Heavily corroded radiator valve and nipple

Steamer1928

I purchased my home about 4 years ago without the slightest clue about the existing steam heating system. I have since learned a great deal from this forum and from Dan’s book “We Got Steam Heat!” One of the radiators in my house has been inaccessible for a number of years (maybe decades) because its cover is part of a bay window seat that was nailed together with inexplicable zeal. It took me about half an hour to pry off this huge cover just to get a decent look at the radiator. I knew something was wrong because there hasn’t been palpable heat from the rad and there was a stain on the hardwood floor around the radiator cover. The attached is what I found...

The valve is more than likely shot. The nipple appears to be very brittle, like you could crush it pretty easily. The floor and subfloor are pretty well damaged. Am I looking at a huge job here other than just cutting off the valve and replacing? The corrosion is significant enough on that nipple that I’m pretty apprehensive about messing with it. Any input would be helpful.

MilanD

Depending on how handy you are, the process of replacing the valve and perhaps the pipe going through the floor may not be too hard, just a bit of work and some good tools needed including sawsall or a pipe cutter, a few 2' or 3' pipe wrenches, spud wrench and correct dope/Teflon tape/cotton wick combination. I had success with using cotton wick rope, blue monster tape and generous dabs of Hercules Blue Block pipe/gasket sealant.

Backing out corroded fittings is close to impossible, but happens on an occasion. Using penetrating oil like pb blaster or kroil may help, but you should prepare to having to do some cutting and chisling of broken pipes out of the fittings and then rebuilding.

Here is a good video on extracting spuds out of a radiator. When replacing the valve, you must replace the spud as the 2 are a pair and old with new seldom seal, although you may try and see. Being that corroded, I'd replace spud too. At any rate, same surgery may be also needed to back out that riser pipe coming out through the floor.

Measure everything and get replacement parts (pipes, nipples, elbows, new rad valve - it comes with the spud - extra fittings and pipes you may need if things break unplanned). It'll take a few hours - worst being not having, or knowing, what you need. Just plan ahead.

When you are done, make sure you pitch the rad back towards the valve so that it can drain properly.

https://youtu.be/3u1J0hDWJJo

https://youtu.be/pFDw4kfaPu4

This guy has it down too:
https://youtu.be/lxZtdAP9kd4

Fred

Find out where the leak is first. Turn the heat of and watch that area while you have the cover off. You will see steam/condensation weep from the area that leaks. It may be the valve, it could be that spud that connects the valve to the radiator and, worse case it could be the radiator itself, around the area where the spud screws into the radiator. As I look at your pictures, the radiator looks suspect to me. I hope not, as that would mean you need to find a replacement radiator.
If it is the spud or the valve, when you buy a replacement valve, it will come with a matching spud. You need to replace both of those pieces as it is nearly impossible to put a new valve or spud on individually and have the new mate properly with the old. If it is not the radiator, that spud may be rotted enough that you may luck out and be able to twist it out of the radiator in pieces.In any case, if it were me, I'd pull that radiator out enough to have the clearance you need to work on it comfortably.When you put it all back in place, make sure the radiator has some pitch back towards that valve so that condensate can run out of the radiator.
If you are REALLY lucky, you may find that the valve leaks around that packing nut, under the knob. If so, try tightning that nut a little to compress the old packing. If that doesn't fix it, take the handle off, remove that nut, remove the old packing and put new in. Packing is available at most plumbing supply houses.Make sure you do all this work with the boiler shut down. You don't want the boiler to make steam while you have things apart.
Put a new vent on the other end of that radiator too, while you have things open. The vent is probably bad (stuck closed) not allowing air to escape as steam tries to push in. That is most likely why you get no heat from that radiator. Even with a leak, the radiator would still heat, if the vent were opening properly.

Steamer1928

Thanks for the quick responses, gents. Pipe coming up from the floor might be too brittle to deal with the radiator moving. What happens when that snaps/crushes right below or at the threads? Can’t have the boiler running with an open pipe. Luckily we haven’t hit cold weather here in Upstate NY, so I haven’t had occasion to turn the boiler on yet.

Fred

Is this radiator on the first or second floor? If you shine a light down around that pipe, it probably screws into an elbow just below the floor boards Probably an 8 inch or 10 inch nipple.If that pipe breaks, you will need to get the rest of that pipe out of that elbow and replace it with one the same length, black pipe. Make sure you don't use a longer nipple as you will lose the pitch on the horizontal pipe, under the floor and it will then hold water. If this is a first floor radiator, which I suspect it is, you should be able to see what you have from the basement.

Steamer1928

So this is right below the floor, in the basement. She’s a beaut.

Fred

Wow, This has been leaking for a long time.Looks like you may need some sub floor and support reconstruction too. I'm guessing a lot of that wood is rotted.

Steamhead

I've seen leaky packing nuts do that. @Fred 's post describes how I'd approach it. Let us know what you find.

Steamer1928

Changed it out without TOO much trouble. It had been leaking from every conceivable point on the valve. The old valve (Detroit Lubricator Co) was seemingly a brass that was a little harder than normal. So getting the nipple out of the radiator with a chisel was a B. The old valve turned with a couple of wrenches after using the Bob Sessa method posted above. So far zero leaks whatsoever. Thank you guys for the tips.