Radiator valve connection becoming loose?

ChrisJ

So far I've had this happen twice.
The spud nut on the radiator apparently, becomes loose and starts dripping, or, sizzling and then stopping once it's hot.

The two radiators it happened to are ones I didn't touch but I know someone else had recently. Recently being in the past 5+ years.

Is this caused by the nut not being torqued properly, or is it a common issue in general?

As far as I can tell, none of the others have become loose and the few I've removed and reinstalled are also fine.

The two that leaked, one was the upstairs bathroom and decided to start sizzling after we had lived here for 5 years. It was loose. Tonight, the downstairs bathroom rad started dripping on the floor. Same thing, loose spud nut.

It just seems odd they didn't leak for years and all of a sudden.....

nicholas bonham-carter

Ghosts?--NBC

MilanD

Yep. We had it too. But, we do have a ghost. Confirmed.

hvacfreak2

I'm going with piping expansion / flexing. The entire piping system is heating and cooling on every cycle and it's going to move somewhere. Radiator connections would be a point that the maximum torque of this movement could be applied. Place a reference mark on the piping and see if it progresses over time. If you happen to notice your mark has moved 180 degrees from the night before ( with no pipe wrench marks ) call Ghostbusters.

ChrisJ

Yeah but maybe the ghosts are hacks and use a pipe wrench therefore leave marks?

Tinman

Never tightened enough in the first place. I'd back them out, re-tape and re-dope and then wrench them back in.

Gordy

Both bathrooms hmm. Are they in the vicinity of toilet, or shower. Maybe used as a helping hand now, and then.

ChrisJ

Stephen Minnich said:

Never tightened enough in the first place. I'd back them out, re-tape and re-dope and then wrench them back in.

@Stephen Minnich Sorry, the spuds themselves are fine. It's the nuts on the union part that ended up loose.

They are two I know were tampered with, because the previous owner had the main bathroom redone sometime in the 2000s, and the downstairs one because a plumber replaced that runout in 2011.

ChrisJ

Gordy said:

Both bathrooms hmm. Are they in the vicinity of toilet, or shower. Maybe used as a helping hand now, and then.

Huh?

Gordy

Huh?

Don't put it past people to use an object not meant as a grab bar in close proximity to catch themselves, or help themselves up.

Get it now? Several times could losen the nut.

Tinman

Put teflon dope on the male thread of the union, not so much for sealing but for lubricating. Wrench it tight with 2 appropriately sized wrenches.

nicholas bonham-carter

Dish washing soap is the best lubricant for the union faces.--NBC

Fred

Put a little "Pressure" on it.

ChrisJ

Stephen Minnich said:

Put teflon dope on the male thread of the union, not so much for sealing but for lubricating. Wrench it tight with 2 appropriately sized wrenches.

Ah,
I generally just put a dab of Megaloc on it to lubricate it.
I use my 12" Ridgid spud wrench and a 3lb deadblow for final tightening. I don't go crazy on it, but a few blows as a 12" wrench is a bit tiny.

So far, none of mine have loosened up that I know of.

@Gordy Generally when people grab steam pipes without thinking they won't do it again. You know, the whole, sometimes 212F, sometimes cold, thing....

You can tap a 212F pipe quickly, but by no means can you grab onto it without a lot of pain.

Fred

I had one rad do that, in a bedroom. Same rad did it a couple times over the course of a couple years. What I found was that I could see light under the legs nearest the union. I think that was allowing that coupling to sag slightly over time and drip. I was able to put a very thin shim under those two legs and it's been about five years now. Still fine.

Gordy

ChrisJ said:

Stephen Minnich said:

Put teflon dope on the male thread of the union, not so much for sealing but for lubricating. Wrench it tight with 2 appropriately sized wrenches.

Ah,
I generally just put a dab of Megaloc on it to lubricate it.
I use my 12" Ridgid spud wrench and a 3lb deadblow for final tightening. I don't go crazy on it, but a few blows as a 12" wrench is a bit tiny.

So far, none of mine have loosened up that I know of.

@Gordy Generally when people grab steam pipes without thinking they won't do it again. You know, the whole, sometimes 212F, sometimes cold, thing....

You can tap a 212F pipe quickly, but by no means can you grab onto it without a lot of pain.

Uhmm, you run your heat in the summer? No wonder you need such a big AC system

Gordy

The fix is simple. Seems you're trying to theorize why it losened.

ChrisJ

Gordy said:

ChrisJ said:

Stephen Minnich said:

Put teflon dope on the male thread of the union, not so much for sealing but for lubricating. Wrench it tight with 2 appropriately sized wrenches.

Ah,
I generally just put a dab of Megaloc on it to lubricate it.
I use my 12" Ridgid spud wrench and a 3lb deadblow for final tightening. I don't go crazy on it, but a few blows as a 12" wrench is a bit tiny.

So far, none of mine have loosened up that I know of.

@Gordy Generally when people grab steam pipes without thinking they won't do it again. You know, the whole, sometimes 212F, sometimes cold, thing....

You can tap a 212F pipe quickly, but by no means can you grab onto it without a lot of pain.

Uhmm, you run your heat in the summer? No wonder you need such a big AC system

Well,
Everyone is so concerned about humidity, running the heat with it yields fantastic results in humid weather.

JUGHNE

Putting a little "wiggle" on the rad as you tighten the union nut helps. I use slicktite Laco Teflon paste on union threads.
Also a big boy wrench at least 18" long helps.

Most steam leaks like this are caused by running at too high a pressure.

MilanD

JUGHNE said:

Most steam leaks like this are caused by running at too high a pressure.

LOL!

ChrisJ

JUGHNE said:

Putting a little "wiggle" on the rad as you tighten the union nut helps. I use slicktite Laco Teflon paste on union threads.
Also a big boy wrench at least 18" long helps.

Most steam leaks like this are caused by running at too high a pressure.

Sigh.
Guess I'll go down and remove another burner tube.