Shut Off Valves for Old Hot Water Radiators

 
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stoker-man
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Post by stoker-man » Thu. Feb. 19, 2009 4:44 am

If old radiators are being re-installed into a house and the original shut-off valves are not supplied, what is used in their place? Appearance is not necessarily important. Ball valves?


 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Thu. Feb. 19, 2009 5:18 am

I'm pretty sure that you can still buy the shut off valves for the cast radiators. Any wholesale pipe outfit should have them. But, for sure, any type of valve will do the job. On the other hand.... unless they are steam, why do they need valves at all?

 
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Post by stoker-man » Thu. Feb. 19, 2009 6:04 am

In a parallel system, you could isolate rads in unused rooms.

Any other ideas about valves?

 
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Post by steamup » Thu. Feb. 19, 2009 8:22 am

Radiator valves are available through pex supply and many other suppliers.
**Broken Link(s) Removed**Radiator valves are a easy way to pipe the units.

There are union tail pieces available also so the radiation can be easily removed if necessary.

Radiators are piped in parrallel and have individual valves for manual heat adjustment.

There are automatic valves available with a temperature actuated tops that will automatically controll the radiator.

The difference between hot water and steam valves is that a hot water model has a hole drilled in the stopper to permit a tiny amount of flow. This was a requirement in gravity systems so the radiator did not grow so cold as to overcome the more boyant hot water and cause a cold radiator. The hole is useful in pumped systems to there is a tiny amount of flow should all of the valves be shut.

 
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Post by Yanche » Thu. Feb. 19, 2009 10:30 am

My local Lowes, one of the larger ones, stocks radiator valves both steam and water versions. What they don't carry are the radiator elbows. Just doesn't make sense, but then a lot of things don't make sense in the big box stores. I'd install your radiators with the correct valves and elbows.

 
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Post by stoker-man » Thu. Feb. 19, 2009 11:11 am

Thanks, all.

 
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Post by mozz » Thu. Feb. 19, 2009 12:49 pm

"Radiator valves are available through pex supply and many other suppliers.
Be careful dealing with pexsupply.com. Some people have good luck, others have problems. I placed an order, my debit card was charged almost instantly. Took days before I got a email with my order. There is no shipping date, emails went unreturned. 2 or 3 weeks I filed a complaint with the state attorney generals office, finally got a reply and phone call saying they were on backorder blah blah. They were so nice and threw in a t shirt for my trouble! I think they do not stock anything and are a middle man type operation. Try to find any company info and contact information on their web site, there's none. Ask if something is in stock, you won't get a reply. Their complaint form or question form is a joke. No matter what their prices, I will not deal with them again.
Last edited by mozz on Thu. Feb. 19, 2009 4:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.


 
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Post by billw » Thu. Feb. 19, 2009 1:37 pm

Mozz I had a similar experience dealing with that company. I'll go to the local plumbing supply house from now on even if it means I have to take a couple of hours of vacation time to do it.

 
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Post by steamup » Thu. Feb. 19, 2009 2:42 pm

Plenty of places other than Pex supply to buy radiator valves. I usually buy through a local supply house myself, but have recently found myself doing some buying online for smaller parts.

I did make one purchase from pex supply and they were a little slow. I called to check on my order and found out they had not shipped my order after having it for two weeks. They sent it out the next day and I got it ok.

Reading others experience, I won't be purchasing any more from them and also would recommend staying away from Pex supply.

 
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Post by rberq » Thu. Feb. 19, 2009 6:57 pm

stoker-man wrote:In a parallel system, you could isolate rads in unused rooms.
Yeah, I did that. Froze the radiator. Expensive way to save oil.

 
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Post by Sting » Thu. Feb. 19, 2009 8:41 pm

replace the manual valve with a Danfoss Side Mount Angle Thermostatic Radiator Valve
Then you can let the room grow quite cool without worry and save energy in unused rooms

http://www.patriot-supply.com/search.cfm?q=RA2000&manu_id=32

 
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Post by ddungy » Mon. Mar. 02, 2009 10:01 am

By: rberq On: Thu Feb 19, 2009 7:57 pm

stoker-man wrote:
In a parallel system, you could isolate rads in unused rooms.

Yeah, I did that. Froze the radiator. Expensive way to save oil.
I am looking at turning some off as well. Is there a way to prevent this and turn them off?

 
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Post by rberq » Mon. Mar. 02, 2009 5:33 pm

ddungy wrote:I am looking at turning some off as well. Is there a way to prevent this and turn them off?
See previous posting by Sting, 2/19/09, just before yours in the thread.

 
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Post by coal berner » Mon. Mar. 02, 2009 11:23 pm

stoker-man wrote:Thanks, all.
Try here Stoker- man thet will have whatever you need you can buy radiators from them to .

http://www.readingfoundry.com/

 
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Post by stoker-man » Mon. Mar. 16, 2009 5:19 am

Reading Foundry is one of our dealers. I didn't know their product line was heating, thinking they were an actual foundry and wondering why they were going through so many water coils. :oops:


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