Boiler venting help
- Thread starter SwampCat
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Ron Lombardo
Well-known member
We always use the WATTS FV-4M1-1/8 AUTOMATIC AIR VENT VALVE 1/8"
98ssuck
Well-known member
What do you have at the highest point of your system?
anthony666
Well-known member
the maid of the mist is as ghetto as it gets .. x2 on the watts vent .. i also like the bell and gossett model 97
Mr onetwo
Well-known member
I agree that a Spirovent is best, but it is generally a lot of work to repipe the supply.I like the Caleffi 5020 MINICAL® Automatic Air Vent...great quality.It happens to be what my wholesaler carries.
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Ron Lombardo
Well-known member
Spirovent is clearly the best option ... make sure its on the supply and right near the boiler.
On a closed loop system ...there should be no auto air vent at the highest point ... because remember when the system cools down and pressure drops they take air back in also ...and could be the route of some of the problems.
On a closed loop system ...there should be no auto air vent at the highest point ... because remember when the system cools down and pressure drops they take air back in also ...and could be the route of some of the problems.
anthony666
Well-known member
ron, there's a float inside that shuts the vent .. if you have a properly sized expansion tank cooling will not affect the water level in the system .. if it's letting in air on cool down the float is stuck and the vent should be replaced
venting should ALWAYS be as high in the system as possible .. for an explanation of why, fill your bathtub, get in, now fart .. where do the bubbles go ??
Ron Lombardo
Well-known member
Anthony666 ...sorry buddy ... been doing this a long time. We never put air vents at the top of a system ... manual vents yes on large commercial ... but not in a closed loop ... you can force water and purge at the source ... an air scoop, spirovent and or a Rolatrol will do its job ... The float when the system gets cold and or pressure drops will pull air in. You free to do it...but its a bad practice.
FYI your bathtub is an open system ... in a closed system with 4gpm the bubbles end up dissolved and removed at the air remover of your choice.
Ron
FYI your bathtub is an open system ... in a closed system with 4gpm the bubbles end up dissolved and removed at the air remover of your choice.
Ron
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brihvac
Well-known member
Yes.
anthony666
Well-known member
ok ron .. fill a mason jar with water, leave an inch at the top .. close the lid, hell, glue it on, CLOSED SYSTEM .. turn it upside down .. if the bubbles stay at the bottom i will give you a million dollars .. air is lighter than water ALWAYS, it goes to the top of a system ALWAYS .. air vents, scrubbers, air eliminators, call it whatever you like, it goes at the top of the system
i'm editing this to clarify .. air eliminators go at the top of the near boiler system .. i'm not talking about putting it in the damn attic
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goneflyin2002
Well-known member
Hi Ron,
just curious as how you could pull air in when the closed system is sitting at 20+ psi?
thanks
Remember that is the pressure in the basement, the higher you go the less pressure you will have.
FWIW I hate any air vents not at the boiler, they always end up either buried and inaccessible or leak water and damage something.
Ron Lombardo
Well-known member
" ok ron .. fill a mason jar with water, leave an inch at the top .. close the lid, hell, glue it on, CLOSED SYSTEM .. turn it upside down"
In a closed loop system ... there is no air 1" from the top .... how about fill the mason jar to the top and turn it upside down and tell me where the air goes ? The air is dissolved in the water.
" just curious as how you could pull air in when the closed system is sitting at 20+ psi?"
Thanks Brewchief
Take my house, boiler in basement 9', 1st floor 11', 2nd floor 11', attic convectors 2' ( including the 12" for floor joists )= 33' X.434 = psi to raise water 1' = 14.33 lbs .... your automatic feeder is set 12-15psi .... so when the system cools down you have between -2.33 psi and 1psi at the top of the system where you want to put a float style air vent ... it will **** air in.
We were just called into a local Monastery 6 stories and they said they have not had heat in some rooms since the Renovation 8 years ago ... its venturi system with air vents at each radiator ... we installed manual vents and purged the system ... took a while but heat in every room. The system pressure is 50 psi and auto feed is 30psi
Its just not a good practice to put auto air vents on a closed loop system.
In a closed loop system ... there is no air 1" from the top .... how about fill the mason jar to the top and turn it upside down and tell me where the air goes ? The air is dissolved in the water.
" just curious as how you could pull air in when the closed system is sitting at 20+ psi?"
Thanks Brewchief
Take my house, boiler in basement 9', 1st floor 11', 2nd floor 11', attic convectors 2' ( including the 12" for floor joists )= 33' X.434 = psi to raise water 1' = 14.33 lbs .... your automatic feeder is set 12-15psi .... so when the system cools down you have between -2.33 psi and 1psi at the top of the system where you want to put a float style air vent ... it will **** air in.
We were just called into a local Monastery 6 stories and they said they have not had heat in some rooms since the Renovation 8 years ago ... its venturi system with air vents at each radiator ... we installed manual vents and purged the system ... took a while but heat in every room. The system pressure is 50 psi and auto feed is 30psi
Its just not a good practice to put auto air vents on a closed loop system.
Ron Lombardo
Well-known member
WTF ? why didnt you say that ? LOL Ok we agree.
" .. air eliminators go at the top of the near boiler system .. i'm not talking about putting it in the damn attic "
" .. air eliminators go at the top of the near boiler system .. i'm not talking about putting it in the damn attic "
anthony666
Well-known member
i'm really not trying to get off on the wrong foot here, but if the air is always dissolved in the system we wouldn't get air locks .. right ??
anyway, cheers
good to have another radiant guy in here .. i won't feel so ganged up on by the forced air brigadeRon Lombardo
Well-known member
Lately the wet side of heating ( mainly commercial ) if you noticed we have gone to Spiro-vents and Rolatrols which have screens ... and remove air dissolved in water instead of simple air scoops where the air bubbles float to top of pipe and get skimmed off. I'm pretty sure its because of the higher velocity of the pumps move the water faster, pipes are smaller ... you kind of never really end up with an air locked system ?