New main vent advice

SparkySenior

Thanks for a very informative site!



I have a small single family house with a 40's one-pipe system, (1 inch pipe) and 8 radiators; each main has 2 upstairs rads and 2 down. The mains are about 28 ft. each to the rads and about a 22 ft. return. It's a 70's era Weil McLain and it works well, I get nice dry steam to all rads and I purge the rust weekiy.



I want to replace the old main vents (see photo) which are "Hercules Vacuum Vent 645 4D". I can't find any info. on them. All I can tell you is that I can blow through them when cold, and that one is noticeably warmer than the other after a 15 min. cycle.



I am thinking about replacing each of these with a single Gorton 1 or 2. For now, I don't want to relocate the vents back where they should be, so my plan is to use an antler off the existing riser that I can expand if necessary. Can anyone offer advice on this setup?



On another topic, we have 2 recessed "Columbia" rads, and to change vents I have to remove the rads and take a bunch of carpentry apart . The 2 rads are "bookpage" with the inlet valves right next to each other behind an access hatch in the middle. The vents are "outboard" and inaccessible. Can I run a metal line and relocate the vents around and behind each rad (with the right pitch) to the middle where I can reach them? Would the long line make for more condensate, and keep the vents from closing?



Any help or advice is appreciated!



Sparky

gerry gill

the main vents should work as

you describe..the radiator vent set up, i' d say try it and see, as what do you have to loss..perhaps vents those slowly would be best.

crash2009

Gorton Antler

I built mine out of 3/4".  Use a union, its much easier to build it on the workbench rather than up the ladder.  Rather than using a 90 degree elbow, use two 45's, this will allow you to adjust the slope, then you can aim your antler any direction you want.  If you are going to use Gortons, do not insulate the antler.  Gorton #2 is 1/2" threads and is 6 and 3/8" tall.  Here are a couple pics of how mine went together.