What is this doohickey

AlanaGrace

I've been trying to find the answer to this on Google to no avail. This radiator is getting slightly warm but not heating up to its full potential, I'm trying to do maintenance on it and I was going to check the valve but this is not the same type of valve that is on the rest of the radiators in my house, can anyone tell me what this would be called and how I might open it?

JUGHNE

What is on the other end of the radiator for pipes/vents/valves?

This almost looks like parts from 2 different components.
The trademark on the side is common, can not recall at the moment.

AlanaGrace

On the top left, on the same side that the control valve is on is another valve that I assume is for draining the air from the radiator, but most of the other radiators in my house do not have an air valve, and if they do I've never had to fiddle with it. On the right side roughly in the middle of the radiator is the steam vent, it's a crappy looking old one that I'm going to replace today, but otherwise it doesn't look very different from the other steam vents and all the other radiators in my house.

AlanaGrace

"Hoffman air line valve"

AlanaGrace

And the steam vent, I popped it off and it's full of corrosion. This radiator is in a room that wasn't commonly used before recently and I've never looked at it twice, so I have no idea when the last time it was serviced was.

EBEBRATT-Ed

So is this radiator hooked up 1 pipe or 2 pipe? It must be 2 pipe. What is at the bottom of the radiator at the opposite end from the first valve you showed?

mikeg2015

The crappy looking old stuff often still works just fine.

I pulled a Riselt vent from probably the 1940’s off a radiator sitting outdoor next to a shed. Works perfectly fine. Just the right venting rate for the small radiator I put it on. Looks cool. 2 piece solid brass. I found the patent for it online.

I have another radiator vacuum vent that probably 90- 100 Year’s old. Still worked when I pulled it off.

JUGHNE

Is this rad have only one pipe connected?
The valve looks like something from 2 pipe systems.
Someone here may recognize that air valve.....maybe remains from a vacuum system, this rad could have been transplanted from a building that had the vac type system???

nicholas bonham-carter

Don’t let the boiler run without having that valve in place!
Why not switch the valves with another radiator which works properly. If the working radiator stops working (and the faulty one works),then you have found the culprit, and can wait until spring to investigate the inlet valve.
Send us pictures of the other air vents (proper terminology), on the other radiators, and we can advise what to get, and where to get it. Also post the inlet valve pictures.—NBC

AlanaGrace

The radiator has one pipe on the left side. Above that is an air vent and on the right side is the steam vent.

AlanaGrace

Nearly every other radiator in our house has a valve like this with only a steam vent, which I know how to open, close and service.

AlanaGrace

This house is a colonial and over 200 years old, I'm sure different radiators and parts have been frankensteined from all over.

JUGHNE

The valve in question looks to be of the throttling or even orifice type for a 2 pipe system. It may let steam in but not designed to allow condensate to flow back. Rad might heat but maybe fill with water....hammer & spitting out the air vent.

Maybe rad and inlet valve transplanted from other system.

AlanaGrace

Maybe, any ideas as to why the radiator is not heating up? Just outside this room there is another Radiator in the hallway with the same valve system, this radiator has never given me any issues and I've never needed to perform maintenance on it. Like I said it has the same valve and works perfectly fine, how can I get this radiator working in the same fashion?

AlanaGrace

I am under the impression that if the steam valve is malfunctioning the radiator will still heat up but possibly leak out the steam valve? Is it possible that if the steam valve is not working the radiator would not be heating up?

Steamhead

@JUGHNE nailed it. That's the wrong type of valve for a one-pipe radiator.

The two air vents were probably installed because the radiator heated slowly. Is this radiator at or near the end of the main steam pipe in the basement?

JUGHNE

She says there is another setup in the hallway just like this and this one work/heats. Lucky or what?

I fear if she gets this valve open it would flood or water log the radiator.

Fred

I knew this was a really old house when I saw the square head hammered nails in the floor boards! What history that structure has seen.