One pipe steam heat two radiators off one feed

hjw09

We have a one pipe steam heating system. The radiator(s) in the upstairs adjacent bedrooms operate off one main pipe with a connector
pipe to the second radiator. Thankfully this is the only one setup like this.
Not sure why they did this as there is one shutoff on the main pipe which affects both radiators. So basically you can’t just shut off one.
This is the problem we are having: the radiator that is furthest away shoots ALOT of water out of the vari vent once it gets fully heated up. We are not talking a few drops it’s at least 8oz or more. The house was new to us last year and the radiator was left unattended the first time we turned the heat on last season.
The leak caused water to come through the wood floor and pour out of the recessed light fixture below into the kitchen. Not a fun moment !
So far we have had the vent changed twice we have tried leaving it fully open, leaving it partially open leaving it closed. The radiator is pitched properly. However the pipe connecting the radiator to the main pipe is probably a good 6 feet (not sure if that matters) Literally the water shoots out of the top like a squirt gun. We are at our wits end. As we cannot shut off the radiator or remove the radiator we need the heat in that room.
Also I do not believe we can repipe.
All the other radiators in the house are fine and the pressure on the boiler is fine. Not sure if we are missing something. Any suggestions or insight would be much appreciated !

*The last picture is of the current vari vent there is foil behind it to prevent the water from squirting through the radiator onto the floor .

Kahooli

Too small of pipes for too much steam probably. And look at that tiny valve. look at the stark difference in size between the one off the riser pipe and the one on the right radiator. This look a retrofit job based on what they did and the brand of pipe fitting.
Check the pitch of the piping too, not just the radiator.

gerry gill

someone got stupid and added the second radiator but probably didn't want to run a dedicated runout from a riser or main.

hjw09

Exactly...so are we basically screwed ?

Danny Scully

Where are you located, and why can’t you repipe?

hjw09

We are in CT. I suppose could repipe what’s there but it would involve some creativity the current pipe is partially inaccessible as it runs under a built in we had installed prior to knowing this radiator was an issue. Probably not a good idea in hindsight. However there would be no way to run its own pipe as it would go right through our kitchen sink

Fred

You can always carry the supply pipe around or to one side if the sink or even up another wall and then over. You could also move that radiator over to another location in that room that allows for an easier connection.

Jamie Hall

You really need a good steam man to take a look at that setup and figure out what the best way to repipie it is. I know Charles Garrity ( @Charlie from wmass ) works in Connecticut and does excellent work, and there may be others who are also good -- check "Find a Contractor" for Connecticut.

hjw09

Thank you I agree

Charlie from wmass

The answer may be as simple as get rid of the varivent

hjw09

If you service our area we would be glad to set up a service appointment to see about diagnosing this thing and getting it fixed

acwagner

Looks like they used a reducing coupling to connect the piping to that radiator. That is trapping additional water in the radiator which isn't helping the situation.

Charlie from wmass

call me in the morning we can see if our schedules can match up.

hjw09

Ok, will do thanks!

pbpcon

Hjw09. What ended up being the problem?

hjw09

It was the vent that I paid to have replaced. I went out and bought a new one and put it on and no more water glad it was an easy fix !!

Charlie from wmass

Glad you got it fixed

hjw09

Thank you me too!

Steamhead

What probably happened was the kitchen below was remodeled and some idiot had the bright idea to eliminate the original riser to the room above, so they cobbled that hookup together. Not the first time I've seen something like that.

Charlie from wmass

Sometimes it was installed that way from day one. I have a third floor radiator piped off a second floor this way.

Steamhead

True, but not with a radiator shutoff valve controlling both.

Fred

They wouldn't have originally plumbed it that way either and that reducer on that piping near the radiator, in the third picture has to cause the radiator and the fitting to hold some water.

archibald tuttle

this has been asked but can't be emphasized enough. Does the "proper pitch" include the 6' pipe or just the radiator? Yes it's a bit rube goldberg but not necessarily unworkable. It does seem that water is trapped somewhere and keeping that end of the radiator from heating enough to close the vent if you have replaced it several times and get same result. Assume this was always a problem while you were in the house. Does the spitting radiator heat up more or less as fast and as hot as the well functioning radiator on this tree? Any other work on the system or boiler change that, upon reflection, might have precipitated this problem? Is there a small or even a larger tapping you could open and bush down high on the near end of the malfunctioning rad so you could move the vent to test a different location.

I believe this radiator looks like sections are connected across top so even though near end is not ideal my instinct is that it would be less in the line of fire . . . eer water. And higher is better. Can't see from you pictures how high that mount is up the radiator for the vari-valve, sometimes those mounts aren't very high in the casting, which would be an additional potential problem.

It strikes that it was originally for a single radiator with the vertically mounted valve on the riser and a supplementary valve laying on its side for the radiator! I might have thought the valve architecture would not have been ideal but that side is working!

It looks like the piping is 1" although that's a guess. Is the piping the same size leaving the main and can you see what size the riser is? If I had that set up, instead of turning the valve away from the rad to a tee I would have pulled the valve, put a tee atop the riser and if the riser is larger you could stick with the larger pipe size and lose bushings out of the radiators. You could exaggerate pitch by using couple street elbows to set a more significant pitch on the 6' tangent to the problem radiator. This would mean enlarging or simply drilling a different hole to pass through the wall. But you seem to have some space below the window with that radiator so you could raise it to meet this steeper feed and pitch the radiator itself a bit more aggressively.

Then the rads could each get straight instead of an angle rad valve, and in the NFN department you could modify the rad from a concentric bushing to an offset coupling if you still need to come down in size (although those are ridiculous expensive so I make my own preferred style by drilling and tapping a hex plug off center, I feel like this ought to be an opportunity zone for some manufacturer).

All of that requires some TLC and potentially non-arson, i.e. carefully applied, quantities of heat to get the bits apart if they don't cooperate. The practicality of a second riser, might also depend on whether there is a capped tee on the main well situated and angled for this purpose if there originally was one. Otherwise its also a good piece of work to open the main.

well there's my 2¢. with inflation these days i guess it's more like a quarter. sorry about that chief.