Cousin Margaret and Warren Webster

Fisher

Ross,
here are 2 steam mains. Each is sloped away from the boiler and each one has a Webster 0026T trap connecting it to the dry return, which slopes back to the return trap. The 0026T traps are very inaccessible, so I don't have any pictures.

BTW, I believe that the total lack of pipe insulation is due to asbestos abatement in the past.

The vaporstat is a pretty pricey item, but I think that I will get one on order.

Fisher

Here is my other residential steam system

Check out my other post "Need help understanding Dunham system" for background. That post is about my Great Uncle Morton's home.

Morton's brother Willard was known as "Tony". His daughter Margaret still lives in Tony's house. It has a Webster system which is crying for attention, too....

Margaret thinks that the system heated OK last Winter. It has had water hammer for years, but is not too bad. Margaret thinks that the hammer is a "normal sound", and is reassures her that the system is working. (I now know better)

Here are some photos. I have searched the heating help library and read and re-read vapor section in "The lost art of steam heating". I think that we need to...

1. Turn the pressure down from 2 PSI to 1/2 PSI. The existing pressure controller goes down to 1/2 PSI but I don't know how accurate it will be. Maybe a vaporstat?

2. Test and repair radiator traps. They are Warren Webster 02H traps. I am pretty happy with how successful it was to put Barnes and Jones cage units in the Dunham traps at Eleanor's house.

3. Replace (or put cage units) in the (2) end of main traps. They are Webster 0026T units.

What do I need do do with the boiler return trap? If I hold pressure to 1/2 PSI, does it even do anything? Do I need to check the check valves? What about the vent trap?

Ross_7

Webster Vapor system

I would first install a vaporstat, also I can't see them in pictures, but did you check your dry return thermostatic traps, acting as air vents? This will also cause uneven heating. Check your traps on the radiators again. I retro-fitted a bunch of 02H traps a while ago, with the Tunstall Kits, worked really well.Also, I noticed a lot of rust coming from your vent trap. I've placed a Hoffman #75 in place of the old vent valve, and it seemed to work well.

Steamhead (in transit)

This is the Webster Type R system

pretty standard Vapor except that sometimes they handled the ends of the steam mains differently from most.

How are the end of main traps piped? Do they just cross over between steam main and dry return at the top, or are they on a level with or below the steam mains?

"Steamhead"

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Fisher

See my reply to Ross..

Steamhead,
The 2 end of main traps were at the end of a very dirty belly crawl, so I do not have any pictures. The steam mains slope down from the header to the end of main traps (catching radiators along the way), and the dry return slopes downhill back to the return trap piping. All insulation has been removed from the system, presumably from an asbestos abatement in the past.

Is there any literature or handbooks about this system? It has been very rewarding to find the Dunham handbooks (I now have bought 214, 414, and 514 on ebay!), but I have not found much from this era of Warren Webster.