Maid O Mist

PaulKolb

I have 4 Maid O Mist steam vents where the Bimetal strips inside are rusting.
The vents are a year old.
The Bimetal strips should not rust.
Pictures available

Mad Dog_2

Common knowledge to me  Throw them out. Buy Gortons or Hoffmans only  higher qaulity, much more accurate & durable  mad Dog 🐕 

kcopp

Im curious how you know they are rusting? Typically you cant pull them apart....and if you do they dont go back together.

ethicalpaul

Gorton vents come from the factory with a rusted bimetallic strip and I assume MoM does also. It doesn't matter.

What is the actual problem you are seeing, if any?

Just to offset Mad Dog, I'll say that MoM is my preferred vent and they work great.

Why tease us with "pics available" just post them

ChrisJ

I haven't looked inside any of my Gorton vents but from what I just read bimetal strips are usually made from copper and steel.  


Does anyone have any inside pictures of Gorton vents handy? 

To be fair I'm fairly certain the insides of my radiators are rusting as well.  I'm not sure how much of a concern this really is 

I prefer Gorton vents as far as noise and performance but I'm betting Hoffman vents don't rust.

ethicalpaul

Here’s one. This is factory fresh. I opened it to see the misplaced and inoperable float from awhile ago when there were several reports of them arriving non-working 

ChrisJ

ethicalpaul said:

Here’s one. This is factory fresh. I opened it to see the misplaced and inoperable float from awhile ago when there were several reports of them arriving non-working 

What do you think all of the white is?
I can't imagine it's scale/efflorescence/minerals on a new vent? Is that from you cutting / unsoldering it?

ethicalpaul

No it's not from me, I applied just enough gentle heat from a propane torch to get it open (I'll post the video soon).

I believe it was from when they soldered it in the factory. I think they apply flux and solder wire to the seam then bake it in a solder oven with 100 of its friends (or it might be on a conveyor like Burger King burgers). As the solder inside melts and the flux boils, it splashes the flux around inside, then it starts to corrode a little. That's my best guess.

Also they reportedly test each one in the factory before shipping, so it saw steam at least that time (if the report is accurate).

Note the pin misplaced out of its hole. This vent was permanently stuck closed until I fixed it. There was a dent on the exterior of the vent indicating it got mishandled at some point between the factory and me.

I also want to note that just like MoM, nowhere on the vent or on the packaging does it say "Made in USA"--something that I would sure put on my product if it were, especially in this industry.

PaulKolb

It stopped working so I removed it and shook it. Rust particles came out .
I destroyed it to open it. The bimetal strip is badly rusted. (see attached picture)
I like the interchangeable orifices but what good is that when the vent stops working after 1 year.

ethicalpaul

That is a lot of rust for a year seemingly. Does your radiator fill with steam often? Does the vent spit water? Let us know how it goes with Gorton.

PaulKolb

> The Maid o Mist vents worked fine - for a while. They did not spit water when they did work.
I had 4 MoM vents in service . The rust tells the story. It flakes off and clogs the vent. Also, doesn't let the condensate escape.
The other vents on the system , Hoffman , Gorton working fine after many years.
Maybe MoM changed the material they use on the bimetal strip.

ethicalpaul

Could be. The manufacturing of this stuff is opaque to us

Gordo

I don't know for sure about the smaller Gortons, but in their famous Gorton #2, the bimetallic strip does stick to a magnet.
It is marked with the logo "TruFlex" and Googling it comes up with more detail.
The strip appears to be two different ferrous/nickel alloys mushed together.

https://youtu.be/s-g0YSu8Bbo