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Rattling valve

adasilva
adasilva Member Posts: 144
in Strictly Steam
I have a small rad in my bathroom that rattles when the water gets to boiling and steam reaches it. I have no intentions of ever turning off this rad as it is in the bathroom. Is there any reason not to remove the seat holder off of the base of the stem? It's the only thing that I can think of that would be making all the noise??

Comments

  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    It most likely is the disc (Seat Holder) inside that valve. Make sure the valve is fully open or It may have come loose. You can check to see if you can reattach it or, if need be, you can remove it. Just make sure no one ever thinks the valve is closed and attempts to change the vent or disconnect the radiator in the future.
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,993
    If you're going to take it apart enough to remove the valve disk... why not fix it instead and then put it back together?
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • adasilva
    adasilva Member Posts: 144
    @Fred that's what I was hoping to hear. If it is possible to reattach it then I will, provided I can get parts?
    @Jamie Hall I agree but would I be able to just get another valve of the same make and size and just swap out parts?
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,993
    edited March 2018
    Not quite that simple. Problem is the spud in the radiator is half of a union and the other half is the valve. If you could get exactly the same make and size and swap them you'd probably get lucky and not have a leak... but unions are matched pairs.

    And I have, on rare occasions, taken the guts out of a valve because it was misbehaving. On water, where the fact that the valve can't be closed usually becomes dismayingly obvious when one starts to work. On steam if I took the guts out, I'd want to put a prominent, permanent tag on the valve so that people would at least be warned that the valve can't close before they start to work on something, depending on the valve to keep them from getting burned.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • adasilva
    adasilva Member Posts: 144
    @Jamie Hall it's single pipe steam and the only one that will be touching it ever is me. I planned on swapping it out with a new spud when it warms up this spring but in the interim just want it quiet it's the only noisy part of the system at this point.
  • adasilva
    adasilva Member Posts: 144
    One other question is how much of a project is it to get the bonnet off ? I'm thinking heat and 18" wrench with a 14" ?
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    It can be tough to get the bonnet off but you have to try. Some are a lot easier than others. If the disc is completely loose, inside. You maybe able to disconnect the radiator from the valve union and pull the disc out that way too.
    adasilva
  • adasilva
    adasilva Member Posts: 144
    @Fred & @Jamie Hall tried the bonnet with no luck even with the 18" so I tried the fitting to the rad and that came out like a dream! Disc was cut in two to remove and all is quiet now!
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    Great! Silence is golden! Some say "the silence is deafening" either one works! :)
    adasilva

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