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Steam vent pressure question Ventrite 1 and 11

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acl10
acl10 Member Posts: 349
in Strictly Steam
How does the psi affect my steam system I see that Ventrite 1 is rated at 3psi and Ventrite 11 is rated at 6psi. How would using one over the other affect a steam system by their PSI rating and what is the proper psi to use?

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  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,061
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    If you look in TLAOSH Revisited, it pretty well explains it on page 175.
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,286
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    A one pipe steam system should never get above 2 psi -- and 1.5 psi is better. What you are interested in is the flow rate of the vent relative to the size of the radiator and the rest of the system. The Ventrite 11 is about the same speed as a Ventrite 1 on setting 6 -- pretty fast.

    So far as pressure rating is concerned, that tells you when it will be destroyed. Since you want to set the pressure control on the boiler to 2 psi or less, you should never reach the rated pressure on either one.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • acl10
    acl10 Member Posts: 349
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    The bathroom radiator is very small and is positiond on top of the boiler room. When the heat is on full blast the Hoffman 40 vent constantly give out air. Is that supposed to happen
  • the_donut
    the_donut Member Posts: 374
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    acl10 said:

    The bathroom radiator is very small and is positiond on top of the boiler room. When the heat is on full blast the Hoffman 40 vent constantly give out air. Is that supposed to happen

    Pictures of the radiator, piping and boiler would be helpful. Hopefully just air is venting. If the radiator is hot all the way across and still releasing gas, then the vent is probably failed open and is releasing steam. If the radiator is cold in sections, then it is venting air.

    I have seen systems with inadequate main and riser venting take forever to vent at the end of a run. Hoffman 40’s are pretty slow, and if they are venting the radiator + connected pipe can take a while to vent. I had a run of 6” pipe for 6’ to 2” pipe for 4’ to a 5’ 1-1/2” riser to a small 7 section cast iron radiator. The main venting for this system run 60’ away from this section. Only vents attached to this side are 6 hoffman 1a on radiators.

    I went to 4 apartments shimming radiators and setting vent speeds before the radiator stopped venting (about 20 minutes).
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,286
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    acl10 said:

    The bathroom radiator is very small and is positiond on top of the boiler room. When the heat is on full blast the Hoffman 40 vent constantly give out air. Is that supposed to happen

    Quite possibly not. That poor little vent may be stuck open -- high pressure will do that -- in which case it will be steam, not air, coming out. As @the_donut said, if the radiator is hot across and it's still venting, it's toast.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,576
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    Pictures of the main vent would be helpful as well-if there is one.—NBC
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,061
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    IIRC, pictures have been posted on numerous other postings.
    It appears the main vents are on wet returns?
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,286
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    JUGHNE said:

    IIRC, pictures have been posted on numerous other postings.
    It appears the main vents are on wet returns?

    Odd spot for them...
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    acl10
  • acl10
    acl10 Member Posts: 349
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    My Vents are not on the wet returns. I also addd one on a wet return that is connected to the basement baseboard for other reasons as I explained in another post and that system is working fine now.
  • acl10
    acl10 Member Posts: 349
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    I changed it for a Ventrite 1 set it on 3 and no more hissing
  • acl10
    acl10 Member Posts: 349
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    I am now a big fan of Ventrite 1. I had a hall radiator that made some noise with a Gorton 4 and Hoffman 40. I changed it to a ventrite 1 and set it on 3 and no more noise because it goes on slower. The bathroom was hissing I changed it to ventrite no more hissing.

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