STEAM VENTS

Todd_9

Found a Warco Master No3M Vacuum Valve. Is this equivalent to a Dole#3? The other main vents are Dole#5. Could not find a #5 at any local suppliers.

Steamhead

That's a museum piece

Been a long time since I've seen a Warco. Most of these vents were rather small, didn't vent much air so I replaced them.

Where is the vent located in the system? Also where are the Doles located- end of the steam mains, or on dry returns? Are there vents on the radiators or not? The answers will help tell us what to replace them with.

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Todd_9

vent location

There was only one of these, it was on a horizontal run of a dry return about 15ft back from the boiler. This same return had the #5 at the elbow where it dropped back down to the hartford loop. There was another spot where I found a plugged off vent line on another dry return. I installed #3 Doles in both spots and the system seamed to breathe a sigh of relief and all the radiators soon got hot. This system has traps at each radiator. There is also a disconnected trap in a dry return in the basement, I'll need to further investigate that. Thanks for the help Steamhead.

Steamhead

That's Vapor

I suppose all those Doles would eventually add up to the capacity of a Gorton #1 or Hoffman #75. Are there any vents on the steam mains themselves?

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Todd_9

vents

> I suppose all those Doles would eventually add up

> to the capacity of a Gorton #1 or Hoffman #75.

> Are there any vents on the steam mains

> themselves?

>

> _A

> HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=

> 157&Step=30"_To Learn More About This

> Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in

> "Find A Professional"_/A_

Todd_9

vents

I don't believe there are any vents on the supply mains, the returns (4total) have vents at the end of three. One retun that doesn't have them is a long run and I had thoought of adding one there also. The mains are not insulated and the homeowner is aware that this needs to be done and is contributing to his issues. What did you mean by "that's a vapor"?

Steamhead

It's a Vapor system

Most residential 2-pipe steam systems with traps on the radiators were designed to run on 8-ounces or so of steam pressure. This was called "Vapor". The air was vented at one or more central locations.

Have you found any names on any of the hardware- valves, traps, anything in the piping around the boiler?

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todd s

steam vents

That one valve is the only "hardware" indicating the type of system, no reciever,f&t trap, feed pump, etc. I studied the system again today and this is what I found. There is a 4" header with two 2.5" takeoffs, these are dripped immediatly into the wet return. One of the takeoffs is then dripped again into the wet return. This then loops around the back of the house and ends in a wet return - no vent no trap(this is where the disconnected one is - this side heats great and quickly). The other side goes around the front of the house and is parallel to the dry return. This is where I found the Warco vent-approx 15ft from the boiler in a crawlspace. The main is getting warm all the way around and back to the wet return, there is no trap or vent on this either. The dry return now has 2-dole #3 on horizontal runs, and a dole#5 18" above the elbow which goes straight down to the wet return. Three of these pipes join into the wet return-on the floor, and go back to the boiler where there are two 1"pipes going up in a loop with 2 Dole #5's on that piping. The front part of the house is slow if at all to heat. There is a little steam getting into the top of the radiator but not filling it. The presstrol is set to cutout at 1.5 and hasn't gone off on pressure. The one Dole5 above the wet return was taken out and it did seem to "pulse" between pressure and suction. I'm reading through the lost art right now trying to find a better description of this system.