Is this my main line radiator air valve?

erics_guerron123

Hello all, I want to replace my air valve on my steam man line in my residential home? This is what is currently there from the previous owner. Plumbers have told me that this is a riser pipe on the return main pipe. What is a good replacement? And how do I replace this? I believe it reads No. 20 on it and it looks like a 1/8 inch thread size. I have been reading that gorton #2 is a good air valve to place here? Or is a Gorton #2 too big for my residential home, and maybe I should go with a gorton #1?

if I were to replace this with a gorton #2 which is a 1/2" thread, what additional piping will I need? since there is 1/8 thread hole currently there, do i need to drill a 1/2 inch hole on the existing 1/8 inch hole then use a 45 degree or 90 degree elbow → 1/2" diameter Nipple → 1/2 bushing, then Gorton #2? Image #3 is an image I found online that resembles this configuration.

Or is there another configuration that stops the air valve from hitting the ceiling?

Thank you.

Image 1 and 2: My current set up

Image 3: Something I found online that could be applied to my system.

Jamie Hall

Argh. Well, it was a vent once uon a time. Not with all that paint on it, though.

And yes, replacing it with a Gorton #2 ight be just the thing — but there's some terminology here to figure out. What does that stub pipe really connect to at the bottom end? Is it a steam main? Is it an extension of a steam main back to the boiler? Is it a true dry return? Makes a difference.

In any event that cute bit of modern art probably is on a 1/8 in NPT tapping, and you have to drill out the hole and tap for the correct thread for the new vent. Easy — if you have the tools.

erics_guerron123

Hi Jamie,

thanks for responding. to answer your question, its a vertical pipe and the bottom end is connected to the return main back to the boiler. It above the water level line of the boiler so I am assuming that this is a dry return. Knowing this, is a gorton #2 still recommended? or gorton #2 overkill and just go with gorton #1?

Captain Who

I think we have a problem with terminology here. What floor is it on? Can you tell us which vent on this diagram it would correspond to? I'm thinking it is at the top of one of the vertical risers, with drip or without drip.

dabrakeman

Is this a one pipe or two pipe system (is there a pipe at just one end of the radiators or are there pipes on both ends)? Is there more than one steam main? I see from your last picture you have a Gorton 2 at the end of what looks like a steam main. I would actually suggest trying to raise that vent higher but what I am getting at with the other questions is whether you need another vent to replace the painted over one or not.

Jamie Hall

Definitely a terminology problem here…

erics_guerron123

on my way home now and will provide a better picture of the pipe.

bburd

That first photo looks like the riser pipe is intended to function as a small radiator in the corner of the room, which would mean the vent at the top is an ordinary radiator vent. This is how New York City apartment bathrooms were traditionally heated; the riser ran up through the stacked bathrooms in the building, and on the top floor there was a radiator vent at the top of the capped pipe. Cheaper than radiators and just as effective.

Jamie Hall

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1887669#Comment_1887669

I think we need that — but I think we also need pictures of how that pipe ties into the main lines running around the basement and how they tie into the boiler.

erics_guerron123

here you go all.

ok. Do these pictures help?

bburd

So that riser stub does not look like it's meant to be a radiator. It's a very strange place for a main vent though, and that is a strange height for a gravity return.

ethicalpaul

The one on the riser is a radiator vent that is venting the riser. Without being able to see what else is going on, I would honestly just replace it with a normal, "angle radiator vent". I would throw a Maid O Mist #D (or really any Maid O Mist with the orifice removed from the top) which will be equivalent in size to a Gorton #1 main vent.

It won't require any tapping or additional fittings and it costs like $14 from Supplyhouse.com

Captain Who

This is single pipe steam right? Your radiators only have one pipe going into them? Definitely looks like a main vent that was placed on the dry return, although they are usually placed a foot and a half before it drops down into the wet return. Probably been non-functional for a long time. The pipe leading up to this vent never gets very hot, right?

What is upstream of it? Is there a main vent at the end of the main where it turns down into this dry return? Maybe someone abandoned this dry return vent and put a main vent in that spot. Maybe it is the one you show in your other photo?

We need more info.

EBEBRATT-Ed

There is nothing connected to that riser. Buy your new straight vent. Figure out the height you want the vent at. Go to a plumbing supply or big box and have them cut you a new pipe. Take the old pipe out of the tee and put the new pipe and vent on with a reducer from the pipe to the vent.

If you don't want to have a new pipe cut you can buy nipples and couplings to make up what you need. Looks to be about 2' long.

You need a working vent there because that pipe drops down making it a wet return behind the electrical panel.

erics_guerron123

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1887687#Comment_1887687

it’s a single pipe. And yes the pipe leading to this and the air valve does not get hot after a steam cycle.

erics_guerron123

so people are saying to just put a regular D valve, would this be enough. Or should I put a gorton #2? Unfortunately I don’t have access to the rest of the main pipes, as it is inside the basement ceiling. This air valve is the only one that I can visibly see.

I have a 1 pipe system into my radiators and this air valve never gets hot after a steam cycle. The horizontal pipe that is perpendicular gets hot and it does get warm at the beginning of the T but as I go up the riser pipe, it’s get colder and then the air valve is cold also.

Again plumbers told me that this vertical pipe is connected to a return pipe that delivers water back to the boiler. (As seen in the pictures).