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Periodic Cold Radiators

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mcvetyty
mcvetyty Member Posts: 50
in Strictly Steam
Hello -

I've been living in my current home for four years now and am starting to understand the nuances of my steam system. I have Gorton valves on all of my radiators but notice that periodically 2-3 of my radiators will be cold. Upon troubleshooting I've found that if I remove the valve and shake it there'll be a lot of water that comes out and then when I put it back on that radiator will heat with the next cycle.

Any thoughts on what might be causing this? Is it radiator pitch? "Wet" steam? Bad valves? Normal maintenance?

Appreciate your input!

Comments

  • BobC
    BobC Member Posts: 5,479
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    Trapped water is preventing the air valve from working. First make sure the valve at the input of the radiator is open all the way, single pipe radiators have to have the valve open fully or they can trap water in the radiator.

    That radiator or the pipe that feeds iy may have lost it's pitch, you can test for pitch by using a level. Try levering up the end with the air vent about 1/2" and placing some shims under it to give it some pitch back to the input pipe.

    Bob
    Smith G8-3 with EZ Gas @ 90,000 BTU, Single pipe steam
    Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
    3PSI gauge
  • acwagner
    acwagner Member Posts: 505
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    Do the same 2-3 radiators have this problem every time, or does it rotate among all your radiators?

    Also, when you emptied the Gortons was it just water or was there a bunch of debris in the water?
    Burnham IN5PVNI Boiler, Single Pipe with 290 EDR
    18 Ounce per Square Inch Gauge
    Time Delay Relay in Series with Thermostat
    Operating Pressure 0.3-0.5 Ounce per Square Inch

  • mcvetyty
    mcvetyty Member Posts: 50
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    It's primarily the same radiators every time. And the water looks very clean that comes out.
  • acwagner
    acwagner Member Posts: 505
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    If it's the same radiators every time, then it's probably specific to those vents/radiators and not a system wide issue. @BobC recommendations are good things to check.

    I have Gortons on my system, and I noticed the vent is tilted slightly toward the radiator when it is installed correctly. But, it doesn't take much to accidently bend the whole thing during installation so it's level or tilted the wrong way. I believe a Gorton has a small float in it, so trapped water will hold the float closed. Try looking at those problem radiator vents and see if the vent itself is tilted toward the radiator. If it's not, you can bend it slightly by hand (be careful not to break it, obviously).

    Also, you could experiment by taking the vent from a problem radiator and put that same vent on a radiator that doesn't have a problem. If the problem follows the vent, then it's something with the vent.
    Burnham IN5PVNI Boiler, Single Pipe with 290 EDR
    18 Ounce per Square Inch Gauge
    Time Delay Relay in Series with Thermostat
    Operating Pressure 0.3-0.5 Ounce per Square Inch

  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,578
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    Good point AC about the switching vents.—NBC
  • John_141
    John_141 Member Posts: 54
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    im having the same issue but it seems to be moving around the house. it was first notcied in one bedroom that never heated for 2 seasons, i finally tried runnign the system with no vent and was able to heat that room. after a few cycles i put a new valve on it and it now works. the problem them went to my back bedroom which was always hot. the vent was full of water and it got now heat. took the vent off for a few cycles and it works. now im seeing other rooms with no heat as well.
    could i have too much water in the system?
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
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    How well are your Mains vented? If they aren't vented well enough to push the air out of the mains, and you are switching/adjusting radiator vents to try and heat a particular room, the steam will take the path of least resistance (that being the radiators with the fastest vent). You can't balance your radiators until you properly vent the mains. Heat cycle times var depending on outside temps and how quickly the room with the Thermostat gets to the temp the thermostat is set. On shorter cycles, if the mains aren't vented well, the steam may not be able to push the air out of the main and it starts to feed those radiator runs that have less resistance. On longer cycles, the steam may have enough time to finally push the air out of the mains but, in the meantime some radiators have been hot long enough that the room is uncomfortably warm.
  • John_141
    John_141 Member Posts: 54
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    I cant say how "well" the mains are vented only that this was a change we made early on wi this house. when i bought it, the mains were vented with small vents, like radiator size vents. I replaced the one on the short main with a huge brass main vent, i dont know how big but the diamewter of the vent is a little less than that of a typical smoke detector, on thelong main we have 2 of those large vents.
    i just now went down and cleaned out the pigtail which had rusty water in it, as well as drain the system and reset the level of water between the marks on the glass vial.
    i alkso cleaned out all the radiator vents which had water in them. running the system now

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