Radiator Air Vent Steam Fires Out

I am back at my mom's house which seems to always have something breaking. This time the steam radiator air vent leaks steam and water when boiler builds pressure. I pitch the radiator and replace the air vent. Then test the heating system with the new Doyle Steam Air Vent

[@electriciants7927]

Nice job. I still have a few of those heat timer valves in use. One failed recently so I'll be replacing mine with Hoffman 1As when the rest fail. For now I'm using Hoffman #40s. They work good for the radiators close to the boiler. I like hearing the clicking sounds from the vents so I know everything is working as should.

[@thehvachacker]

I will never use them again. Just Hoffman adjustable valves

[@williegillie5712]

Moms lucky your around to take care of that boiler system.

[@thehvachacker]

Yes, I won't be using the Varivalve air vent from heat timer ever again. Till now they seemed like good little valves. been putting them in for 4 years along with the dole or Hoffman a1 vent. Never any troubles till here but this could bring on a lawsuit the damaged steam can do if no one noticed this and I just installed the valve. At least the A1 style valve vents out top so less chance of someone getting burnt or shooting steam on sheetrock till it blows a hole. I know my mom would never sue but I put these valves in other places. It just got stuck open. i didn't need to raise the rad yet never hurts to help it drain.

[@MidwestCombatServicesLLC]

Good video, bud. The steam vents supposed to close after a while but seems every cheaper vent I buy never shuts after pressure builds, hissing all night.

[@thehvachacker]

Most of them close. I like the varivent until I put one in my moms house here. I threw any those remaining vents away. Hoffman or Doyle’s

[@andrewhambrick6429]

I've been searching everywhere online to find out why our radiators are hissing but everyone talks about banging, not hissing. This is our first home with radiator steam heat and the hissing starts after about 10 minutes of heat turning in. Any help is very much appreciated.

[@andrewhambrick6429]

​@@thehvachackerif you have any ideas on above comment please let me know

[@thehvachacker]

Hoffman 1a don’t go with cheap vents

[@2010phannguyenphan]

How to fix hissing,please

[@Rainmaker88]

I had a maintenance like this. Guy said his vent leaks a little. The vent was spraying like the one in this video. I was like okay good news is I can stop that... bad news is you're house isn't going to be as humid as a jungle anymore.

[@thehvachacker]

I was imagining this as just leaking a little thinking my mom was exaggerating. I would go and repair no matter what. It makes a nice humidifier with a leak like this yet makes the boiler become inefficient since the burners will be running more than needed.

[@shadowbanned69]

Mom still has sediment after that huge clean out on thanksgiving... wow she has some hard water bill...damn Might be time for a new boiler

[@thehvachacker]

Most is out it suppose to get drained weekly. So since I was there I gave it a good flushing cause I’m sure it hasn’t been drained since I put this leaky vent on. To think I thought it was only a few drops from the message my mom left.

[@shadowbanned69]

Lol

[@charlesb7182]

Hey, thank you for this video. I have this exact same system. I purchased the house a few years back and I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. Any chance you can do a tutorial on what is what? I called a plumber once and asked and he was super vague. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you for the great videos!

[@MidwestCombatServicesLLC]

90% of all plumbers and heat and air conditioning have no idea how to operate these. Watch This Old House vids on steamheat to learn as much as you can )until you upgrade to ductless heating).

[@FrozenHaxor]

Never ending story with that system haha

[@thehvachacker]

Yea I shouldn’t of changed the last valve when it was working. Yet I will never use one of those heat timer vents again

[@sethmaynard2972]

Just ordered six of these. Damn, guess will see what happens.

[@oldcarnocar]

How does the water get so filthy?,no filters? (out west its just natural gas heat,no boilers) good vids hacker, always informative

[@thehvachacker]

It is rust from the inside of the pipes and radiators that make the water dirty. The pipes are wet and dry all the time. Its why a steam boiler needs a weekly draining to get all that crap out before it clogs pipes.

[@oldcarnocar]

@@thehvachacker thanks,wow,glad we have a gas furnace!

[@thehvachacker]

Once these rads get hot though they keep radiating heat. Why old stats had heat anticipators. Many steam systems were once coal systems especially the houses built in the 1800's.

[@mttrips4429]

Radiator was tilted the wrong way. Must tilt toward valve to drain. Condensates water was not draining.

[@plucy470]

What is the pressuretrol set at? Shouldn't be more than a pound.

[@thehvachacker]

I have the pressure troll set at .5 cut in the lowest setting possible and 1 differential. Yet it goes to 3 and cuts in around 1 so I need to replace cause the cut in is off. Can you actually get them to cut out lower? 1/2lb of pressure can heat a city block yet you would have no pressure if you cut out at 1 and cut in at 0.

[@plucy470]

Yes, honywell makes one calibrated in ounces. Not cheap if i remember correctly and some customers don't like the cycling

[@More350Power]

Interesting.... I have never been around a steam boiler seems like it kicks out ton more heat. How often does it need to vent ?

[@Rainmaker88]

Vent air? Everytime. It's an open system.

[@thehvachacker]

The air vent lets the air out of the pipe so steam can replace the air. then when vent gets hot it closes. opens when rad starts too cool to allow more steam into the radiator. Steam Rads do kick off more heat since steam is over 212 degrees. I grew up with it and love it. Yet it's owner needs to drain it down weekly since the old steel/ cast iron pipes and rads are slowly rusting away on the inside from dry/ wet/ dry conditions. These systems wouldn't need electricity since it works off gravity. Some are still around with powerpiles that the pilot burns on to create millivolts to power gas valve and safeties. The opposite failure occurs with these vents were they get plugged up or won't open back up and then the rad never heats since the air can't get displaced by steam

[@More350Power]

@@thehvachacker Thank you for the information, appreciate it !

[@thehvachacker]

Anytime

[@sknight0391]

Full steam ahead 💦💦💦 I bet Jon HVAC has watch this about a dozen times 😂 He like things MOIST 👍

[@thehvachacker]

😂 this is what happens when I change something just to make mom happy. The whole room was moist. 💦. To think I thought it was a little water dripping out then vent when my mom called and left a message of the water leak 🤪

[@sknight0391]

@@thehvachacker Moisture rating...Level 9

[@thehvachacker]

Haven't heard from Jon, so it must not have been moist enough too bad it wasn't a 10

[@watermanone7567]

Thanks for the video. I asked the last time why the steam vent in not put in the top fitting. I have seen them near the top of the radiator where there is less chance for debris and water. Thanks

[@thehvachacker]

Usually this doesn’t happen the valve got stuck open. It closed as soon as my wrench hit it. Yet no way I’m leaving it on to get stuck again. It doesn’t hurt if it was higher up on the rad. Yet first time leaking in 35 years since the rads were installed. I’m sure this will be the last video on this rad besides changing shut off valve for many years.

[@Vic-kv1rg]

Those heat timers are known to spit water even at the lowest setting, get a Gorton #5

[@thehvachacker]

I have good luck with the Gordon’s yet like the Doyle vents. Both seem to last usually at least 7 years unlike this Vari vent which is not even 2 months old

[@Vic-kv1rg]

Keep in mind those dole's are not the old school type, these have plastic inners unlike gortons, hoffmans and ventrites, all good quality

[@thehvachacker]

Dole has gone Chinnesium quality that sucks I always had good luck with Dole 1a adjustable valves. I know they changed to the plastic scoop a long time back, yet other inner parts are being made of plastic. I like the Hoffmans adjustable valve yet couldn't get one after work the dole was what the plumbing supply had.

[@michaellicitra7632]

We know why Mom's boiler has so many problems...you like the lasagne too much! :) Seriously, have you noticed your IR thermometer reading off sometimes? I looked carefully and the meter is set at an emissivity of .95. That is probaby very good for metal painted surfaces but when you look at other materials you may notice a fairly big difference. This is due to the ability of different surfaces to emit IR radiation. As a result the meter reading has an emissivity option built into it for measuring varios surfaces. A stainless steel surface would read different than a painted surface and the meter hads a correction factor to accommodate the different E values of each surface (see the top of the dispay). For fun, next time you use the meter take your A/C thermocouples or thermometer along and see the difference of various temps the IR says vs the thermocouple and you can readily see the difference depending upon the emissivity of the surface material being checked. The IR "shininess" (if that is even a word) affects the temperature measurement on the IR meter. The meter auto sets emissivity at .95 since that is a good place for many type of surfaces and materials. Just some food for thought when using an IR Temp device and trying to figure out some crazy results in the future.

[@thehvachacker]

You are 100% correct about the lasagne and emissivity. Because of emissivity, I am not a fan of using IR thermometers. Yet I will play with this IR sometimes. I did a video on emissivity when I first bought this IR. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmeppml_p7x8apo This is on my other channel. I couldn't get it to read the IR temps off of a shiny stainless magnetic bowl no matter how low I set the E setting. I should most likely do another video now that I been playing with this IR for more than 6 months. Yet most homeowners buy IR and think they are reading air temps coming out of registers. Not realizing that the spot of the IR changes. This IR I am using is a 12:1 which means I am not testing where the laser is pointed only. I am testing a 1" spot at 12" away. So know someone not knowing is 3 feet away thinks they are testing the laser but instead getting an average temp of a 3" radius. I didn't know that when I purchased my first IR years ago which I think was either a 6:1 or 8:1. I just didn't want to crawl around on my hands and knees looking for cold spots on floors with radiant heat. I will always grab a clamp meter for copper since it can be tricky with an IR. Yet wrapping shiny metals with black electric tape seems to help raise surface emissivity. That video link I was just starting to play with emissivity. This was around the time I put the video out about the getting an old Trane running that was sabotaged. That video was the first time I tried playing with the IR in the field. Because of Emissivity, I am looking for a good thermal imager instead of one using spot IR sensors. So I have been saving for a few months. Tools are an investment don't want a cheap one yet I believe it will be useful for testing radiant heat, driveway melts, ac systems for restrictions, and air leakage in buildings.

[@michaellicitra7632]

@@thehvachacker Excellent! You are perfectly correct in your assesment. Those cameras are expensive but as you say they actually show surfaces and their differences. Great job!

[@Eddy63]

I'd charge her some good ole home cookin' Hackster ... Lol ... Good vid ...

[@thehvachacker]

I enjoyed dinner while waiting for the boiler to heat up so I could see what was leaking. No idea it was going to be shooting out steam like that

[@dmitrinachumovhvacapplianc1597]

Good to see you

[@thehvachacker]

What good Dmitri? what are you up to today?

[@dmitrinachumovhvacapplianc1597]

Today I repaired 2 refrigerator, washing machine and dishwasher air conditioner TADIRAN I live in Israel I watch your videos maybe I will soon move to America and I will also have to do what I do but in America I learn from you, although this is all that you repair it is familiar to me@@thehvachacker

[@thehvachacker]

Nice productive day. I had a generator maintenance that the magnet decided to break off the flywheel while I had the generator powering the house. There is lots of repair work available in America

[@dmitrinachumovhvacapplianc1597]

@@thehvachacker when i come i want to learn from your work if you don't mind have a nice day

[@thehvachacker]

Sounds good

[@kurtismckemmie4850]

Is it just me or did someone say something at 7:16?

[@jeffreyjohn2037]

That was the hacker being a goofball

[@kurtismckemmie4850]

@@jeffreyjohn2037 that's what I thought! 😂

[@thehvachacker]

I was just having fun

[@chrisharvie-smith486]

Isn't all that brown stuff rust from the boiler and rads ? How hot are steam radiators run ? Do they burn if you touch them ?!

[@thehvachacker]

Yes the brown stuff is rust in the water. A steam radiator is as hot as steam since it fills with steam and the vent closes. You can burn yourself on then if not careful. Many houses have covers on them to protect children.

[@jeffcoolhd]

Hacker that was a nice shim job. Peace brother

[@thehvachacker]

I do what I have to. The rad would work if I didn’t add the shins yet doesn’t hurt. Peace out Patriot

[@petecheng1]

varivalve needs to be replaced.

[@2pugman]

What is you pressuretrol set at ? 1.5 lbs to a max of 2 lbs is perfect for a standard size home.

[@TTV_kryptic_gaming]

I that steam bad to breath in ?

[@richardfamousactor2261]

🙄🙄🙄

[@blackrose3968]

Hahaha