Gov board on 1 pipe steam

Steve_210 · August 2009

Hi guys, I have a steam question. I have a customer who wants to use approximately 12 cast iron base board radiators on 1 pipe steam. I have heard you should not use anything over 4 FT, because Governale cast iron base board only has 3/4" tappings and there is a problem when the steam trys to pass the condensate. I have convinced the client to use 4 FT radiators or less. My question is; has anyone had problems with these? My concern is the tappings are so small that when the steam is trying to pass the condensate i will have noise problems and / or water shooting out the air valves. I also presume I have to put 1/8" per foot pitch on these cast iron baseboards.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

PS: we are plumbing & heating contractors in Manhattan, this particular building is 12 stories high Manhattan apartment building.

nicholas bonham-carter · August 2009

governale project

if that is the type of basebord which has upper and lower tappings at both ends, maybe the supply could be connected to both the upper and lower so the condensate has more room. if this is part of a central building system, i would hope it is well vented on the mains and risers, and with proper low pressure [under 1 psi]. however, i think that it would not like radiator vents which are too "fast".

is there enough thermal mass in these to keep a bit of heat in between steam cycles? that is the beauty of conventional radiators, that they retain heat. how can you word your contract with the customer so it absolves you of responsability for the actions of some one else down in the boiler room, if he were to crank up the pressure, or let the vents become inoperative.--nbc

Steve_210 · August 2009

reply

Firstly, thanks for the response.

Yes these are cast iron baseboard radiators made by Governale - called GOV Board, they do have top and bottom connections, I had thought of connecting to both top and bottom with my 1 pipe steam. But I am greatly concerned that the guy in the basement might crank up the boiler and as you say I have no control over this. When I brought up the problem with the cast iron baseboard, I was hoping they would scrap the idea, and use different rads, instead they decided to split the longer radiators in two and install two radiators instead of one. I just wondered if anybody here had any experience with Governale GOV Board (cast iron baseboard) on one pipe steam systems in buildings this size (12 stories high) - the apartment is on the top floor. We have put in a lot of radiators over the years but I can't remember using cast iron baseboard on 1 pipe steam in a building this size.

nicholas bonham-carter · August 2009

1pipe pressure

however it turns out, i would suggest a good low pressure gauge [gaugestore.com, 0-2 psi] to be mounted where they can see it when they want to. that way they can complain if there is gross mismanagement of steam pressure.--nbc

gerry gill · August 2009

Is there any way to hook it up

in two pipe fashion with the return pipe discharging thru a swing check valve back to the feed pipe. The supply really should be on the top tap. i've had problems with one pipe baseboard in that the steam in its own way seems to want to find the cavernous openings of real radiators instead of squeezing into the narrow chamber of a baseboard unit. Then i'd have to chase down balancing issues. This was in houses tho. The boilers in a twelve story building may have lots of extra steam to stuff into all the radiator's because there is a good chance a third of those radiators may be turned off..hope that info helps.

Steve_210 · August 2009

baseboard

thanks iam still hopeing they will use different rads

Gov board on 1 pipe steam

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