Davis Graduated Radiator Valves, Patented 1903

wilder0m

In another thread, I mentioned that I had two radiators with antique valves on them. Both were apparently not working, as those two radiators weren't getting hot while the other nine rads were. I'm a new homeowner learning about steam heat from square one, and this community generously and patiently offered their advice. A few folks suggested that the valves might be special metering valves for vapor systems, so I tried to research them in the interest of replacing them with the right type of valve.

Here are the valves:

They both have "DAVIS PAT '03" stamped on them. I searched for "Davis valves" and this company came up right away. But their 'about' page said that the company was founded in 2000, and my valves sure look like they were patented in 1903, not 2003.

I also searched this forum and found one other mention of these valves in a 20 year old thread. The poster said that the valves "are stamped 'Davis Pat 1903' and they have 4 settings, plus off," a match for mine. They were in Philadelphia, as am I. I figured these valves might be a regional or even local product. I tried adding "Philadelphia" and "Pennsylvania" to my google searches, but it didn't help.

Finally, I just tried searching for the literal phrase "DAVIS PAT. '03". And right in the first hit, there it was:



An ad in a 1908 volume of the Plumbers Trade Journal, Steam and Hot Water Fitters Review, for a valve patented by Louis N. Davis of West Chester, PA.

Switching to Google Books, I found several more instances of it:






That last one is in a book about the history of the town.

This was all fascinating to me because I used to live in West Chester, PA. I worked within sight distance of Louis N. Davis's residence at 38 E. Gay Street, and I often ate at the restaurant now at at that address. One of the ads was in this souvenir program for a 1905 "Golden Jubilee" celebration of the republican party in West Chester, which featured a lot of other ads for businesses at addresses I recognized, a few even still around today.

When I finally got the valves off my radiators to be replaced, I opened them up to see how they worked:




Sure enough, inside it looks just like the cross-section in the first ad. Four holes in an outer cylinder and six on an inner cylinder, allowing either 0, 1, 2, 3, or all 4 of the outer holes to align with inner holes and allow steam through. And five grooves around the stem marking where the prong should point for each of the settings.

I could immediately see what was wrong with one of the valves. The alignment was slightly off, so that when the prong on the stem was in any of the grooves, none of the holes were open. It had to be turned *between* grooves for them to be open. With that knowledge I might have been able to put it back on and get it working, but I decided to go ahead and have it replaced with a modern valve. (Another issue might have been that, when tightened fully, the 4 outer holes pointed perpendicular to the radiator union, rather than into it. And of course, there was no knob, so it was difficult to turn.)

Meanwhile, the other Davis valve was totally seized up in a fully closed position, explaining why that radiator wasn't getting hot at all. I managed to turn it two notches with a wrench and channelocks, but not without twisting the squared part of the stem so that it will probably never turn again.

Both valves were replaced with ordinary Bluefin steam radiator valves, and both radiators are now working. I've gotten advice on this forum to use metered MEPCO valves instead, and I do plan on exploring that as I try to optimize my system further. But for now, problem solved, and some history learned along the way.

Thanks all, especially those who helped in my previous thread:

@ethicalpaul
@Steamhead
@Jamie Hall
@mattmia2
@delcrossv
@reggi
@KC_Jones
@guzzinerd
@Sylvain
@KarlW

Steamhead

I added these to my list:

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/178152/a-listing-of-vapor-systems-that-dont-yet-appear-in-lost-art

KC_Jones

Excellent research!

I hope you’re keeping those valves for the history.

If they were mine I’d probably start restoring them and possibly redo the nickel plating (something I’ve been wanting to try).

Looks like they would have had wooden handles originally, so those could be remade with some lathe work.

Thank you for posting!

DanHolohan

Beautiful researched and explained! Thanks for adding such wonderful value to our community.

wilder0m

I've also found the patent: https://ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/0735719

Here is a screengrab:



@KC_Jones I'll keep them but I don't have the skills to restore them. If anyone knows of someone who would do it, I'd be open to paying for it and shipping them.

@Steamhead Thanks for adding these to your list.