Two vents on one radiator - a t-fitting?
A plumber (who now is unfortunately not returning my calls) suggested we balance our building’s system by having two vents on certain radiators (on the hot side of the building). More venting makes sense to me — the plumber who can implement the work is not a steam expert, but says the way to have two vents is to use some type of t-fitting at the existing location. Is this right, or would they need to tap the radiator at a slightly lower location to add the second vent?
katerina
in Plumbing 5 years and 6 months ago
5
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5 replies
stevecym | 5 years and 6 months ago
put smaller vents in the warmer rooms. if the cold areas are still not warming, but a smaller vent in the room where the thermostat is.
i did this here and it was trial an error. i had to buy a few vents. i would start by installing smaller vents in the warmer rooms and see where that takes you.
stevecym | 5 years and 6 months ago
just read what master plumber said. the current house i live in does not have vents on a pipe at the end of a run and i am not sure what most have in brooklyn as i do not look at them. but we once lived in an apt on the top floor of a building and there were pipes just like green thinking describes, two of them, one for the radiators to the back of the place and one for the run to the front. 1920’s circa building. if i were having the problems OP were having, i would consider a larger vent at the end of a run like that. but i had only seen something like that the one time.
i just read your post again. why would you put two vents on the hot side of the building? you need to have the steam hit the cold side faster and begin warming it before the room where the thermostat is warms and shuts the system down.
stevecym | 5 years and 6 months ago
i had some areas that would not heat fast enough and i drilled some larger holes in the vents. in truth, the vents, at least the brand i have, are all made the same but the vent orifice is a removable and interchangeable piece. so i took them out of the vent and drilled larger holes in some of them, larger than the largest i could buy from the store. worked out.
i would not think it wise to begin drilling and tapping holes in the radiators as it seems to me, on my radiators, that they were all drilled and tapped at a specific spot, where there is a “collar” where the casting is heavier. i do a lot of drilling and tapping, not on this kind of metal and not on radiators, and sometimes we screw a tap up or break a tap or something goes wrong and we have to start over again. that is fine on raw steel you can throw out, but if it is on something you wish to keep, then you have to repair it or put a bushing in and if the metal is thin, you will have all sorts of issues. and this stuff does not readily weld.
that said, there may be someone out there who does this all the time. master plumber likes to correct me when i say something that runs counter to his thinking, so let’s see if he weighs in here.
Master Plvmber | 5 years and 6 months ago
Use a ⅛” short black steel nipple and tee fitting. You shouldn’t need to re-tap the radiator for a second connection.
Most steam risers to radiators, or stacks as GreenThinker is calling them, are not vented.
GreenThinker | 5 years and 6 months ago
Normally you’d start by looking at the air vent on the main stack. There should be a vent on the top floor where the steam pipe ends and branches out to the radiators. It can be easily replaced with something larger or a t fitting can be used to screw in 2 vents. Usually, before you start messing around with the radiator vents, it’s better to start with the main stack vents. Afterwards, you can easily replace the radiator vents with adjustable ones to fine tune things.
Besides venting, it also good to check if your pressuretrol is set correctly, it’ll say “cut in” on the box and it shouldn’t be more than 2 PSi, and when you open the cover, there’s a white gear, that should be set at 1.