Steam heat piping

scott75

Hi guys, just a quick question. Does each radiator need its own branch line from the main or can two rads share a line? The situation here is that some of my rads on the second floor share a branch with the first floor rads directly below them. The way it is piped (and this seems hacked to me) is that the original valves on the first floor had the handle and stem removed, a copper nipple sweated in, a gate vavle sweated in, then copper tubing from the gate vavle going up to a male adaptor which then attaches to the rad elbow on the second floor. This copper expands/contracts every time the boiler fires on/off. I want to put iron in there but am unsure how to pipe it. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Scott

Mad Dog

Yes it is normal if........................................

The pipe can handle the combined load. The way they rigged it is hilarious and inventive but not right. I love seeing stuff like that....alot of times it even works....for a while. Mad Dog

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Steamhead

Repiping

Install a tee with the run vertical and the bull facing the first-floor rad. Use a straight radiator gate valve with built-in union, or a regular gate valve and union, to connect the first-floor rad. Make sure this piping does not trap water.

Run iron pipe up thru the first-floor ceiling to the second-floor rad and hook it up with the usual angle valve.

Before doing any of this, see that the existing runout and riser can handle the load. You can find the necessary charts in Dan's "The Lost Art of Steam Heating", available on the Books and More page of this site.

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scott75

thanks

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. I was thinking a tee as was described or...my other thought was...would a bushing screw right into the top of the rad valve if I took the top piece (not sure what you call that part) off? I am going to go to a supply house and try it with what they have on the shelf before I do my own. I know that doesn't guarantee it will work with mine but we'll see. As fas as if can handle the load, not sure. But I've never had trouble heating both rads before. I know it may not be right, but like they say, "if it ain't broke don't fix it." There are about four books I've been meaning to pick up.

scott75

One more thing...

I should be able to connect the tee directly to the radiator tailpiece, shouldn't I? I don't have need for shut off valve on this particular rad and if I put one in like you were talking about I'd have to more the rad over a few inches and knock it off center.

Steamhead

The radiator tailpiece

has a union built onto the end. The other part of the union is on the valve, so it won't fit into the tee.

You could also aim the bull of the tee out into the room, screw a close nipple into it and screw the angle valve onto the nipple with the union connection pointing to the side. This would move the rad out a bit from the wall, but it would be centered.

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scott75

hmmm.....

Very creative! I like that. That could be my solution. I discovered that the threads wouldn't match the other day and was bummed. It set me "back to the ol' drawing board".

Thanks.

J.C.A._3

If you have access.....

Check out some of the offerings from Oventrop. I think you'll be able to find a valve with the right orientation, that will also give the option of a thermostatic valve, if needed. I had a tight/tough install recently and thought I would have to place the radiator too far from the wall for the mounts, and they had the perfect solution for me.

Oventrop isn't known for steam solutions generally, but they do have some unique offerings. Chris