old cast iron radiator fills w water tho vents new and tilt is good and rads on floor below r fine

teddyj

on 2nd floor of 7 floor building, a radiator fills with water and spits alot (many cups)

vents are new, floor valve all the way open, tilt is good

the radiator off the same riser on floor below does no have this problem

a few minutes into cycle you hear gurgling as water builds up, and at end of cycle water drains out completely

no hammering and boiler pressure is not high

is it possible that some sediment in the fins makes this happen? ideas? thanks

ethicalpaul

It's not the vent's fault. It's not the tilt. It's nothing to do with pressure or vacuum in case that comes up. It's highly unlikely to be something in the fins (wait, fins? What kind of radiator is this? Is it a convector? Photos would help)

I would suspect that even though you think the valve is fully open, it has some kind of problem that is making it be partially closed (like the valve seat having rusted away from the stem and lying in the bottom of the valve.

The other possibility is ridiculous carryover driving water all the way up to that radiator. Even though you said no hammering, strange things can happen—check the gauge glass during boiler firing.

mattmia2

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1886560#Comment_1886560

Or a pocket of water in the runout and the way the 2 radiators are arranged it is pushed in to the problem radiator but not the working radiator.

ethicalpaul

I don't believe in such an event as a pocket of water in a runout, but my beliefs can change over time and strange stuff does happen.

But a radiator runout pipe is too large to hold water the way a straw does in that famous glass of water experiment.

Unless what you are saying is another way to say what I said: "The other possibility is ridiculous carryover driving water all the way up to that radiator."

mattmia2

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1886569#Comment_1886569

i'm thinking it is a pitch problem.

mattmia2

although thinking more, if the runout is relatively small, too small for the combined edr of the radiators, the velocity of the steam could be pulling the condensate with it and collecting it in the first radiator.

Jamie Hall

One pipe radiator? The valve is effectively closed. It's a little disc which seats on the body. Disc has come off shaft. Steam can get in — lifiting the disc a little . Water can't get out. Replace or repair.

ethicalpaul

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1886571#Comment_1886571

The runout should only be small (and 1" at a minimum) only if the radiator is small. If the radiator is small, the amount of condensate is tiny. The amount of steam flowing into a single small radiator does not provide enough velocity to pull condensate anywhere.

Of course, that's provided it was designed correctly and not modified in some insane way.

mattmia2

like someone added a second radiator to the runout that was sized for one…

Chris_L

@teddyj,. see this thread:

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/185907/water-in-radiator

and the video on differential shock in it.