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New Steam Radiator Sediment

samstu
samstu Member Posts: 14
edited March 2019 in THE MAIN WALL
Hi all,

I just received a large order of new cast iron steam radiators, and while carrying one of the smaller ones I noticed that when I turned it upside down I could hear what sounded like a bunch of tiny sand/pebble pieces falling to the bottom. I tried this with the others and sure enough, same thing.

I popped off one of the plastic protective caps and shook the radiator, and what came out where what looked like tiny metal shavings from the same material as the radiator.

Is this normal/commonly found? I don't think I'll be able to completely shake all of them out, especially from the larger radiators due to their weight. Should I be concerned about these causing noise and clogging/jamming the air vents?

Thank you!

Comments

  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,576
    Could you give them a good spraying inside, through the tapping, with a wand, before taking them to the job?
    I would be more worried about the residual thread cutting oils than the remaining machining swarf.
    This is one of the reasons not to force your radiator vents to do all the system venting, and to keep the pressure low with a correctly sized boiler.—NBC
    samstu