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Bell & Gossett sells a special fitting called the Monoflo tee. You'll find these in thousands of heating systems, and they've been there for decades. If you ever have to move pipes around within one of these systems here are a few tips that should save you some time. The rings go between the risers. One side of each Monoflo tee has a red ring. That ring should always be between the risers that lead to the radiator. This means that if you're using two Monoflo tees, they'd be facing in opposite directions. If you have a radiator that's not heating as it should, check the position of the tees. If they're facing the wrong way, the radiator won't heat well. And check your circulator too. Circulators sometimes wind up going in backwards. Alternate up and down. If you have an upfeed and a downfeed radiator next to each other, the Monoflo tees should go like this: First tee (a standard tee) goes to the upfeed radiator. Second tee (a Monoflo) goes to the downfeed radiator. Third tee (a Monoflo) comes from the upfeed radiator. Fourth tee (a Monoflo) comes from the downfeed radiator. In other words, you alternate the up and down connections. That produces more resistance to flow along the main and nudges more hot water into the radiators. If you remove a radiator, don"t seal the branches.
On downfeed radiation, keep the temperature low to start. Cold water is heavier than hot water. If you drain a downfeed Monoflo system, and you're having a tough time getting it to circulate again, try lowering the water temperature. This brings the density of the hot water in the main closer to the density of the cold water in the radiators and helps to get things moving. It's an old-timer"s trick, and it works! If air is a problem on start-up, raise the static pressure until you've cleared it.
More air will dissolve in water that's under pressure. If you're having difficulty getting rid of air on start-up, try raising the static fill pressure. The higher pressure drives free air into solution and makes it easier for the air to get to your air separator. Once you've got the system going, lower the static pressure again. This is important because if you continue to operate at the higher pressure, your compression tank may not be large enough for the system. Your relief valve will pop.
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If you cap the pipes that used to lead to the radiators, all the water will go through the run of the Monoflo tee. That increases the overall system pressure drop and slows the flow of water to the entire system. If you remove a radiator, remove the Monoflo tees as well. Or if it's easier for you, just connect the two branches with a short length of copper tubing. That way, the water that used to go to the radiator will still have a place to go.| Dan Holohan - [Intro] | [Email] | [Website] |
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