Get yourself a cheap level, maybe 18″. Get yourself a lever: a metal bar 4′-6′ long. Get some wood blocks and shims. Find a hulky friend(one adult, two small boys, or equivalent).
Now check each radiator to see if it tilts toward the piping. If it does, then it’s OK. Move on the one which is only level or tilted away from the piping. Insert the lever under the end away the piping ever so gently until it tilts properly toward the piping (per level). Put wood blocks and shims in place to hold radiator at this new tilt. Proceed to next radiator and repeat. Don’t forget to bleed them all.
If your radiator is mounted on the wall, you’re screwed. Can’t help you there.
Assuming you have one-pipe steam, and are having problems with hammering (bang, bang, BANG), pitching the noisy radiators may help if the problen is indeed at the radiator. It’s actually quite easy to do. The radiator should be pitched just slightly toward the valve end (not the vent end). The valve, which should always be either completely open or completely closed, has a knob on it. The valve controls whether or not steam enters the radiator. The vent at the opposite end allows air to exit the radiator just until the radiator is full of steam at which point the heat from the steam shuts the vent.
The radiator should be pitched toward the valve because water from the condensed steam needs to run back to the boiler through the same pipe the steam came up in. If the steam on the way up encounters puddles in the piping or radiator, the puddled water expands rapidly, exploding sort of, and making a racket.
Put pennies or wood shims under the legs opposite the valve (under the vent end) to get more of a pitch toward the valve. Use a spirit level to determine if the radiator is pitched in the right direction. In fact, check the pitch before you fiddle with it to be certain it’s not pitched correctly in the first place. If your radiators are pitced correctly, and you still have noise, the problem is likely elsewhere in the system.
Get yourself a cheap level, maybe 18″. Get yourself a lever: a metal bar 4′-6′ long. Get some wood blocks and shims. Find a hulky friend(one adult, two small boys, or equivalent).
Now check each radiator to see if it tilts toward the piping. If it does, then it’s OK. Move on the one which is only level or tilted away from the piping. Insert the lever under the end away the piping ever so gently until it tilts properly toward the piping (per level). Put wood blocks and shims in place to hold radiator at this new tilt. Proceed to next radiator and repeat. Don’t forget to bleed them all.
If your radiator is mounted on the wall, you’re screwed. Can’t help you there.
Assuming you have one-pipe steam, and are having problems with hammering (bang, bang, BANG), pitching the noisy radiators may help if the problen is indeed at the radiator. It’s actually quite easy to do. The radiator should be pitched just slightly toward the valve end (not the vent end). The valve, which should always be either completely open or completely closed, has a knob on it. The valve controls whether or not steam enters the radiator. The vent at the opposite end allows air to exit the radiator just until the radiator is full of steam at which point the heat from the steam shuts the vent.
The radiator should be pitched toward the valve because water from the condensed steam needs to run back to the boiler through the same pipe the steam came up in. If the steam on the way up encounters puddles in the piping or radiator, the puddled water expands rapidly, exploding sort of, and making a racket.
Put pennies or wood shims under the legs opposite the valve (under the vent end) to get more of a pitch toward the valve. Use a spirit level to determine if the radiator is pitched in the right direction. In fact, check the pitch before you fiddle with it to be certain it’s not pitched correctly in the first place. If your radiators are pitced correctly, and you still have noise, the problem is likely elsewhere in the system.