bigger radiator vent to make lest heat

HoyteKing

Hello All,



Our local HVAC man Ziggy (oh, he has decades of experience with steam too) sent a young turk out to experiment on our building's heating issues.



Background:

- 9 unit, 3 story building with three tiers

- about 25 Hoffman vari-vents were put in to balance the heat about two years ago

- the unit above the boiler has been almost 80 degrees consistently

- the three units furthest away + two units in the adjoining tier are cold



Ziggy's guy replaced the Hoffmans with Gorton 4's in the units that are cold. He said the Hoffmans had calcium buildup and no longer vented well.



The hot unit got Gorton 5s, except for the child's bedroom, where the radiator was turned off.



It is my understanding that the radiators are to vent slow, and the mains fast. Am I right?



So, is putting these Gortons in a sound move? Will it reduce the overheating and balance the system?



This same company installed three new vents on the mains over a year ago. These are viewed by many as having been placed incorrectly.



<a href="http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/140731/Has-our-system-been-analyzed-correctly#p1263743">http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/140731/Has-our-system-been-analyzed-correctly#p1263743</a>

Hap_Hazzard

He got it backwards.

Radiator vents need to vent not just the air from the radiator but also the runout from the main. Radiators farthest from the main are always the last to get steam if they're vented at the same rate, so you need to increase the venting rate on the most distant radiators to compensate. #4 is the slowest vent they make. I have 6s, Cs and Ds on my upstairs radiators, 4s and 5s downstairs.

nicholas bonham-carter

Venting arrangement

3 main vents does not sound adequate for a 9 unit building. You need maximum venting on the mains so they fill with steam first, then the top of risers radiator could have faster vents, but the 1st, and 2nd floor rads should have the old hoffmans back again. Soaking in vinegar will clean them up nicely. Don't keep on paying for extra fuel to push the air out, get some good venting once, and save 15% on gas.

Get some of the steam books from the shop here, and make Ziggy read them.--NBC

HoyteKing

Gorton chart

I just bought a Gorton C for my daughter's room using the handy chart Gorton has:



http://www.gorton-valves.com/specify.htm



Thank you both for your comments. Hopefully, it will help us balance our system.

HoyteKing

steam venting capacity chart

I just purchased the "Balancing Steam Systems Using a Venting Capacity Chart" for us to use.



Any pointers on the best way to utilize it in our situation?



Also, The Pajek web site has a pressure controller. Has anyone had any experience with it?

http://www.gwgillplumbingandheating.com/webapp/p/417/the-pajek-pressure-controller



By the way, I am from Cleveland. It seems there are a lot of super smart steam people there.