Radiator Air Vents - style

Jeff_74

BUT...the risers to the 2nd floor are not. I've removed a few pieces of the hard wood flooring on the 2nd floor and poured a heat resistant insulation into the 'chamber' where the risers move through the walls. Before I had the boiler replaced, I posted the EDR numbers here on the wall and was told that they were practically perfect. As stated earlier, even with the old boiler (which had a much larger EDR) I was having the same problems.

Jeff_74

Style of Radiator Air Vent

It's time to replace all the radiator air vents on my one pipe system. Is there a preference between the 'adjustable' type or the 'fixed' type? I currently have non-adjustable maid-o-mist air vents and my system is very uneven.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Steamhead (in transit)

First check

to see if your main vents are sized properly. This will have a dramatic effect on your radiator vents' evenness. Measure the length and diameter of each of your steam mains and tell us what vent (if any) is on it.

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Jeff_74

I have good venting on both mains: Two Gorton #2's.

Steamhead (in transit)

OK

that's a good start. Are all your existing rad vents the same size?

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Jeff_74

Yes and No

Yes, the rad vents are all the same size. They have a threaded 'plug' with a hole for venting. To make them more adjustable, I drilled out the holes per the size of the rad. After this, the balance was much better, BUT....it's time to do it right.

Steamhead (in transit)

Actually you might need smaller vents

on the smaller or faster rads. Those Gortons take care of the mains so well that the rad vents only need to handle the runouts and the rads themselves.

Have you gotten a copy of Gerry Gill & Steve Pajek's venting e-book? It's available in the online store.

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Jeff_74

Thanks

I ordered the book and will get to work... Are you suggesting that some of the
rad vents I have now may be too big? Would this cause the imbalance? I usually have problems with rads at the ends of the mains.

Steamhead (in transit)

In that case

you may not have enough main venting, even with those Gortons. Refresh my memory- how long are the mains and what pipe size? And are they insulated?

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Jeff_74

Yes, both

mains are insulated. One is 62 feet X 2" and is vented with two Gorton #2's and a Hoffman 75. The other is 45 feet X 2" and is vented with one Hoffman 75. The shorter main feeds four Rads...all of which get heat at about the same time.
The longer main feeds 6 rads and has more trouble with eveness. The last rad on the end of this main is on the first floor and is closest to the t-stat. It rarely gets very hot. Last summer, I repiped it because the pitch was bad (see pics).
Also, notice that the pipe for the vents is at the VERY end of the main. (This is true for the other main as well.) I just put them up has high as possible. My system runs very silent.



But even after fixing the pitch on this riser, the rad still gets much less steam then the rest. The only way I can get it to heat is to turn another rad off further up the line.

Sorry, this got a little long.

I still think the best thing I can do is to get better quality rad vents for the whole system...I hope I'm on the right track..

Jeff_74

I'm hoping to get a little more feedback on this question...

Thanks...

Steamhead (in transit)

Everything looks right so far

have you compared your boiler's output to the amount of radiation you have? Is the boiler's firing rate what it should be?

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Jeff_74

Yes,

I just had the boiler replace last spring...the EDR load is 287 and the boiler is rated at 283. Even when I had the old WMC boiler, which was MUCH larger both in physical size and EDR, I was having the same problem. I'm having the boiler serviced next week so I'll ask the technician to check the firing rate.

LarryC

Are the mains insulated?

HO here.

With that close of a match between the EDR and the boiler, there is little allowance for the steam piping. It might be that the boiler is a little undersized.

Are the mains insulated?

Larry C