Vent-Rite No. 1 Tongue Orientation

bwroga

I recently replaced the Vent-Rite No. 1 air valves on my radiators. I noticed that some of the little "tongues" sticking out of the valve stem were upside down when I removed the old valves. I'm hoping that the tongues on the new ones stayed in place when I installed them, but I can't be sure. Does it matter if the tongues are rotated?

Jamie Hall

Yes, it does -- the tongue is supposed to let any moisture that collects move back into the radiator and drip inside.

bwroga

@Jamie Hall Can you give me any suggestions on how to keep the tongue from rotating? Thanks

Jamie Hall

Once it's in place it should stay put... it might flop up and down, but it shouldn't be free to rotate... I think.

bburd

Most likely those tongues were incorrectly rotated by whoever installed them in the first place. They are not likely to rotate out of place by themselves.

pedmec

The tongue probably got stuck on the corrosion in the radiator. there is not much clearance between the tongue and the threads of the radiator. corrosion forms past the threads of the air vent.

Danny Scully

The tongues on the vent-rites aren’t affixed, and often move. I would simply pull it out. I’d rather know there isn’t anything obstructing the condensate then be guessing. The tongue on the Hoffman is affixed so this isn’t an issue, but again, with the vent-rite it isn’t. 

random12345

My experience with those vents is the gasket wears out from the small wheel at the bottom and water starts to leak out there. If the condensate now can't even drain out the way it's supposed to, they might fail sooner.

bwroga

On some of the radiators, I could feel/hear the tongue scraping on the threads as I rotated it in. I tried to rotate as gently as I could to keep it from catching.

bwroga

I'm not concerned with the tongues rotating once in. I'm worried that they are catching and being rotated as I screw the vent in.

bwroga

Thanks everyone for your help.

I think I figured out what was going on. There is a little slot in the back of the vent that the tongue fits into that keeps it from rotating. As long as the tongue is fitted in that slot, it can't rotate (much). When I removed the old vents, the tongue was getting caught on corrosion/threads and the vent kept moving backwards out of the hole, and the tongue was pulled out of the slot. Then the vent kept spinning as I unscrewed it but the tongue stayed where it was. I think that as long as the tongue is securely fitted in the slot and the vent is being screwed in and moving "forwards" the tongue will stay in the slot and not rotate.

Marc_18

Jamie Hall said:

Yes, it does -- the tongue is supposed to let any moisture that collects move back into the radiator and drip inside.

Why do the float type vents (Vent-Rite, Hoffman) include this tongue while the bimetallic vents (Gorton, et al) do not?

ChrisJ

Marc_18 said:

Jamie Hall said:

Yes, it does -- the tongue is supposed to let any moisture that collects move back into the radiator and drip inside.

Why do the float type vents (Vent-Rite, Hoffman) include this tongue while the bimetallic vents (Gorton, et al) do not?

I've wondered the same thing.