What happened to my vents ??

Handi

Hello all , long time reader ,and learner of this wonderful site. I have been reading several posts in regards to main venting and how important it is to have them .. -get that air out quickly - as Dan would say , and looking at my current system I realized that I could NOT find any main vents ?? can this be true ?? Here are some details and some pic.
My current setup : W/M P- SGO-4, GPH input -1.20 , Steam BTU / hr 144.000, steam sq. Ft - 450 , Steam BTU /hr-108, installed 10 / 2005. Since I'm pretty handy I figure I could tackle this project in one extra long weekend & then have some of my licensed plumber friends take the final look. Some background, this replaced an OLD Columbia, what I think was originally coal fired and then converted to oil. The monster was the size of a small VW beetle. I followed the installation manual very closely (,I think )- some of the things I did not understand then as to why a specific dimension or a certain size pie or a drop before a bend etc. etc.. But having been reading these pages for many years I now know why and am happy that I followed the installation manual.
Some questions that kinda bug me .
The discharge is 2½" and according to the manual it can be bushed down to 2" which I did since the existing pipe was all 2". ( but the original boiled did NOT have a equalizer or header !! go figure ) . so all you see there was installed by me following the manual , right up to where it meets the original pipe close to the ceiling. One of the things that bugs me is that I did not make the equalizer 1 ½" ( as called for in the manual) but made it 1 ¼" to keep everything the same with the tie-in from the wet return at the bottom.. ?? IS THIS A BIG ISSUE ??
As far as the vents My end of line header has none on both ends . as the pic. shows, from the 2" main there are (2) 1 ¼" risers about 10" apart and then (2) ells connecting to 1 ¼" return back to the Hartford loop-of the boiler. This is identical at both ends of the run ,since the boiler feeds the main from a tee . one going to the rear and the other to the front of the house. distances are not the same .
? CAN I REMOVE THAT END ELL AND REPLACE W/ A TEE ? AND THEN CONNECTING THE BULL END OF THE TEE BACK TO RETURN AS BEFORE .. THEN I CAN PUT SOME VENT(S) AT THE OPEN END OF THE TEE ??
The back of the house is easier to work since there is open space, the front end of the house is close to the build -up sheetrock finished wall but I do have some space to do the tee thing.
Sorry for the long post and thank you all the experienced folks here for sharing your knowledge and time.

Steamhead

It probably never had main vents. Back in the coal-fired era you could get away with that, but not now.

Measure the length and diameter of each steam main, from the boiler to where it reverses and returns, and we'll tell you what you need.

Handi

Thank you steamhead for your reply. Here is the info :
From the boiler to the main branch tee about 8 ft . from the tee to the back of house 17 ft . from the same tee to the front of the house 36 ft . not counting any risers from the boiler.. so total length from top of boiler to both ends of house about 61 ft. all 2" pipe

Steamhead

Start with a Gorton #1 on the short main and a Gorton #2 on the long one.

We normally drill and tap for main vents when a system never had them, rather than taking the pipe apart. Those old cast fittings have plenty of thickness to tap threads in. Not sure where you're located, but hopefully you're near a contractor who is set up for this.

Handi

Steamhead, thanks for the reply, Drill & Tap was the obvious choice for me at first ,since I'm a machinist by trade , - wish I had a penny for every D & T I've done over the past 43+ years .. but somehow I figured that cutting the 1 ¼" return a foot or so from the ell and unscrewing the ells and then as explained before, installing a red. tee from where I could have my way with any thing I wanted to add to that open side of the tee.. The D & T method might be an option for me at the long end where there is far less room for me to try & unscrew the ells ..
- So if I go w/ the D.& T. I'm looking at a ⅛ pipe tap no ? and the ideal place to drill would be right on the heavy part of that ell at the end of the run ? ( see pic. in original post )
-

Steamhead

Nope- you need a 1/2" pipe thread, which calls for a 3/4" hole. These are much bigger vents than the ones on your radiators.

I'd drill into the side of the last tee on the run. If you do it on the ell, water can slam into it. Give the threads a slight pitch upward from the tee, so water can drain out of the pipe and vent.

Somewhere I have pics of this.

Handi

Wow .. I had no idea that the Gorton's were so big .. while D.& T. for the ½ NPT is not a problem for me I'm kind hesitant about drilling such a big hole in the casting of that ell .. I don't know !! I might just go for the unscrewing the ell method since the requirement is ½ " NPT I can get a 2 " x 1 /1/4 " x ½ "

Steamhead

As I said- don't drill the ell- drill the last tee. You don't want the vent right at the end of the main if you can help it.

And good luck unscrewing that old piping.

Handi

Sorry about that steamed, I misread your comment.. I thought about it later that drilling too close to the end of the run might cause some problems with possible water accumulation ect..
Q : does it matter where in the tee I drill this hole in terms of rotation? I mean I suspect the Gorton vent wants to be standing straight up at 12 o'clock ? As you might immagine, drilling on top can be a bit of an issue due to low clearance between pipe & ceiling

Handi

uups ,I missed your additional comment above steamhead . It looks like you're suggesting drilling on the "side " of the last tee, at a slight upward angle.. I suspect that by that you mean at a 3 or 9 clock position when viewed from the end ?

Abracadabra

Handi said:

uups ,I missed your additional comment above steamhead . It looks like you're suggesting drilling on the "side " of the last tee, at a slight upward angle.. I suspect that by that you mean at a 3 or 9 clock position when viewed from the end ?

Correct...