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What the heck is this? This

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Hydronicolic
Hydronicolic Member Posts: 18
in Strictly Steam
IMG_1327.jpeg IMG_1326.jpeg IMG_1320.jpeg IMG_1324.jpeg

I was told this is a one-pipe system.

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 26,679

    my bet is going to be some old form of F&T trap. Which probably doesn't work any more…

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    ethicalpaul
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 19,172

    Alternating boiler return trap or "canned ham" Vapor system used to pump condensate back to the boiler with steam pressure.

    Intplm.mattmia2HydronicolicHowardLong
  • pumpcontrolguy
    pumpcontrolguy Member Posts: 11

    Definitely a steam trap of some sort. I'm enjoying the fact that it's got a gauge glass on top to see how backed up the condensate is.

    Hydronicolic
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 15,067
    edited October 29
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1869924#Comment_1869924

    the gauge glass is what makes me lean toward boiler return trap vs just an ordinary steam trap.

    what kind of trim is on the radiators?

    Hydronicolic
  • Intplm.
    Intplm. Member Posts: 2,795

    Possibly an older version of one of these? A pump trap.

    condensate-commander-pump-t.jpg
    Hydronicolic
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,677

    Boiler return trap

    Retired and loving it.
    Hydronicolic
  • retiredguy
    retiredguy Member Posts: 1,079

    It is a steam tap made by Empire Trap company. I saw a lot of Empire traps on very old systems. A lot of them were bucket traps but this one could be an F&T. You would have to open it up to find out.

    Hydronicolic
  • Hydronicolic
    Hydronicolic Member Posts: 18

    Thanks for the replies. Pretty sure this is on a one pipe system. What would replace this today?

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 15,067
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1870067#Comment_1870067

    What is it doing? How is it hooked up? There are many options depending on what its function is.

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 19,172
    edited October 30

    Unusual to see that on 1 pipe steam. Don't know how that would work. Several companies make pumping traps. Most of the larger trap manufacturers make pumping traps. $$$$.

    Its only function is to pump condensate back to the boiler

    New England SteamWorks
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 15,067
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1870138#Comment_1870138

    unless that is something different, usually "boiler return traps" just let some steam in to the returns to equalize the pressure to let the water back in to the boiler.

  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 18,147

    Maybe the building was once served by district steam?

    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 19,172

    Maybe but didn't most district steam systems dump the condensate??

  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 18,147
    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1870224#Comment_1870224

    You'd still need to stop the steam from leaving the system before it condensed.

    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 19,172

    True, But you wouldn't do that with a "master trap" the radiation or equipment should have its own trap.

  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 18,147

    If it's a one-pipe system, the only locations for a trap would be the drips from the steam mains, and they would have to handle the load of all the radiation on their mains- same as if you were using a boiler-feed pump. This is not master-trapping.

    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting

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