Steam Trap

Steamhead

and what type of Vapor system was it? I can't tell for sure but that looks like a Sarco trap.....

That trap should be OK since the body is so small. But I've seen traps with larger bodies installed like that, bang occasionally.... because the larger body holds some water which flashes off when steam hits it.

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Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

Steam Trap

It's the first time I've seen a steam trap on the horizontal and am surprised it works.

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Unknown

They'll work

Initially, I thought that was an outboard trap which gets installed backwards and the union nut is on the opposite end. Those get installed on their side like that, and they work fine.

It's a real pain to get a cage unit to stay in place while you screw the cover back on. The cover goes on, OK, but the seat is wide open if it slips. You find out when you fire up the boiler that some are unseated.

They work OK, and hold up pretty well.

Noel

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

It also had

a "Hoffman Differential Loop" device on the piping above the boiler; it was connected to the steam main on the left and the wet return on the right. I suppose it had something to do with equalization of pressure.

Thanks Noel and Steamhead. I don't know enough about 2-pipe steam to tell what kind of a Vapor system it is. The pressuretrol was set at 1 psi.

The boiler is an American Standard; 600,000 BTU input.

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Ben_3

Hoffman Loop

These are a thing of beauty. Simple in operation and no moving parts. The loop you have is a #1 that is good up to 2000 sq. ft. edr and must be at least 24 inches above the water line. Inside that casting is a 1/2 inch pipe on the steam main side that drops down about 18 inches,over all length of the loop is about 31 inches, inside was a water seal that covered up that pipe. The i/2 inch pipe is connected at the top to other side of that casting that has the vent and dry return connection, these are seperated internally from each other with the exception of the 1/2 inch pipe. When the pressure would rise above 10 ounces the steam would push that seal down and expose the bottom of that 1/2" pipe which in turn would allow steam to enter the return side of the loop, closing the air vent, bottling up the air in the return to cause the boiler to shut off on pressure and equalizing the pressure between the boiler and return to push the condensate into the boiler. Once this was done the loop would instantly re-seal and the vent would open and the cycle would continue. These were popular in Chicago, I've seen many of them, old ones had a vacuum vent, but a normal one will work just fine. As for the trap Illinois mfgering co made a verical seat trap like that.

Unknown

I thought it was one of those, too

But it aren't. It's a regular trap on it's side.

The Illinois, and the Milvaco were "outboard traps", in that the bellows was on the return side of the orifice, not the radiator side.

They defy logic, but they still are there, after 70 years. They work.

Noel

Steamhead

Alan, that Hoffman #4A vent is way too small

unless the system has changed from its original design, that is the only vent in the system. The steam mains are vented thru traps connected between the steam main and the dry return. Air passes from the steam main into the dry return and out thru the vent on the Loop. Air from the radiators passes thru the rad traps, into the dry return and out the vent on the Loop.

The original Hoffman #11 vent used on those systems had a full 3/4-inch port. The #4A's port is a tiny fraction of the original. The closest replacement vent to the original is the Gorton #2.

Since the original vent had to be replaced, I'll bet there was steam in the dry return from leaky traps, causing water hammer. When you get the Gorton #2 on there, check your traps.

That system should run great when you finish with it!

www.gorton-valves.com



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Jamie Hall

nice to see

another Hoffmann loop! They do work... just fine!

doug_10

the trap looks like a hoffman # 8. it'll say so on the cover. tp tunstall

DanHolohan

TP

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Unknown

Radiator steam traps

when installed properlly will have the element at a horizontal position.

That trap was installed improperlly. Trap manufactures make straight away steam traps with a swivel for elevation piping problems. The one problem with replacing that trap with a straight away is an elevation differential of a 1/2".

I am not sayingt that the trap wont work I am just saying wron is wrong.


Jake

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

Fascinating

Here's the trap at the end of the main; there are two mains running parallel to each other (mirror images) in the basement.


Ben: Thanks for the explanation on how the Hoffman Loop works.

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Ben_3

Traps on main

Alan, do those traps at the end of the main connect to the dry return? If so therir purpose was to only vent air, crossover vent traps, I've always called them. If not, and they empty into a wet return that goes back to the boiler, if this is the case look for those vent traps and check them to make sure they operate, either they won't close against steam and will blow it into the dry return or they are closed and won't vent the main causing uneven heating. Replace that vent as Steamhead suggested, that tapping should be 3/4". Also I would recommend a vaporstat instead of that pressuretrol set for 4 oz. and 10 oz. Repair any other faulty traps and that system will heat like a champ and probably drop the gas bill too.

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

The steam traps

at the end of the mains drop into the return; it looks to me to be a wet return since all the returns drain into it and drain back to the boiler.

Thanks for the suggestions.

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Steamhead

That is a wet return

You'll probably find that both the steam mains AND the dry returns pitch down from the boiler and drip into the wet return. I've only seen that on Hoffman systems. The Differential Loop is thus installed at the system's high point. Air in the dry return goes toward the vent on the Loop but water goes the other way, toward the drip to the wet return.

I don't usually see dirt pockets like those. I think every system should have them.

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