Venting two pipe, air vent radiators.

Mad Dog

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Dan Gabig

Venting two pipe, air vent radiators.

Most of my residence, an 1895 Victorian, is a parallel flow, one pipe system with American Radiator Company cast iron radiators, however, the radiator in the dining room (where the thermostat is located) and the three radiators in the living room are two pipe, air vent radiators. The cover of these radiators are integral to the radiator unit and provide an adjustable deflector louver to regulate the convective air flow. The covers have the initials RYC on the adjustment knob.

Does anyone know who the manufacturer is based on the RYC initials?

The two inch diameter supply pipe of these two pipe, air vent radiators comes up to a manifold that runs horizontally on an axis to and from the wall and the center of the room and has six tubes running towards the return pipe side (paralleling the wall) which connect to a similar manifold. The condensate return pipe is much smaller in diameter perhaps 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch ID. The condensate return pipe empties back into the parallel flow main downstream a few feet from the supply side riser. The horizontal tubes are arrayed with radiant fins to increase tremendously the surface area. Two of the radiators are about two feet in length, one is about three feet and the other is almost four feet long; they all have similar design, number of tubes, same radiant fins, similar covers and similar width, just varying in length. These radiators run on a horizontal plain not a vertical plain like the sections of the American Radiator Company radiators. The radiator in the dining room works well, although being quite small in size for the room, I have to close off the louvers to avoid the room warming quickly and shutting down the furnance because this is where the thermostat is located. This radiator has no air vent on the return manifold, but does have a Dole 6B vent in the crawl space on the condensate reurn pipe. This Dole 6B is heavily stained on the outside with dry Rusty water residue that dripped down the sides after outflowing from the vent top. While the non-functioning radiator in the living room / entry way has a Dole 6B air vent atop a six inch riser extending from the return side manifold directly above the vertical return pipe, no stains on this air vent; I'm not sure if there is an air vent on the condensate return pipe with this entry way radiator as it is in a very difficult spot to crawl to inspect. (I guess that will be the next delightful effort, oh I wish for a regular modern basement, the difficulty being that one has to crawl alongside the pipes or under the pipes, so one tends to do it when the system is not full of steam and the boiler is off as else the uninsulated pipes are very hot. This makes gaging the opearating capabilities of the vents difficult to say the least).

However the three radiators in the living room do not work well or at all. (The living room and entry way presently are adequately being warmed by the heat from the hot uninsulated mains running under the floor in the narrow crawl space, think of it like an early form of hydronics, I guess). The entry way radiator is vented on the manifold of the radiator and the radiator nearest to the working dining room radiator is vented on the return drip line below the floor in the crawl space, similar to the venting arrangement of the working radiator in the dining room. Not sure about the third radiator by the front bay window, haven't worked up the courage to crawl towards that distant part of the living room as there is very little clearance, even for this skinny homeowner.

How can I determine why the radiators in the living room don't work? The dining room radiator and at least two of the three living room radiators are on the same main as the riser for the working dining room radiator; the working dining room radiator is also the radiator closest to the boiler.

All the one pipe radiators work well, a few are a bit slow but then this is the fall and none of the pipes are insulated so the pick-up is extreme for the farthest runs. In the winter they all work pretty well as the uninsulated mains and risers stay hot and condensation on the pipes is much less than in the Spring and Fall when the boiler is running less often.

Are there special requirements in venting a two pipe, air vent radiator system?

The three return mains get very hot in the basement (none of the pipes are insulated, to be rectified shortly) so it would appear that the Hoffman 75's near their ends are opening at least partially to allow movement in the mains, but perhaps there are issues with the vents not working in the two pipe, air vent radiators.

Any suggestions as to how to vent these kinds of radiators, where to vent, size of vents or otherwise assess their functionality?

Perplexed in Montana.

Best regards,

Dan

Unknown

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Noel

Steamhead

Don't worry, it can be fixed

I wonder if those "RYC" emblems on the knobs are actually "YRC", for Young Radiator Company? If so, those are ordinary convectors and that explains why they're piped two-pipe. Many convectors don't work well on one-pipe steam. Take a picture of one and post it here so we can be sure.

Do those returns from the convectors drop below the boiler's water line before joining together? If not, those non-functioning ones have air coming at them from two directions- supply AND return. So the steam can never reach them.

Steel convectors and cast-iron radiators behave very differently. I'm sure someone wanted to modernize the entry, living room and dining room and that's why the convectors were installed. But I'll bet they never worked right.

I've been to some parts of Montana- what part are you in?

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