Replacment Valves and Bafflers on Kriebel System

cjrusso250N

Have a Kriebel 2 pipe Vacuum Vapor steam system in a house I just bought. 2 radiators were missing, 2 more leaking of 12 total. Removed 2 leaking radiators and capped pipes temporarily to get heat and system seems to work well. All radiators warm and no water hammer, not short cycling. Have a line on some replacement radiators but valves and bafflers are my issue. I have the valves and bafflers from the 2 bad radiators, but nothing for the two that were missing when I bought the property. Need some good advice:

1. Can I use a regular Home Depot variety steam valves or other readily available valves on the supply side? The original valves are Phila Vacuum-Vapor company ones but do not look to be doing anything special inside?

2. On the returns, are there sources for the baffler type elbows? Web searches did not turn up anything on first glance. If not, can I use traps of different construction on the replacement radiators in the system and have it function properly?

Thanks!
Chris in Emmaus, PA

Steamhead

Aside from the bafflers, the Kriebel is basically an orifice system. The original radiator valves could be fine-tuned to the size of each radiator, and this balanced the system.

When used with a coal-fired boiler, the steam would enter the dry returns as the system came out of setback in the morning. This closed the main air vent, after which the system could go into vacuum. But this doesn't work well with oil or gas firing.

You can still buy orificing radiator valves from MEPCO (formerly Dunham) and Barnes & Jones. I wouldn't use anything else on your system. A standard 1/2" radiator return elbow is fine. If you do decide to use radiator traps, it's best to use them on all the radiators (don't scrap the Kriebel fittings!!!). Install a Vaporstat on the boiler to keep the pressure very low, and your system should work well.

Steamhead

Here is a link to a discussion of the earlier style of Kriebel valve, which instead of an adjustable opening, was made in several different sizes:

https://books.google.com/books?id=-X9NAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1254&lpg=PA1254&dq=vapor+vacuum+heating+co.&source=bl&ots=vq3F2Wl62u&sig=Szm3lSHar7UyCKD0cJMCnvqlpsw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Fo-hVM_BM8SkNrzSg4gM&ved=0CEsQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=vapor vacuum heating co.&f=false