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Eccentric reducing bushings for steam radiators?

Abracadabra
Abracadabra Member Posts: 1,948
edited January 2016 in Strictly Steam
Has anyone seen the use of eccentric reducing bushings for steam radiators? Just about every radiator I've seen is threaded for 2" and then is bushed down to whatever (1-1/2", 1-1/4", 1") using a regular bushing. This traps water in the radiator.

I have a customer that's complaining about water hammer on one specific radiator. It's pitched correctly, runout is pitched correctly, no water being trapped in pipes. Upon disconnecting radiator, about 4-5 ounces of water are found inside. The only thing I can think of is to use an eccentric bushing to reduce the amount of water being trapped in the radiator.

She's taken a video of the hammering, there's 3-4 hammers when steam starts to enter radiator and then it's done.

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,162
    I don't see why you couldn't do it -- but I also would be rather surprised if it fixed the problem. After all, if that were a common situation, it would be just that -- common, and it isn't. There are hundreds if not thousands of systems piped with regular bushings!

    For one thing, the velocity of the steam drops so fast when it enters the radiator, that while one could get a nice gurgle (and sometimes do!) it would be a little surprising if one could get enough velocity to get a hammer.

    Double check all the piping -- not that I doubt you, but sometimes a little six inch piece can sneak in unnoticed and cause a lot of trouble.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • Abracadabra
    Abracadabra Member Posts: 1,948


    Double check all the piping -- not that I doubt you, but sometimes a little six inch piece can sneak in unnoticed and cause a lot of trouble.

    Yeah... I'm stumped on this one. Spent too much time already trying to figure this out. Never happens when I'm there... sort of like when you take your car to the mechanic.. But she's got the video with sounds of it happening in the middle of the night. I've even thought that she's purposely banging on the radiator herself with a hammer.... dunno..

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,453
    How large is the radiator? Maybe vent it a little slower. eccentric bushing
    or coupling or turn down with a reducing 90
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,586
    You sure it's not expansion noises?
    Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment
  • Abracadabra
    Abracadabra Member Posts: 1,948

    How large is the radiator? Maybe vent it a little slower. eccentric bushing
    or coupling or turn down with a reducing 90

    It's an 3 col, 38" 8 section 40edr, vented with a mom#4.
    She says that the hammering has definitely reduced with the new vent, but it still hammers.

    Some videos she emailed to prove the hammering, which of course never happens when I'm there.

    hammering starts at :50 in, expansion noises before and after
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AKhpNztk0w

    hammering on this one starts at about 1:00 in for about 1 min, then starts up again at around 2:55
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIRxf7t3NtU

  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    Is it possible this is after a set back or after she has just turned the heat back on after having it shut down for a while or after she has shut the valve to this radiator off for a while and just opened it again and that radiator/any water sitting in the bottom has gotten really cool/cold? It sounds more like expansion of or between the sections than actual hammer.
  • Paul48
    Paul48 Member Posts: 4,469
    Hmmm.....Can't see the vent. Maybe the angle.
  • Mark Eatherton
    Mark Eatherton Member Posts: 5,853
    Steam collapse? Vapor gets over standing puddle of condensate and collapses in on itself, causing banging? Just the radiator expansion would be enough to wake me up. Maybe try a TRV on that radiator. Grasping here...

    ME
    It's not so much a case of "You got what you paid for", as it is a matter of "You DIDN'T get what you DIDN'T pay for, and you're NOT going to get what you thought you were in the way of comfort". Borrowed from Heatboy.
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,586
    edited January 2016
    All of my radiators hold water, as you said they're bushed down.

    You may have mentioned it, but what pressure is the boiler running and what vents are on these radiators?

    Also, what valves are on them? I seem to recall some people having issues with smaller valves that don't allow the steam to pass the water very well.


    Is there any chance the hammering is actually taking place in the runout below the floor?

    Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042
    Yes, I have been told there is a difference between hot water valves and steam valves. The steam valves are "fatter" and have more room for the condensate to flow past incoming steam.
    Hard to tell unless they are side by side.
  • Abracadabra
    Abracadabra Member Posts: 1,948
    1-1/2" steam valve. one of the first things i checked.
    vent is a MOM#4 boiler is running at max pressure of 14oz. vaporstat controls 2-stage valve on a WM lgb-13 keeps pressure between 6oz-14oz.
    the dark video is early morning. yes, there's a couple degree setback. It's not huge, I don't remember the exact details of the setback they have set offhand. the daytime one i think is midday.

    Steam collapse? Vapor gets over standing puddle of condensate and collapses in on itself, causing banging? Just the radiator expansion would be enough to wake me up. Maybe try a TRV on that radiator. Grasping here...

    ME

    I'm grasping too @Mark Eatherton I'm kind of stumped. Got the radiator extremely well pitched, in both front/back and left/right to minimize any condensate sitting in the bottom of the radiator.
    I've considered swapping out the radiator with a completely different type just to see if we get anything different. Also as a test, I've even thought about piping the whole thing in 2" down to the stub out of the floor. I'd have to turn the radiator in the other direction though.
    Paul48 said:

    Hmmm.....Can't see the vent. Maybe the angle.

    @Paul48 , yeah there's a vent on the left. Video is taken from the right so you can't see the vent that's there.

    I've pulled the bonnet off and checked the inside of the valve for anything loose that might be trapping water... nothing there

    Oh, also, nuts on all the rods were checked for tightness and snugged up a bit.

    @Fred there's some expansion noises in the video, but the loud ones are definitely water hammer.
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,586
    edited February 2016

    1-1/2" steam valve. one of the first things i checked.
    vent is a MOM#4 boiler is running at max pressure of 14oz. vaporstat controls 2-stage valve on a WM lgb-13 keeps pressure between 6oz-14oz.
    the dark video is early morning. yes, there's a couple degree setback. It's not huge, I don't remember the exact details of the setback they have set offhand. the daytime one i think is midday.

    Steam collapse? Vapor gets over standing puddle of condensate and collapses in on itself, causing banging? Just the radiator expansion would be enough to wake me up. Maybe try a TRV on that radiator. Grasping here...

    ME

    I'm grasping too @Mark Eatherton I'm kind of stumped. Got the radiator extremely well pitched, in both front/back and left/right to minimize any condensate sitting in the bottom of the radiator.
    I've considered swapping out the radiator with a completely different type just to see if we get anything different. Also as a test, I've even thought about piping the whole thing in 2" down to the stub out of the floor. I'd have to turn the radiator in the other direction though.
    Paul48 said:

    Hmmm.....Can't see the vent. Maybe the angle.

    @Paul48 , yeah there's a vent on the left. Video is taken from the right so you can't see the vent that's there.

    I've pulled the bonnet off and checked the inside of the valve for anything loose that might be trapping water... nothing there

    Oh, also, nuts on all the rods were checked for tightness and snugged up a bit.

    @Fred there's some expansion noises in the video, but the loud ones are definitely water hammer.
    Well I'm out.
    I bolded what I was about to type next until I saw you already did it.


    Here's an idea.
    Can you please stop finding weird problems that make no sense?

    That would be great. :)


    I'm going to have to fall back on, are you 100% sure the hammering is in the radiator and not the runout below it?
    Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment
  • Abracadabra
    Abracadabra Member Posts: 1,948
    ChrisJ said:


    Here's an idea.
    Can you please stop finding weird problems that make no sense?

    That would be great. :)

    LOL.... I can handle the easy ones... it's these freaky weird ones that annoy the crap out of me that I figure others would find interesting ;)
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    Is there any chance that crud has washed to the center of the bottom of the radiator and created a dam like effect, holding water, on the far side of the radiator, further away from the valve?
  • Abracadabra
    Abracadabra Member Posts: 1,948
    Fred said:

    Is there any chance that crud has washed to the center of the bottom of the radiator and created a dam like effect, holding water, on the far side of the radiator, further away from the valve?

    Hmm.. maybe.. I'll add this idea to my to-do list.
  • Abracadabra, did you make any discoveries in this investigation? I am looking at an almost identical situation and was looking for a similar solution (eccentric reducing bushings), but haven't found such (in the needed size). I would love to hear if you've learned anything since your last post a couple years ago.
  • the_donut
    the_donut Member Posts: 374
    I had one similar to this. I took a vinyl hose and a shopvac to clean out muck damming radiator. The runout had been pitched wrong but was corrected over a year ago. However all that sludge from the years had washed to one side, about 2 sections in.

    Cleaning it out did the trick. Haven’t heard anything in over a month.
  • Danny Scully
    Danny Scully Member Posts: 1,416
    @Abracadabra, is it a modern 1-1/2 hand valve?
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    The original post is two years old.
  • Danny Scully
    Danny Scully Member Posts: 1,416
    edited February 2018
    Lol thanks @Fred. Guess he figured it out :lol:
  • Abracadabra
    Abracadabra Member Posts: 1,948
    Put in a new smaller radiator. No more noises, quiet as a mouse.
    I've since installed that radiator for another customer and it too is quiet as can be. Guess the old radiator wanted a move to a different home...