New to Steam

Meyer1120

Hello everyone, so I recently bought the steamy deal and I have been reading all the info available. So today I have been busy installing insulation on ALL of the pipes in my system. When we bought the house the VA required that we remove the asbestos insulation (at the time I thought great, but as winter came I realized that if it was there to begin with it probably needed to be there). So while I have been doing this I figured I would take a look at the main vents (which there are three) they seem to be in good condition, but I want to replace them just to be on the safe side. They are Hoffman No. 74, where is the best place to purchase these? I have noticed that they are priced differently all over the internet. Also what is the best shim to use to "fall" the radiators correctly? I purchased the standard wood ones today as well as the composite type. Lastly should I clean the radiator vents or should I just buy new ones? The house is 90 years old and the past 6 years it has been a rental property and things weren't taken care of correctly, so to replace or clean that is the question. Any help would be great. Also I can not express how wonderful these books are to read.

BobC

Welcome to the woeld of steam

Once you get that system running well you will be very happy. Buying those books is going to repay you many times over.



I don't know what the Hoffman 74's are rated at so lets get a little more information. How long is each of your steam mains and what size pipe (circumference is fine)? With that information we can determine the pipes volume and we will know how much venting you should have.



What kind of boiler do you have and what pressure is it running when making steam? It really should be less than 2PSI and hopefully lower. Post some pictures of the boiler and the piping around it so we can see how it's configured, and post a picture of a main vent as well.



Some people use quarters to shim up radiators and others use strips of the proper thickness wood. Check the radiator run-outs in the basement to make sure they slope back towards the steam mains so any water drains off.



Make a list of your radiators (height, width, depth and # of columns) so the EDR of each one can be determined. Also list the type of air vent on each and it's setting if it's adjustable. From that list we can see if the vent and radiator are matched to each other and see which ones might need to be replaced. A lot of the folks here by vents (main and radiator) at pexsupply.com.



Bob

Enreynolds

Hoffman 74

The Hoffman #74 is a Steam Unit Heater Vent.  It is not designed to be used as a main vent on a residential steam system.  Hoffman #75s or Gorton #1s or #2s are a much better choice.

Eric