Hot Water System Help
Last time I wrote about capping a radiator, Bobjohn correctly asked whether I was unknowingly describing a hot water system. Well, it’s a new place (for us) and we’re just getting to know the place, so yes indeed it is a hot water system (converted from steam, it seems, years and years ago). During our…
Last time I wrote about capping a radiator, Bobjohn correctly asked whether I was unknowingly describing a hot water system. Well, it’s a new place (for us) and we’re just getting to know the place, so yes indeed it is a hot water system (converted from steam, it seems, years and years ago).
During our reno, the system was bled and this one radiator was taken out. Do I have this right: I need to connect the two pipes where the radiator was, not cap them, right?
And is this a piping connection that’s going to need soldering? I can’t visualize how to get two elbows plus a piece of straight pipe together with threading, unless there’s a clever coupling I can get.
And last, what am I looking for in a vlalve on the hot water heater to let me charge the system back up once I’ve closed the gap?
Thanks!
http://www.terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31885
i think owning a house might make you boring.
Based on the pump on the boiler and the levels in the pressure gauge (the whole scale is much higher than steam systems usually go – it’s obviously set up to read the 20-40 psi range more typical with hot water), as well as bleed valves recently (relatviely) added to the radiators, it sure matches all the descriptions of hot water systems I can find. Even though there are some legacy signs of steam, they are a lot dustier than the things that make it seem to be hot water.
All in all it sounds just quirky enough to call in a plumber and stop messing around with my self-education, now that the temperature has dropped and the sun has disappeared for five months.
Dan B: The pipes are mainly exposed, though it’s a little unclear at points where they go from floor to floor whether the offending gap is on a branch of the system or if it’s all a closed loop. Another reason to stop my sleuthing and get some help. Thanks again-
The more important question would be where were the two pipes tapped into the radiator? If it was a conversion to hot water than one of the pipes should of come out near the bottom and the other near the top.
With all due respect to Bobjohn there are 2 pipe steam systems. Not uncommon at all. Are you sure it’s hot water???
Glad you heard my comments in the voice I meant them. E-speaking sometimes gets miscontrued.
I would just have the plumber do the whole thing, and here’s why. If you connect the pipes when you could have capped instead, then you are heating the cabinet space unnecessarily, for all eternity. If you connect, and then the plumber gets there and says “you could have capped”, he will have to either undo what you did (he won’t likely wait for free while you do it), and then charge the system, or he’ll have to come back, and charge another service call. Of course, you could just leave it connected at that point, but if I could avoid adding an unnecessary coupler in the heat system (another possible point of leak, which in the cabinets would be expensive), and also avoid all that heat in a cabinet, I would. If you go the route of connecting, ask the plumber if insulating the pipe would be wise.
In the end, the big $$ for this job is going to be getting the plumber to the door. Once there, connecting a few pipes (if easily accessible) should not add that much to the bill.
By the way – can you see where the pipes come from and go to? Are they exposed or in a wall?
Dan B
Advice well taken, and thanks for being so – tactful. I’m an ambitious diyer too, but hopefully not a foolish one. Yes, we have been a little blindsided by the slow recognition of what we’ve got here (there’s lots of signs that it was a steam system, at least formerly, so I never actually gave it another thought in the middle of the summer…).
And, yeah, I don’t know much about this stuff, but I’m prepared to learn what’s necessary since I’ve got a lifetime of dealing with it ahead of me. If that means learning it over the shoulder of a plumber, and there’s no other way to do it, fine.
As for connecting the pipe, I have done enough piping that I feel ok with this solution, if it’s correct (the pipe would end up underneath some cabinetry, and not out in the open for potential hazards. But it is a connection puzzle for me. Is it a fair compromise between my desire to do something myself and the need for a plumber to try and make the connections myself, and then get a plumber to come and charge up and inspect the system? Or ixnay the whole thing?
And thanks for the straight talk.
Advice well taken, and thanks for being so – tactful. I’m an ambitious diyer too, but hopefully not a foolish one. Yes, we have been a little blindsided by the slow recognition of what we’ve got here (there’s lots of signs that it was a steam system, at least formerly, so I never actually gave it another thought in the middle of the summer…).
And, yeah, I don’t know much about this stuff, but I’m prepared to learn what’s necessary since I’ve got a lifetime of dealing with it ahead of me. If that means learning it over the shoulder of a plumber, and there’s no other way to do it, fine.
As for connecting the pipe, I have done enough piping that I feel ok with this solution, if it’s correct (the pipe would end up underneath some cabinetry, and not out in the open for potential hazards. But it is a connection puzzle for me. Is it a fair compromise between my desire to do something myself and the need for a plumber to try and make the connections myself, and then get a plumber to come and charge up and inspect the system? Or ixnay the whole thing?
And thanks for the straight talk.
Dan B –> Very well said!! I doubt anyone could have said that better.