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The Catholics knew a bargain when they saw one. Listen to R. L. Clinton, Dead Man, who once walked the frigid streets of Butte, Montana. “The Broomell system in my home at 117 South Alabama St., Butte, Montana, has been continuously used by me during the most severe winters known to Montana for many years. The heating plant gave perfect satisfaction during the coldest weather. We can regulate it to maintain a heat of within a few points of any desired temperature.”
But you know the best part? If you and I hopped in my car and traveled to these buildings today we’d probably find their Broomell systems intact and still operating - with the original systems’ components. I bump into Broomells just about everywhere I go. That’s because they used to build them as good as they could. The Vapor Heating Company didn’t sell boilers, or pipe, or radiation. They sold only a few simple accessories, but they gave very specific instructions as to how to put a Broomell system together. Anyone’s boiler would do. Just pipe the system as you would any two-pipe steam system. When you reach the radiator, you’ll find the first Broomell device. It’s a supply valve that contains five orifices. They called it a “Quintuple” valve, and you can select an orifice for any day of the year. The colder the day, the bigger the orifice. Just dial in what you need by turning the handle. It’s easy.
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It gets wicked cold in Montana.
On the outlet side of each radiator you’ll find a Broomell fitting instead of a steam trap. These little cast-iron fittings look like tiny P-traps. Each fills with condensate to a depth of about one inch. The vertical piece of metal that forms the divider in the P-trap is tapped with a tiny hole. Air moves from the radiator into the dry return through that hole. The fitting has no moving parts. The water in the P-trap is there to squelch any vapor that makes it through the radiator. There won’t be much steam approaching that Broomell fitting, though, because of the orifices in the supply valve. The orifices will allow in only what the radiator can condense on any given day.| Dan Holohan - [Intro] | [Email] | [Website] |
| The views expressed in this article are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of MasterPlumbers.com |
