Do cast iron radiators have a built-in pitch?

Jimbo_5

I have an old 10-section one in the yard that is definitely oitched to one end. Just curious.

Jamie Hall

None of the ones I've seen do... did someone take a hacksaw to one of the end sections?

Intplm.

No built in pitch that I have seen. All rads have the same length for each leg.

JohnNY

No.

TKPK

sorry, reviving an old thread.

I have a 34 yo Weil McLain EG-65 2 pipe steam system in a 100 yo house.

I have surveyed all 15 of the radiators and 8 are pitched in the wrong direction (toward the supply, not towards the steam trap).

The pitch that I need to gain varies between 1/4” and 5/8”, one is over 1”. Most of these have very rigid pipes with no forgiveness to change elevations on either end and are sitting on hardwood floors and I can’t see the fitting that the nipple goes into.

The only way I see to re-pitch is to rethread the drain end nipple and trim off some of the nipple and some of the radiator feet.

I do not have any hammer in 7/8 of the radiators. The 1+ inch lightly hammers
I am very handy, is this a good approach?

I will do anything to avoid tearing up floors/ceilings to get at broken fittings

Jamie Hall

Leave them alone. The only real risk is water left in them freezing someday, if the house gets really cold.

The hammer is probably not in the radiator anyway — much more likely in the supply runout.

CoachBoilermaker

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1823016#Comment_1823016

If they are pitched the wrong way, how is the system working? Won't the water stay stuck in the rads?

Jamie Hall

These are two pipe steam radiators, @CoachBoilermaker . The steam comes into the radiator through an inlet high on one end. It condenses in the radiator, and the resulting condensate — the water — leaves through the trap (or in some vapour systems some other gadget) low — usually, though not always, on the opposite end.

Now if the radiator is pitched the "wrong way" — that is, away from the outlet end — some of the condensate — a very small amount — will get left in a shallow puddle at the low end. Doesn't hurt anything.