radiator vents

Big Ed

I like the Hoffman...... They are well made , nice looking , have a built in float and they don't vent too fast....

jrc2905

radiator vents

Well I am still waiting on my book about steam heating, so I need to ask this question. I have a small one pipe steam system that loses it's water in a eight hour period. It has no observable leaks and no steam in the chimmey.

How do you know what the settings should be on the radiator vents, can you keep them closed?

Big Ed

Steam leak

First run the boiler up on pressure and listen for steam leaks. The next place to look is wet condensation returns . They may be leaking above or under the basement floor.....

The radiator steam vents are adjusted down as much as you can and adjusted to the size of the radiator..Meaning you need to have some resistants compaired to the mainvents in the basement.Steam will take the least resistant route, You want to charge the mains fast and first so you want no resistance on the main. Once the mains are charged you want all the radiators heating up at the same time. The larger the radiator the higher the setting ..Get the idea ?

jrc2905

I am not really getting it. Are the vent supposed to be open or closed?

Boilerpro_2

Rad vents....

The vents should close as soon as steam reaches them (the radiator gets real hot at the vent) so if you have steam blowing out of your vents, the vents are bad. If you have to manually open and close the vents, you may have vents designed for use with hot water radiators. If you can,post a picture of the vents or describe what your vents look like.

Boilerpro

Big Ed

Adj Radiator vents

Open yes so that they can vent,but not open too much..... You don't want to vent the radiators too fast or faster then the mains.. Start with,say you have three different size rad's.......Smallest one put on the first setting , med- second setting and the largest on the third.... Now start up the boiler and check the main (or mains) are heating first and at the same rate all the way to the main vents....If not replace the vents or install the correct ones..... Now go up stair once the mains are charged..... Now make sure all the radiators are heating up at the tha same rate... If you hear air venting out in all of them then increase them all a notch .You should not hear them vent at all.... Now if you notice a lagger , bump that one up a notch.....Say one radiator heated up faster then the others then drop that one down a notch.. Do you have the feel for it now.There is a more engineered way but you need all the numbers....Dan's "Dead Mans School" has all the details in it if you need .........That is one I still would like to pick up myself.

Mark Bagdon

Whats the best adjustable radiator vent?

I have seen some that are continuously adjustable and other with replaceable orifices.

Any thoughts on which are best and easiest to adjust?

Mark