Livingroom Radiator Spouting Water in 1886 Home

crtsiang

I've got wood floor damage from a radiator that produces a small fountain of water from the Gorton valve for a short time each heat cycle. This is a single pipe steam system with boiler in basement and threee floors of living space above… all get steam. The problem is on the first floor. Everything is fine while radiator begins receiving steam and segments closest to intake pipe are warming up. Last segment will still be cool while second to last segment begins to feel warm. Once last segment gets warm we have a small fountain of cold water. That shuts off when the valve gets hot. Radiator is pitched but maybe there is sediment inside that keeps condensate dammed up, and that is forceds up thru the valve when the last segment of the radiator starts feeling the push from the steam. (?) I'll replace the valve but what do think of the sediment idea? I vaguely remember 20 years ago having a similar problem and I removed the valve and using aquarium tubing I could suck out the water and also some black sediment. That was an awful effort to lean up the inside of that radiator. What is the best way to clean it out?

iator.

Big Ed_4

Open up the valve on the other side of the radiator …..

Jamie Hall

As @Big Ed_4 said, odds are that the inlet valve is trapping condensate in the radiator. Inlet valves on one pipe steam radiators must be fully open, except only when closed for servicing — when they must be fully closed. It is somewhat less likely that there is condensate trapped in the runout to the radiator — but I'm betting on the valve.

Be aware that the valve may be defective. There is a disc on the valve stem which is pushed down to close the valve. They have been known to come adrift, and leave the valve partly closed, even when the valve appears to be open.

Fortunately, it is usually an easy repair…

crtsiang

Thanks. I'll look for that. You'd think however that if the return of condensate was blocked at the intake then I would hear the steam chugging against that water as soon as air even before steam started to flow in. I'm not hearing that. I have no idea how the internal channels in the radiator segments look so I can't visualize what happens as steam flows in and air vents out, but somehow water is being pushed up to the vent before it can react to heat and close its opening. That water is room temp so it must have been sitting there in the last cell of the radiator and not back where the steam comes in …. 'cause if it wasn't chugging then the air/steam wouldn't be pushing it up from back there.

Big Ed_4

Is the valve open ?

Long Beach Ed

Did someone suggest opening and checking the radiator valve?

KC_Jones

Even if the valve is open, if it’s broken (bonnet disconnected) it won’t actually be open. The OP states they don’t hear steam trying to get through water which could mean the valve is fine, but I wouldn’t say it’s definitive without looking.

delcrossv

Closed/bad valve and/or insufficient pitch of the radiator.

Long rads like that sometimes need more pitch to drain.