baseboard vent quandry.... Hoffman 500's??

jpf321

A friend of mine has baseboards throughout .. they currently have vari-vents on most .. however, they are all crooked (not vertically aligned) .. because they have nice baseboard end covers (see pics) ...



on 2 or 3 rads they have "Hoffman 500" vents "For Steam or Hot Water" .. also pics .. these seem to be the only ones that would work beneath the end covers ..  I tried to find Hoffman 500's .. but they don't seem to be around anymore. anyone else have any thoughts?

jpf321

so i found ... Hoffman #508 and Taco #417

Hoffman HS-115 #508 Hygroscopic vents as a possible replacement for the Hoffman #500's (obsolete) .. I don't know much about this type of vent? Are they adjustable? I see that the Hoffman #500 is listed in the Gill & Pajek venting booklet with a single value so perhaps they are NOT adjustable .. Here's the PDF for the #508: http://www.bellgossett.com/literature/files/7245.pdf



As well, I found that Taco has a similar vent. the #417 "Coin Type" ... I would guess that they are comparable to the Hoffman #508 but the Taco's are a bit cheaper. http://www.taco-hvac.com/uploads/FileLibrary/100-7.1.pdf



Lastly, I'm not sure exactly on the internals of the Heat Timer VariVents .. do they work OK if they are not straight up and down. I would suppose that even at an angle, the water can drain out of them as long as they are more Up than Down. I don't think they have a float, but I'm not certain.



could a Pro please weigh in on the #508 or #417 and the mechanics of the vari-vent. Does the #508 and #417 need to be screwed all the way tight to work? Do they vent more if they are unscrewed a bit? From the Hoffman #508 PDF, it looks like they only work in "auto" mode when fully tightened.



thanks

jpf321

well i see....

that Steamhead spoke about the hygroscopic vents over here .. http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/133475/Boiling-hot-anything-I-can-do-without-involving-the-landlord#p1210164 .. but I can see as there's much other option for venting WITH the sleek end-caps .. unless I move the vents to the bottom of the unit .. not sure if I can do that without ripping the endcaps off and that won't be a very clean job.



i suppose I could punch a 1/8th hole through the top of the endcaps and pipe a vent on which would be external of the endcap .. i'll discuss that with them as a possibility. maybe on some of the more hidden rads, that would be acceptable. i also have to consider how i'm going to get the current varivalves out since they were installed prior to the endcaps and don't have clearance to unscrew now.



i also noticed in a recent post that someone confirmed the Heat Timer varivales don't have a float ..

Mark N

Baseray

Gerry Gill has a few pictures of baseray used on 2 pipe steam over on his website. He doesn't use the end caps. I would think you would have to use the upper tapping on 1 pipe steam.

Charlie from wmass

JP

The issue with using those vents is they are prone to dripping and spitting and wearing out. I pipe out of the covers and use my beloved vent rite #1's Also base board should not be over 4' on one pipe. I think you are walking into a mess with this you should pass to a professional. This could make for a bad neighbor situation when this go badly, or are you branching out into the service end of things?

jpf321

nope just helping a neighbor...

and trying to get more field experience through people that allow me to assist.



their longest C.I. BB is 7ft. I notice the Burnham PDF says no longer than 10ft but I am aware of the issues with BB in 1-pipe. Their only complaint right now is that some were not heating (this may have also been due to the fact that one of the only ones heating was the one in the room with the T-stat) .. mostly the ones that had their HT VariValves shut down we not heating. I increased the venting up several of them yesterday and I'm throwing a G#2 on their main today (they have a 1/2 G#1 on their now, should be an easy swap). When I get over there today I will ask if there was any improvement in the ones I vented faster.



I was really just curious as to how well the HT Varivalves do when they are not straight up and down and what possibilities there may be to replace them. I'm really not intended to cause a mess of their nicely painted end caps if the opening of the varivalves were somewhat helpful. Chances are that if they continue to have problem rads, I would pipe in some 1/8th and punch a hole through endcap for an straight external Hoffman 1A or something.



And these particular folks I've known since I've been 8yrs old .. i'm not sure they'd hate me forever for trying to help ..



Thanks.