[JohnH1]

I already got myself out of trouble on this one. I am wondering if anyone else had ever run into a left handed thread on the inlet side of a hot water radiator valve but standard threads on the outlet side. I could not find a replacement valve but did find some dual threaded couplings lefty on one side and righty on the other. I had never run across the inlet of the valve before only some radiator bushings threaded backwords.

[mechanicalDvr]

Never seen that one before but when my uncle passed away I did find a whole set of left hand thread pipe taps up to 2 1/2".

[jvegas]

Is that a castiron steam radiator. I have seen the dual thread couplings but not the radiator valves but don't do much for steam systems

[mechanicalDvr]

Originally Posted by JohnH1

I already got myself out of trouble on this one. I am wondering if anyone else had ever run into a left handed thread on the inlet side of a hot water radiator valve but standard threads on the outlet side. I could not find a replacement valve but did find some dual threaded couplings lefty on one side and righty on the other. I had never run across the inlet of the valve before only some radiator bushings threaded backwords.

The real odd thing about that is most radiators have a tapping in all four corners that is right hand thread. Could you post a picture of this radiator?

[JohnH1]

The system is hot water not steam and it is the radiator valve the was the strange thing and I guess the pipe also. The pipe coming out of the floor was threaded backwards as well as the inlet side of the valve. the outlet side of the valve was threaded normal as was the radiator.
The other strange thing about this system is that there were no unions at the radiator neather on the valve side or the return side. the were both piped directly through the floor like they piped the system from the radiator back to the boiler. We had to cutt the nipple between the radiator and the valve. Of course then we thought the valve was rusted on the pipe so we cutt the valve to remove it from the pipe and then found out why we could not unscrew the valve. We were tring to unscrew it normally and just making it tighter. uuggg
Sometimes I thing this job is tring to make me nuts.

[Yuri]

I guess "righty tighty, lefty loosey" doesn't work all the time. I hate left hand threads. Friend of mine broke the pulley off his alternator on a GM pulling the wrong direction. Oops.

[JohnH1]

Yea thats the ticket. Easy money. NOT!

[gaudeteforge]

Those lefty righty fittings were used instead of unions. Pretty cool , if confusing with all the extra elbows, coupling and nipples that were needed. They are generally easy enough to work with once you recognize the markings on the fittings. Things like ridges on one side only of an elbow.

The only size I usually bother with is for connecting sections of wall hung cast iron radiation. The rest of the time I just revert to nipples and a union and change ouy the lefty righty fitting.