Radiator not fully heating

tman40

I have a single pipe steam radiator system. I have a 6 foot radiator that only heats half it's length. It has a new vent and vents freely. I was curious to know if i need to level the radiator better. If so, should it be exactly level, or higher on one end or the other. Or maybe there's another solution.

Thanks



Tom

BobC

Might only heat fully on a real cold day

It might not ever heat fully except on a really cold day. With single pipe steam the radiator should have a slight slope towards the radiator valve so any condensing steam finds it's way back to the boiler and can't block steam in the radiator itself (or cause water hammer).



What kind of main vent(s)?

is this much larger than all the other radiators?

Is the thermostat in the same room as this radiator?

What kinds of radiator vents are you using?



Bob

Jamie Hall

Good sized

radiator there.  As Bob says, it is quite possible that it won't heat all the way across unless it is a really cold day, or you are recovering from a moderate to deep setback.  That wouldn't be unusual at all.



On the other hand, it is possible that something is restricting the steam flow to it; either the vent may be too small or there might be a sag or some such nuisance in the runout -- but you'd here the water hammer if that were the case.  If the vent is too small, the radiator will heat less rapidly than others on the system -- and then the question is, does it heat the space it's in the way you want it to?  If so, it ain't broke; don't fix it.

tman40

Thanks

Thanks for the info. Not sure what size/king of vent I have, it was the only one they had at the local hardware store. The heater is the same size as all of the others in the house just longer. It is in the room with the thermostat too. I'm happy with the heat it gives off but wasn't sure if it was working fully. It's angled toward the feed side so there's no banging when it heats. Thanks again for the help

Tom