Reverse thread elbow?

SteamFTW

Friend of mine sent me this photo. I thought I'd toss this up on the Wall, and see if it's just me.

It's a hot-water rad, and this is on the exit side. So, the right & left nipple didn't surprise me. But it looks like the reverse-thread is on the elbow end, rather than the bushing at the radiator.

Does it look like that to anyone else?

The house is certainly old enough to date from from a reverse-thread elbow wasn't crazy talk.

Thanks for any other sets of eyes that care to look.

STEVEusaPA

There's probably a union somewhere in the supply in the basement, hopefully not buried.

PC7060

What @STEVEusaPA said, I think they worked from the radiator down. Can you see below the floor in this area to see in there’s a union?

ratio

Look at the threads…

Sure looks like a reverse thread 90° to me. I wonder if it was purchased drilled but not threaded & tapped on site. I'm sure that the Dead Men did stuff like that.

Steamhead

ratio said:

Look at the threads…

Sure looks like a reverse thread 90° to me. I wonder if it was purchased drilled but not threaded & tapped on site. I'm sure that the Dead Men did stuff like that.

I think it's a right-left nipple too. The radiator looks like an American Rococo, and right-left was more common than we realize when that rad was in production.

EdTheHeaterMan

Saves on purchasing expensive unions. What did a union cost back then? A lot more than a 3" long piece of steel pipe. You never know what people are able to do until you experience the 1930's depression yourself.

Case in point, I never understood why anyone would insist on installing a heater large enough to heat a home to 80° on the coldest day of the year with the windows open. Those "Fresh Air" advocates in the 1918-1920 flue had a reason to make a big stink. Even though @DanHolohan told that story over 25 years ago, I didn't get it until now. But there are a lot of face masks being worn since February of 2020. And a bunch of "Anti-Mask" people too. I wonder what our grandchildren's kids will say about those pictures of us in 2099? "Didn't they know that a virus could just blow through that kind of mask? What were those old folks thinking?" But I still wear a mask on a Plane or at the Dr.'s office. What am I thinking?... I'm thinking, if I want to get where I'm going or I want to see a Doctor. I'm going to follow the rules.

Just saying, You never know what someone was thinking when they invent, create or design something. You can only imagine what the "Dead Men" might have been thinking.

mattmia2

It is all about probability.

EBEBRATT-Ed

to me it looks like the elbow is rh thread and the rad is lh thread

ChrisJ

The elbow is reversed the radiator side is normal.

Unless the picture is mirrored.

EdTheHeaterMan

MikeAmann said:

Only use a left-handed pipe wrench on that elbow. The Dead Men are watching!

But you should pull the Finnigan pin before using the Left handed Pipe wrench

SteamingatMohawk

As the youngsters would say, "eeewwww"!