Radiator refurbishment, Square Socket and Nut and tail piece questions

Ocelaris

I'm gearing up for the summer basement heating addition and I've collected about 6 sunrad type radiators which I need to clean up and plumb for our setup. I picked out all the hot water types in the greater NYC area, so now I'm down to Steam varieties which need a few modifications to work with hot water. Assuming they hold pressure, I'm trying to match the rest of the house.

Some have a female square plug that I have to remove to install the bushing. It appears to be about 1" square. I may be over thinking this, but can I just use a standard 1" wrench/socket or is there some special tool for this purpose? I only have a 1/2" at the moment for car stuff, but I doubt I could break that loose with what I have. Is there a name for this, is it really just a 1" square socket or is there some special tool like a spud wrench?

Second question, a lot of these radiators have half of the nut and tail piece. I'd rather start with the entire fitting in case it's warped, but half of it's missing anyways, so is this a standard union that I can pick up the other half? All I've been able to find so far is the bottom picture with the 90* elbow, and although I probably need to turn 90* anyways, I was hoping to find a straight piece to attach a sweat connection etc... Is there a better name than "nut and tail piece"? All they seem to have is giant steam gate valves, and I'm just looking for the radiator nipple + internal tooth + Union.

Thanks

icesailor

Standard 4 and 8 point sockets fit square plugs. Nothing works better than the proper fitting socket. No matter what.

The radiator you show in the photo has a blind plug. It will take a proper square drive to get it out. You really should try to get it out because it wasn't properly re-done in the original steam installation. Its been leaking steam. When you convert to HW, it will weep worse because of the higher pressure. Manufacturers just put those plugs in for shipping purposes. Some of us were taught that when we installed the radiator originally, you re-did each and every plug in a radiator that was factory installed, "Just in case". It was always easier to do it before installation than afterwards when it leaked.

How us old guys got the reputation of being "Old and Slow".

Many of us were taught that "There's never enough time to do it right, but always time to do it over."

Larry_52

A 3/4 drive breaker bar with a 1" drive adapter would be sufficient. I would recommend some direct heat applied before you attempt to force it out. A mapp torch and some canning wax applied to the plug threads is what I would use.

Ocelaris

Thanks, I plan on pulling the plugs out for the steam radiators. The problem is that they're "innies" not "outties" otherwise I'd already have them out. I realize now it's only 3/4" square drive, so I'll have to pick a generic 3/4" drive wrench from the hardware store, hopefully it's strong enough. The first 3 I picked up were hot water, but now all that's left on craigs list is steam radiators. Cross my fingers, but I'll pressure test and clean them out once I can get the water back on outside.

Is it fine to use "Black iron" for the plugs from the big box store? Any other concerns using brass tail and nut pieces? I had planned on using a TRV on two of them as they'll be enclosed rooms, and the basement is going to be one one zone. Thanks

icesailor

You can get "Insies" anywhere. Like larger auto supply stores. You can get Insie Increaser short adapters that are 1/2" female to fit a 1/2" drive bar, or go to some place like Harbor Freight. They have all kinds of BA tools there. If you nose around, you might even weasel the use of a bar from a truck repair or a tire repair facility.

There's always a way. You just have to figure it out.