Decommissioning a single Hot-Water Radiator

AlexPetron

Hello, and Merry Christmas!

A very narrow and small 30 tube hot-water radiator heating a tiny closet broke, and this has resulted in water discharging from the radiator if the water main is "ON" Accordingly, this radiator has to be decommissioned, removed from service, and the piping capped. My question here is to do this, is it necessary to drain all the water from the heating system prior to removal, or is leaving the water-main "OFF" sufficient to successfully complete this job. Thank you for any and all assistance you can provide.

GW

Yes indeed drain the system until the radiator is empty, obviously you need to open the coin vent. no need to drain the entire system. You will want to remove the rad then remove the valve or valves, and cap off the two pipes, good luck finding caps on Christmas day.. Fill it up and bleed the rads that have been possibility emptied (likely none if you don't crack the coin vents).

Solid_Fuel_Man

Is this a monoflow or series piped? You may need to install a bypass for water to still forward in one pipe and out the other for the rest of the zone to function. Any pictures?

Taylor

AlexPetron

I believe this is a single-pipe system as the house is very small by today's standards. Here is a picture of the radiator. The cracked portion from where the water discharges while the system is running is on the upper-right of the radiator and is not directly visible in the picture.

Solid_Fuel_Man

Any pictures of the boiler and its associated piping? Then we can further assist you.

GW

Wow I hope you don't struggle getting the fittings off the pipes, you're delving into heating guy stuff. May need to heat it up some with a little torch if your wrenches aren't big enough. Worse case cutting them off with a swwzall but you need to be extremely careful not to cut the pipe threads not a beginner thing

AlexPetron

Here are some good pictures I have of the Arcoliner boiler and its piping. Unfortunately, the piping supplying the radiator targeted for decommissioning is situated in a crawlspace, so accessing it, if necessary, will likely be difficult.

Since these photos were taken over a year ago, I have had the oil burner upgraded. Also, I won't be doing this job myself, but I want to understand how this job should be performed prior to hiring a heating contractor.

Bob Bona_4

Wonder how it cracked? Yes, I'd let a pro deal. That 60 yr plus old boiler and related piping can and likely will be a can of worms.

AlexPetron

Hi Bob,

Bob Bona said:

Wonder how it cracked? Yes, I'd let a pro deal. That 60 yr plus old boiler and related piping can and likely will be a can of worms.

I'm not sure how it cracked. Nothing heavy dropped on it, and it looks like it may be broken not only at top-right but also at the union where it meets the valve. It is the furthest radiator from the boiler and above an unheated crawlspace, if that is relevant.

Thank you, Gary Wilson, for all of your helpful advice!

Fred

Have you inspected the piping in that crawl space to make sure it didn't freeze and burst too ?

GW

Alex sure thing, you may have some pause with your local heating guys because that's one old system. I'm sure you've heard of the phrase"can of worms", so I'm curious how well things will go as you gain knowledge with this task of eliminating the broken radiator.

Oh I see someone already used the can of worms phrase.

I hope you can get some heat guy thats been around the block a few times

Gary

AlexPetron

Thank you all for the replies so far! Is it possible to run the boiler safely with the water main shut off?

Jamie Hall

AlexPetron said:

Thank you all for the replies so far! Is it possible to run the boiler safely with the water main shut off?

Well... yes, but only if the safeties on the boiler -- all of them, pressure, lwco, overtemp, etc. -- are known to be good and functional, and only if someone is detailed to keep an eye on it at frequent intervals.