old steam system pics

clammy

there are a few of these hangin aroung and plenty of dripped supply mains also there where 2 more of these tanks on a stand with some 1 1/2 galv pipe piped to her for domestics hot water via a seperate coal boiler a few of them in these parts also all abandoned but they continue to use the re circ lines but no longer gravity and this arco wand do dad peace clammy

clammy

old steam system pics

Here,s one i ran into today and happened to have a camera with me just got a couple of quick shots some one else ripped her geart out years ago and did a terrible welded header it shouldn,t be to long for her i figure she about 12 to 15 and the undersized equilizer really helps i,ve seen a few to many of these in the area and the results are always the same stress crack and section leaking i also love those concentract reducers besides all the terrible things there where thses cool iteas hanging about and this dry return device didn't have time to follow it out and never even seen the rads in the home. enjoy. peace clammy

Steamhead

Bishop & Babcock system

is what you probably have there- you can see the name in one of the pics. Hard to tell from the pics which variation it is, but the one shown in Lost Art is a vacuum return-line system. The other variation was an air-line vacuum system like the Paul and Eddy systems.

If the system has full-size dry returns and radiator traps instead of 1/4" air-return lines and special air valves, it's the return-line system.

If the system originally had a vacuum pump it won't work right without one, since the pipes would then be too small.

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Matt Undy

I see they have a little umm..side business in their basement with the grow lights. What is with the vacuum cleaner system? Do you have a larger picture? Why is it made by american radiator?

Matt

clammy

side bussiness

yeah there some sort of grow lite but nothing growing they used to start the own annauls but the now it's only some weeds no pun .The vacume system was from the looks of it was disconnected couldn't find traces of purpose but the steam system did have 1/8 air lines that have been replace with air vents and some 1/8 lines that where tapped into the dry returns where disconnected and 1/8 straight rad vents where installled also this poor system is operating with out a vaporstat and with a check valve on the return before the hartford loop i didn't see 1 main air vent or air elimation device besides the 1/8 vents tapped into large risers i also didn't see if the convector rads had traps or where single pipe i didn,t notice any air vents i know that they are a few eddy and paul in the same developemt that origianally 1/8 air lines from the rads to the boiler room and where dead ended the rads all got air vents but htere where still rads that where 2 pipe also just a steam fitters delight a mixed bag of old timers tricks and knowledge that have been lost but in these places it's around every bend alot of them never want to pay for the whole picture approach just fix what gets me buy till it don't get me buy and the cold burstes my pipes peace clammy

Steamhead

That was the air-line variant (Calling Boilerpro!)

which was similar to the Paul system in that it used a steam-driven pump or ejector connected to small air lines.

Dave "Boilerpro" Bunnell has some experience with ejectors as used on Moline systems. I don't know of anyone better to help you out with this system if you need it.

How about it, BP?

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Boilerpro_3

Hmmmmmmm...

I haven't had any experience with Paul type systems, but I could give you a couple of ideas to start with. As Steamhead said take a look at the Moline system ejector set up in Dan's books and it will get you thinking. All it really is, is a venturi with steam running through it to create suction on the return lines... just like a Holley carb where the air moving across the venturi sucks the fuel out of the bowl through the jets. After the steam goes through the ejector it is condensed in a long pipe or rad and the water returned to the boiler. I'd love to take a Moline ejector apart, but haven't been able to get my hands on one to take home (that one I was hoping for hasn't gone through yet). If you want to experiment, you might try a couple different sizes of divertor tees...same principle.... and run steam through them and see what kind of vacumn you get on the branch.

Of course, another approach may be to just tie the vents to the chimney and use its draft to help create the pull on the returns. You may want to put in a condensing radiator between the vents and the chimney to help make sure that if the vents fail and steam starts getting through, it will condense in the rad instead of in the chimney!

Maybe using these two ideas together may generate a powerful suction to clear the system of air.

Ever thought of using an automotive emission control air pump for creating Vacumn? Probably would make a great supercharger for a Go Kart!

My Hoffmann catalog has The model 3 Steam air line valve under special steam vents. Maybe you might want to hook up some way to create vacumn and put some vents on the mains to try things out.

These ideas may be crazy, but they could work. You just need something to suck air with when the boiler comes on.

Boilerpro

clammy

seen this latly

had anothe rone up her with a steam rad trap piped on the inlet onto a vacume pump vacume switch after the rad trap and a drip tee below when the air is elimated steam hits the trap pump pulls into deeper vac and open the contacts on the vacume switch air is elimated there was no reurn trap ,differental loop but there was a steam supply equilizer to the dry return in the boiler room a super neat system even though not all original she works and we 're never there for steam promblems but ever winter with these system bring out some thing they do just rule the super hard work the original wfitters did awesome just remaid connect with a home by old bosses would not give a replacement quote i had ran up steamer with huge promblem well they didn't send my quote and someone else changed it out a couple grand less then my 78, thousand bid 78 traps ,vapor vacume arco k system butched 2 condensate pump a nightmare i wanted to repair the traps replace the shot peerless and just bring her back but someone (big co) chasnged her more condensate pumps and nothing work they are in court over a pending law suit i gueaa my price wasn,t to bad at least it would have work so may be they'll let me in and she'll be back one day peace