Best Radiator Vents

MyNameIsMike

Hi All
I have been reading The Wall for a year now, after I bought an old house with single pipe steam heat. With that said, I will give you my system specs before I ask my question.

Burnham Jubliee fired at 1.35 G/hour.
2 - 2" main loops at 44' each, correct slope.
20" before the wet return I have 2 Groton #2 on 10" risers, antlers, on each main loop.
I had to drill and tap 1/2" holes in a 90° elbow, no main vents when I moved in.
The mains have 1/2" of insulation.
Asbestos was removed and I installed fiberglass.
14 radiators with 445 SqFt EDR.
3 psi gage installed, running between .5 and 1.5.
I need to get a vaporstat.

I think that I have some bad vents. While they are venting I can tap then and they vent faster. Is this normal? From their apperence they are old Vent-Rite 1A's.
Should I replace the suspect vents? What would you recomend?

Thanks in advance

Steamhead

They may be wearing out. But unless the radiators don't heat OK or the vents leak steam or water, that shouldn't be a problem. I like the current Vent-Rite #1 adjustable vents as they can help limit the heat in rooms that you want to keep cooler. But they should not be used in the area where the thermostat is. Gorton makes an excellent line of radiator vents too, but these have fixed ports and need to be sized to the radiators.

Those Burnham Jubilee boilers were built like tanks, but the original burners weren't great. If you don't have a newer burner, and you don't plan on replacing the boiler soon, a burner upgrade would be worthwhile.

Post some pics if you can.