Two pipes on a one pipe system

jewett44

I have a bathroom in my house were the previous owner took out the radiator and now its freezing. The supply pipe is still under the bathroom capped off. I have a lot of 1/2" copper pipe and I was brainstorming how I could use it on my one pipe system. Since 1/2" is rather small I thought that steam and water cannot pass each other, at least not without a lot of water hammer. So in my diagram attached I am proposing a 2 pipe connection were steam comes in and since the radiator is pitched the water will return through the other side. In the return side there will also be a bend in the pipe acting as a water trap. So steam won't try to go through the return pipe. Let me know what you think and if it might work.

ethicalpaul

Question: why not just restore the original size feed to a one-pipe radiator?

EzzyT

1/2” piping is to small and copper piping and fittings will eventually leak due to expansion and contraction rate.
Do you know what the square footage of steam that the radiator you have is rated for? Based on the square footage output of the radiator then you determine what size riser pipe you’ll need with a properly sized valve.

jewett44

> @ethicalpaul

I could do that and that would be what I would do if this wasnt possible. I was just brainstorming alternative methods. More or less because I wanted to know if it was possible.

jewett44

@EzzyT
I dont actually have the radiator yet. It is a small bathroom so I'm looking for something short and skinny so it fits tight to the wall. I was just theorizing if this would work. Even if it was 1/2 galvanized steel you think the pipe is too small?

EzzyT

Yes 1/2” piping is to small even if it’s copper or steel. You don’t want to use galvanized piping and fitting you’ll want to use steel pipe mailable or cast fittings.

acwagner

Be careful on selecting your radiator. Try to find an old one that was meant for steam.

Hap_Hazzard

I've been looking at the CastRads radiators advertised on this site. They have a wide variety of sizes, styles and finishes, and can be set up for steam or hydronic systems.

acwagner

CastRads looks pretty cool.

I recently used Ecorad to get some refurbished radiators that matched the rest of the radiators in my house for some remodeling we did.