Six Boiler Replacement Mistakes
As we are entering the time that most commercial boiler projects are being planned and installed, I would like to share some common steam boiler oversights that I rarely ...
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Recent Articles
Four Things To Look Out For in Steam-Boiler Pressure Controls
"Something is wrong with the boiler control. I have to keep pushing the reset button,” the frantic school custodian said when I answered the phone one cold January mornin...
Reflective Insulation Behind Steam Radiators
You'll sometimes see a thin, reflective insulation barrier between a radiator and the outside wall of a building. The Dead Men installed these to reflect the radiators' r...
Piping Past Obstructions in One-Pipe Steam Heating Systems
Here’s how you’d pass a steam main over a steel beam: The pitch is in the direction of the flow. The steam goes over the beam through a pipe that’s the same size as the m...
Watch an Infrared Film of a Steam Radiator Getting Hot
Reinvent is the nickname of one of the members of The Wall. This is a time-lapse film that shows how steam is lighter than air and will go to the top of the radiator firs...
Alumni Advice
Our daughter, Colleen, is the Executive Director of an AmeriCorps program called the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship. They do very good work out of Northeastern Universi...
Do I Need to Flush an Old Radiator From Time to Time?
No. Hot water radiators operate within a “closed” system where there’s little or no corrosion taking place. Flushing these radiators will only cause you to add more water...
Where Does the Air Vent Belong on a Hot-Water Radiator?
Each hot water radiator should have an air vent at the top, on the side opposite the inlet pipe. You’ll use this vent to “bleed” air from the radiator when you’re first s...
Where does the air vent belong on a cast-iron steam radiator?
If it’s a one-pipe steam radiator, the vent belongs on the side of the radiator that’s opposite the pipe. Because the lighter-than-air steam will head first for the top o...
Does a Two-Pipe Steam Radiator Have to Have a Steam Trap?
No, but it has to have something to keep the steam from entering the condensate return lines. That “something” may be an internal orifice, a tiny check valve you can’t se...