Raising the vent

puff_puff_hiss

Can i put a 90 in the orifice where the vent goes and a long nipple and raise the vent 6 inches to eliminate water from coming out of the vent while the radiator is coming up to speed. I eliminated the two things i thought it could have been this morning..... The supply valve seems to be operating correctly and i also checked the pitch beneath the floor and in the walls by dumping 5 cups of water into the open supply valve while a had it apart and caught it in a bucket in the basement where i had disconnected a union on the pipe near where it ties back into the mains. My problem is still that 1 room in the whole house does not heat up. I have changed venting speed of the whole house and this radiator still refuses to heat up without pushing 6 to 8 oz of water out the vent before heating up.

nicholas bonham-carter

Jog in the pipe?

Was there a jog in that riser, or is it a straight run upstairs? If there is a horizontal part of it, then with subsidence, the horizontal could have reverse pitch. You could pour water through it, but it would block the air.

Try this test with the bonnet off, and the union disconnected in the basement. Pour the water into thoe bonnet, and let the pipe drain as much as it can.

Have your most trusted assistant be ready with the discharge hose of a vacuum cleaner to blow into the bonnet of the valve, while you observe the open union. I am betting the jog has a bit of settled water in it holding up the show.

Sometimes this can be repitched by raising the radiator so that the pipes are stretched out, thus correcting the reverse pitch.--nbc

Rod

Radiator Problems

Hi- Extending the vent up shouldn't be a problem. Water doesn't like to go around corners but air, being a gas, is okay with it. That's why an "antler" for the main vents benefits by using tees and elbows.



It seems to me that there has to be something that is collecting water in the lateral line and fittings between the steam main and the radiator.  Let me go over this again. -The radiator works fine after a small amount of water (approx 8 ozs.) is released out the vent?  8 ounces is a lot of water to "hide", any ideas as to where it could be "hiding"?

Could condensate from the main enter the lateral after the burner has shut down? Are there any other radiators connected to the same lateral?

Did you check your radiator's slope using a bubble level? I had a radiator that, while it had wedges under one end to slope it and obviously sloped towards the inlet pipe, actually sloped the wrong way when I put a bubble level on it. I have an old house and it turned out that the floor in that room had settled.

- Rod

puff_puff_hiss

Update

I must not have done a good job explaining the 5 cup of water test. I had the bonnet off the supply valve and while the top was open, i figured i could check the pitch of the pipe under the floor to rule that out, so i dumped 5 cups in. The water had to travel down the 6 8 ft horizontal leg and down the 12 ft riser to get back to the basement where it goes horizontal again to tie into a main. I broke the union near the main on that leg before adding water and that is where all 5 cups ended up, so the experiment to check pitch of hidden piping was successful.



I believe i am down to near boiler piping and needing a skim due to the presence of wet steam. I really dont know what else to experiment with.



After my experiment and putting everything back together, todays cycles produced far less water. no idea why. Talking more like or 2 oz now.

nicholas bonham-carter

Vacuum cleaner blow through test

Even if the jog is waterlogged, the 5 cup test will show 5 cups; however the air will not get through. That is why you need to follow up with the blow through test to see if any more water comes out.--NBC