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Old 04-30-2013, 03:08 PM
 
14 posts, read 104,972 times
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Hi Everyone,
Is there a way I can turn off this old radiator?(located in bathroom)....It's SOOOOOO HOTTT!!! I live in an older apartment building. I was able to turn off the radiator in my kitchen and my living room because they have knobs and they are off but the one in my bathroom is out of control and it does not have a knob like the other rads and it's painted.



I have asked my landlord how to turn it off and he didn't say much he just turned down the main heat of the building but that only helped slightly. Does any one know how I can turn this off?









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Old 04-30-2013, 03:25 PM
 
Location: The Triad
34,091 posts, read 82,455,924 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Blip121 View Post
Hi Everyone,
Is there a way I can turn off this old radiator?
Follow the pipe until you find a valve.

More Pictures
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Old 04-30-2013, 05:48 PM
 
Location: NW Nevada
18,126 posts, read 15,515,021 times
Reputation: 17108
Indeed. Theres no shut off. That is not only inconvenient , it is dangerous. Tell your landlord to put in a valve. A PROPER, radioator valve. That is steam your dealing with there. Low pressure steam, yes, but 5#s of steam pressure will land you in the burn ward on morphine.

Insist an acessable radiator shutoff be installed. If that radiator is that hot, it is likely that thermostatic trap on the return side is blowing through as well, and needs rebuilt. Your landlord is blowing sunshine up your posterior with saying he turned down the heat to the building. Bwahahahaha. Its STEAM. lol, you cant regulate it like that. Trust me. I know this for a fact. Make him fix it. You CANNOT do it yourself. Please don't try!!! That pipe goez into the wall and then, who knows where. It will inconvenience your landlord, as if there is no isolation valve, that he knows about, somewhere else, it will need to be shut down at the main, taking out the whole building, and then he will need to wrestle those heat galded fittings off, after cutting the pipe at the radiator (there is no union) and cut in the valve. His problem. He needs to make this right. That is an illegal and dangerous install. Steam is not to be trifled with, and I have the scars to prove it. Don't let your landlord buffalo you. Have any heating tech, worth his coveralls, look at that rad, and watch the immediate, interesting, facial expressions, of UH OH, light up his countenance.

Last edited by NVplumber; 04-30-2013 at 05:59 PM..
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Old 04-30-2013, 07:34 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,928,817 times
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Any chance there is a valve on the other side of the wall? It might be in an adjoing apartment, but I bet there is one...
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Old 04-30-2013, 09:06 PM
 
Location: NW Nevada
18,126 posts, read 15,515,021 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
Any chance there is a valve on the other side of the wall? It might be in an adjoing apartment, but I bet there is one...
Im' gonna say no man. That pipe takes off inside the wall. I dont have a set off prints for this building, but there may be a sectionalizing valve somewhere, but it more than likely is not available to tenants. The likelyhood that heater is twined in to an ajoining apt is bout nil. No pipefitter could be that mickey mouse. I hope.

The lack of a valve on this unit leads me to think an amateur may have been into it at some time. Landlord just needs to pony up here. If the heater was twinned in to an ajoining unit, then it would go on and off at the whim of the neighbors too. OP says in NEVER shuts down. So, having seen similar projects before, landlord le fix. . Its a very old setup. Lots could get sideways just trying to cut a valve in. Plus, it needs an actual, radiator valve. With a Bakelite, no burn handle. A steam valve.
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Old 05-01-2013, 09:11 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,701 posts, read 79,347,054 times
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COuld be steam, could be hot water. There may not be any valves in the line. Can you open a window?
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Old 05-01-2013, 09:43 AM
 
Location: southwestern PA
22,247 posts, read 47,165,320 times
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The apartments I rented (way back when) had hot water radiators that could not be turned off. Quite the common thing.

When it got too hot, I, and others in the building, opened the windows.
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Old 05-01-2013, 10:20 AM
 
Location: NW Nevada
18,126 posts, read 15,515,021 times
Reputation: 17108
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
COuld be steam, could be hot water. There may not be any valves in the line. Can you open a window?
It is NOT hot water. That is a Hoffman, 17C, thermostatic steam trap on it. Hot water runs straight through, it's a not trapped. Again, I cannot emphasize enough, not to try and tackle this inless you REALLY know what you're doing. Steam is deadly, to work on for a layman. It's a world of its own.

The warm weather is coming. The boiler will HAVE to go down, for maintenance and inspection, by the state. All pressure vessel heating must have annual internal and external inspection. When the boiler goes down, landlord can fix.
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Old 05-01-2013, 11:00 AM
 
14 posts, read 104,972 times
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Hi, Thanks everyone for your help and replies. NVplummer, What specifially should I ask my Landlord to do and is it expensive? Should I ask my Landlord to install a shut off valve? Right now because the weather is warming up. The radiator was cool to the touch last night but radiating heat from the top and on the wall....but now its hot again today....Whew!

I have all the windows open and it does not help much. Do they turn the Boiler room system off in the summer cause I may have to rent out my place as a sauna....lol
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Old 05-01-2013, 02:11 PM
 
Location: NW Nevada
18,126 posts, read 15,515,021 times
Reputation: 17108
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blip121 View Post
Hi, Thanks everyone for your help and replies. NVplummer, What specifially should I ask my Landlord to do and is it expensive? Should I ask my Landlord to install a shut off valve? Right now because the weather is warming up. The radiator was cool to the touch last night but radiating heat from the top and on the wall....but now its hot again today....Whew!

I have all the windows open and it does not help much. Do they turn the Boiler room system off in the summer cause I may have to rent out my place as a sauna....lol
Ask the landlord to put in a shutoff. The boiler will have to go down soon for inspection. The job won't be cheap, the valve alone will be bout 100 bucks, steam takes special parts. If I were to bid this, to your landlord, assuming a smooth, problem free, install, looking at around 3-400 depending on if the trap gets rebuilt. If something.....interesting...were to happen, like that pipe going into the wall breaking, things go up from there.

This is your landlords problem and he should not balk getting it done. Its a safety issue, first and foremost. I apologize if I seem zealous or over bearing in my take on this, but I have good teason to be that way. Many people just live with stuff like this and don't consider it a big deal. Trust me, it is. Steam systems are tough customers. They must be WELL maintained and properly piped. With all the appurtenances that implies. Like shutoff valves.
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