Tell me about these cast radiators

[goosegunner]

Could anyone tell me about these cast radiators?

They are 32"h X 28" W. 12 sections ,Tubes are 1-1/4" with 4 in each section.

They have connection top one end and bottom other.

Any idea steam or water?

Btu's at high and low temp?

What would be a fair price for to pay for each?

gg

 

[heaterman]

Could anyone tell me about these cast radiators?

They are 32"h X 28" W. 12 sections ,Tubes are 1-1/4" with 4 in each section.

They have connection top one end and bottom other.

Any idea steam or water?

Btu's at high and low temp?

What would be a fair price for to pay for each?

gg

Those can be used as steam or hot water. It the bottom/top configuration they would have been used for water so check them close for corrosion inside. You don't want to see piles of scale and rust in them.
They have an EDR rating of about 3-1/2 per section in four column configuration. At average water temperature of 170 they will emit about 150btu per sq ft @ indoor temp of 70*.
In other words if you had a rad with 10, 4 column sections and water temp of 170 you would get about 15,000 btu output of one of the nicest forms of heat known to man.

To give you an idea of output from low to high you would get about 50btu@120* water and 210btu @200*.

Price is determined by the condition of the rad, leak tested or not, local market and scrap metal price. New ones are ludicrous unless your last name is Gates or Buffet.

 

[goosegunner]

How does $60 sound? If I am patient they might be available for less, maybe $30.

They aren't pressure tested yet, I would have to do that and clean them.

I can feel some rust scale when I put my finger in the hole but I would guess that is normal once they are open to the elements.

What does it cost to recondition?

They are 12 section, there are 16 available now.


gg

 

[goosegunner]

Also do you have to be concerned with interducing rust in to my expensive boiler system?

Closed and treated with Precision Chemicals.

gg

 

[heaterman]

How does $60 sound? If I am patient they might be available for less, maybe $30.

They aren't pressure tested yet, I would have to do that and clean them.

I can feel some rust scale when I put my finger in the hole but I would guess that is normal once they are open to the elements.

What does it cost to recondition?

They are 12 section, there are 16 available now.


gg

I'm drooling on my keyboard........ I love iron rads. Coupled with a variable water temp system they will darn near make a person forget about radiant floors.

 

[heaterman]

Also do you have to be concerned with interducing rust in to my expensive boiler system?

Closed and treated with Precision Chemicals.

gg

You will want to clean and flush them as best you can, make sure you have a strainer on your main and by all means monitor your water chemistry after installing them.
When you say "Precision Chemicals" are you referring to the company PrecisionChem out of Wisconsin? If so, you are in good hands. Chemical Mike will do a good job for you.

 

[goosegunner]

How does $60 sound? If I am patient they might be available for less, maybe $30.

They aren't pressure tested yet, I would have to do that and clean them.

I can feel some rust scale when I put my finger in the hole but I would guess that is normal once they are open to the elements.

What does it cost to recondition?

They are 12 section, there are 16 available now.


gg

I'm drooling on my keyboard........ I love iron rads. Coupled with a variable water temp system they will darn near make a person forget about radiant floors.

So I take it that is a decent price?

I don't understand the math is it,

3.5 edr section X 12 sections X 150= 6300 btu's

gg

 

[goosegunner]

Also do you have to be concerned with interducing rust in to my expensive boiler system?

Closed and treated with Precision Chemicals.

gg

You will want to clean and flush them as best you can, make sure you have a strainer on your main and by all means monitor your water chemistry after installing them.
When you say "Precision Chemicals" are you referring to the company PrecisionChem out of Wisconsin? If so, you are in good hands. Chemical Mike will do a good job for you.

yes that is the company.

I also have 2 wye strainers and a Spirotrap dirt trap in my system

gg

 

[heaterman]

Also do you have to be concerned with interducing rust in to my expensive boiler system?

Closed and treated with Precision Chemicals.

gg

You will want to clean and flush them as best you can, make sure you have a strainer on your main and by all means monitor your water chemistry after installing them.
When you say "Precision Chemicals" are you referring to the company PrecisionChem out of Wisconsin? If so, you are in good hands. Chemical Mike will do a good job for you.

yes that is the company.

I also have 2 wye strainers and a Spirotrap dirt trap in my system

gg

You have all the precautions normally done in place with the strainers and dirt trap.

If you could pick them up for $30 I'd buy 'em all if I had a place to put them.

Each section of those rads has an EDR of 3-1/2 so if the btu out/sq ft is 150, each section will crank out 525 btu's. That number x the number of sections will be your total output.
The actual output is a floating or variable number based on room air temp and system water temp.

If you can get your hands on a copy of the Burnham Heating Helper it's all in there. Sizing, piping, outputs etc.

 

[heaterman]

How does $60 sound? If I am patient they might be available for less, maybe $30.

They aren't pressure tested yet, I would have to do that and clean them.

I can feel some rust scale when I put my finger in the hole but I would guess that is normal once they are open to the elements.

What does it cost to recondition?

They are 12 section, there are 16 available now.


gg

I'm drooling on my keyboard........ I love iron rads. Coupled with a variable water temp system they will darn near make a person forget about radiant floors.

So I take it that is a decent price?

I don't understand the math is it,

3.5 edr section X 12 sections X 150= 6300 btu's

gg

The math is right. Just remember that the variable number is the 150 in your equation. It changes with system water temp and indoor air temp.

 

[goosegunner]

Thanks, I will be patient and see if I can get them cheaper.


How many would you put in a 28 X 30 garage. to maintain 55 degrees. R13 walls and R30 ceiling.

gg

 

[heaterman]

Thanks, I will be patient and see if I can get them cheaper.


How many would you put in a 28 X 30 garage. to maintain 55 degrees. R13 walls and R30 ceiling.

gg

2 provided the doors are pretty decent and the ceiling isn't extra tall..like 14'+ or something like that.

 

[benjamin]

The best scrap place I know of in WI is paying $160 a ton for #2 cast, or 8 cents a pound, so I'm guessing $30 is quite a bit more than they're worth in scrap. I've never made any sense of radiator pricing, I don't think there is any besides the sky being the limit and the scrap price being a floor of sorts, if you remove them or even just haul them you might get them for for less than scrap.

Don't forget to blow the mouse nests out of those things, that scares me more than the rust and sand that's been sitting in those for decades.

Also, you can hook those up any way but with both top fittings. Sometimes the hot went in the top one side and out the bottom on the other side, or in the bottom one side and out the bottom on the other side.

 

[salecker]

Hi
I picked up 25 rads a couple of years ago.
My plan was to preasure test with air to 30 #,then flush the ones that didn't leak with a solution of 10% hydorcloric acid and water.Was told to use warm water if posibale,so i got a small electric water heater that hopefully dosn't leak.
Then flush with clean water.
Then fill with water and preasure to 80#.
Hopefully that will weed out the wimps and none will leak afterwards.
What do you guys think about that cleaning and preasure testing?
Thomas

 

[benjamin]

Sounds pretty thorough to me. I wouldn't bother with the acid myself. When you see the amount of sand and sludge that drops out when you tip them over, the acid might seem a little pointless.

To me most important thing is to get as much of the loose material out of them as possible. Maybe attach a pipe with a nozzle at a right angle that will fit in the length of the radiator and flush through each section with some force?

 

[maple1]

Pressure washer?

 

[Jeff S]

Cast iron radiators are wonderful,I installed 8 of them in my house for a total of 268 EDR ,I use water temps between 100 - 120*with the 120* rarerly being used ,that means I use less than 13400 BTU per hour all winter long for my 1500 sq.ft house.

I use these figures for a reference because they are simple to remember.

120*= 50 BTU per EDR
145*=100 BTU per EDR
170*=150 BTU per EDR

For those that are interested in ci rads ,I did a quick search on eBay and found several copies of the "Ideal Fitter" available.The "Ideal Fitter"was basically a small catalog the the American Radiator Company put out on there products and is a great resource for finding the EDR ratings of your rads.The rads GG is posting most resemble the "CORTO" style and can be found in their 1929 edition.You will also notice in their catalog all the coal boilers which resemble the wood boilers we are heating are houses with now 80+ yrs later,and guess what ,just about every member of the house knew how to operate them.

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

The best scrap place I know of in WI is paying $160 a ton for #2 cast, or 8 cents a pound, so I'm guessing $30 is quite a bit more than they're worth in scrap. I've never made any sense of radiator pricing, I don't think there is any besides the sky being the limit and the scrap price being a floor of sorts, if you remove them or even just haul them you might get them for for less than scrap.

Don't forget to blow the mouse nests out of those things, that scares me more than the rust and sand that's been sitting in those for decades.

Also, you can hook those up any way but with both top fittings. Sometimes the hot went in the top one side and out the bottom on the other side, or in the bottom one side and out the bottom on the other side.

Then try Miller, last I heard they were at $300 a ton. You might need to hit em once with a sledge hammer though, Randy

 

[heaterman]

Hi
I picked up 25 rads a couple of years ago.
My plan was to preasure test with air to 30 #,then flush the ones that didn't leak with a solution of 10% hydorcloric acid and water.Was told to use warm water if posibale,so i got a small electric water heater that hopefully dosn't leak.
Then flush with clean water.
Then fill with water and preasure to 80#.
Hopefully that will weed out the wimps and none will leak afterwards.
What do you guys think about that cleaning and preasure testing?
Thomas

80PSI is more than needed. Design pressure is 30 and test pressure is 1-1/2 times that.
45PSI.

 

[peakbagger]

Every so often I run into cast iron baseboard radiators. At first glance they look like fin tube, but when I look close, no fins. As they are made out of cast iron they look like they could survive any abuse, plus I expect they would sandblast well.