replaced put them back in.

Amazingly, except for 2 radiators, everything else on the radiators is intact.

Also, is there a replacement for the air expeller and vacuum valve?

Thanks for any help.

jpf321

bump ... steamhead?

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Steamhead

I'm here

Try to find replacement balls of the same material and diameter as the originals. I'm not sure if the originals were brass or steel- try a magnet on them.



Richardsons never had steam main vents as far as I know. You should add them- measure the length and diameter of each steam main and we can tell you what you need. Depending on how many rads the dry return vent serves, one or two Gorton #1 or Gorton #2 vents would work.

Paul Fredricks_3

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Richardson had a single vent on the return originally. I have one customer with a Richardson and I calc'd and added vents on the mains and the returns.



One radiator had been added later and didn't have the ball check assembly on it. I installed a Hoffman 17c trap at the outlet of the radiator and it seemed to work well. I also put a ball valve on the supply side, throttled it down to slow the flow through the radiator, and removed the handle.