venting risers

nicholas bonham-carter

would this work, for 1-pipe risers?

remove the bonnet of the valve, cut out the valve stem, and drill and tap the bonnet for a gorton 2. replace the bonnet.

naturally, the same treatment should be done to all on the top floor at the same time. since the valve should only be used for service work, its absence should not be missed.--nbc 

Hap_Hazzard

I'm sure you know what you're doing better than I do

It just seems a little excessive. A Gorton #2 vents at about .80 cfm. That's almost twice the rate of a #D, which was intended for those remote radiators that refuse to get hot. If you're sure that radiator needs that much venting, you could always get a Varivalve, which can vent at the same rate as the #2 but is adjustable so you can dial it back if it turns out to be too much, and you won't have to modify your supply valve. But if I were in your situation I think I'd be looking at where else in the system there might be too much venting.



If you're determined to add a vent before the radiator, unless you have a bad valve lying around, you could use one of those union ells they use on the condensate side of two-pipe radiators instead of ruining a perfectly good valve.

nicholas bonham-carter

overventing?

actually, i was thinking of a very tall riser, in a very tall building. the purpose of over venting here is to make the venting not only adequate, but silent.

often, there is a problem with taking off the radiator valve, and spud, then reconfiguring the piping for a riser vent, with a new straight valve. this sacrifices the valve, but more easily adds the vent with a minimum of re-piping.-nbc

gerry gill

if what your asking is would it work-

Yes..it would and probably very well.

Phil_17

venting risers

I don't know your exact situation, but I've found that adding a large vent on the valve side of the radiator will do exactly what you are looking for.



The point of quickly venting the mains and the risers is to get steam to all of the radiators at approximately the same time, right?



Adding this second vent to the radiator itself will help to vent the riser quickly, then close once the steam reaches the first section. Then the normal vent at the other end of the radiator can be sized or adjusted as needed to get the proper balance from room-to-room.



I found this to much easier to do than you might expect, and I didn't have to do any additional work on the piping or compromise the way the system worked. If it doesn't work, it's also super-simple to undo...



Enjoy!

-Phil

Long Beach Ed

As Phil Says...

I drill and tap the boss on the valve end of the radiator and use a Gorton D.  As long as the valve can handle the condensate, that's the same as placing the #1 main vent on the riser.

FJL

Venting Riser

In my situation, we added two Gorton 2 valves by tapping the riser in the apt below the top floor, near the ceiling.  This vents the risers to a foot or so below the valve for the radiators on the top floor. This works well for us.  The steam travels fast up the risers.  I live in a four story building.  If I can find a photo when I get home, I'll post it. 

Photos in this thread, just scroll up from where the link takes you:  http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/129842/Balancing-the-Steam-System-in-my-Building#p1189517

Dave in QCA

My attempt at riser venting

In my system, in my attempt to balance and get a little more heat in a cool area, I added riser vents to some second story radiators.  My risers are in the wall, so they come out running horizontal to the radiator.  I drilled an 1/8" hole in the horizontal pipe coming to the radiator, tapped it, and installed a vertical type varivalve.  This vents at .66 cfm at 1 oz pressure, or the same as 2 Gorton #1 vents.  It worked quite well, although it did create a little more noise to the otherwise silent 2 pipe system.



This year, with addition of orifices, which has completely resolved my balance issues, I removed all of the riser vents that I had installed last year, with no noticeable affect.