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Steam Air vent

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mmc239
mmc239 Member Posts: 81
in Strictly Steam
What size steam air vent should I put on a steam baseboard located right above the boiler. The baseboard bangs a lot on start up. Should I use a valve with a bigger whole to get the air out of baseboard?

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  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,371
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    Smaller hole. The vent isn't the cause of the banging. It's much more likel to be that the baseboard isn't pitched properly -- it needs a really good pitch (I'd want at least an inch, even for a short baseboard, and maybe more) to the drain, or the pipe feeding it isn't pitched properly (half an inch per foot isn't excessive).
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    ethicalpaul
  • mmc239
    mmc239 Member Posts: 81
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    I have pitched it. Shut off valve is open completely. I have tried everything. It bangs on startup, then quiets down. I have tried Varivalve, water just shoots out of them. Hoffman, some water spits out, sometimes air would not bleed out of it and radiator would be cool. Right now I have Maid o mist, it seems to be the best for not spitting water. 
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 5,707
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    It's not the vent. It's as Jamie says, there's something about your system that is putting that water there.

    One or more of:

    - pitch of the convector/baseboard
    - pitch of the supply pipe to the convector/baseboard
    - near boiler piping being all fouled up, causing surging
    - water quality being poor (dirty or oily), causing surging
    NJ Steam Homeowner. See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

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