It would really be helpful if I could locate some pipes suitable for carrying steam, 3/4″ ID, whose arc is described by a radius of 125 inches. I have looked around and it doesn’t seem that stuff like this is readily manufactured. I would love to be wrong about this.
If I am right about no one making this in a factory, are there people who make their living bending what has been made? The plumbers I have contacted on this question just say no. I don’t believe them. To be precise, I don’t want to believe them.
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Well, there's Tube Turns in Louisville (probably called something like "Tubicon" now) but you can't afford them.
but you can't afford them
I love a challenge.
I love a challenge.
Here you go....PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
just weld a radius into it. go buy a radius and weld where you need it,
Thank you everyone. You all have brought me up to speed.
Paine: Never welded steam pipe - but I do know that whoever welds pressure vessels must be certified to do so. It is not an easy cert to get, either, and must be kept current through continual recertification. This also applies to the piping, as far as I know. Maybe one of us is a steamfitter and can expound on this?
DonThe GlassMasterworks - If it scratches, I etch it!
Schedule 40 electrical conduit is the same size as schedule 40 pipe. Larger electrical firms use hydraulic pipe benders to bend it. The radius would be much smaller, but you could carefully work each piece bending a bit and moving the pipe a bit to get a 125" radius. I don't know how smooth you need the bend, nor what pressure and temperature service you need and whether the bending derates the ratings much.
You may also want to try Ryerson Steel. They are a big nationwide steel company. They have huge fabrication cabability, and should easily be able to supply pipe bent to whatever radius you want.
Most big cities will have a "tube" bending company around. These companies will bend steam pipe, boiler tubes, square tube, etc. If you are using it to carry steam, it must be adequate for the job, which conduit is not
I did not mean to imply that conduit is adequate for steam. Sorry I did not make that clear.
What I meant to say is that the OD of steel pipe and schedule 40 conduit is the same, so that a bender that bends conduit would bend steam pipe as well because the shoes would fit the pipe.
What I am getting from this conversation about what one trade is already prepared to do is that some crew in NYC is ready to bend and install these pipes on site. That sound right.
custom exhuast shop can do it in heartbeat.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Steam is usually transferred through black iron pipe. Most heating steam is low pressure, 30lbs. or less. Schedule 40 pipe is ok but when I worked with it (20 years ago) we prefered schedule 80. Why the big sweeping bend? I have worked it both residentially and in commercial enviroments and always used fittings. If we worked 100 lb or a "main" run we usually welded which used a more sweeping elbow but always fittings. DanT
Why the big sweeping bend?
The job is to put in radiators in a round room. The place is finished to the nines and I want to break open as little as po$$ible. I want to use the opening I have already made to withdraw the old pipes. The plumber on the job has described a series of fittings that will require a lot more room and he says it will affect the perfomance of the radiators.
I don't know the exact pressure but this is an old twenty floor, quarter of a block, building, with boilers the size of the Titanic and miles of pipe runs.
Best to talk with the boiler inspector. It may require QC depending on your location and bending the pipes might not be allowed. PITA ripping out a new install for non-compliance.
I have made segmented bends in rigid conduit that fit around a tank. Not really a smooth sweep it is a series of small, even bends along a length. Something, in my case, like 5 degrees every 8" formed in with a hydraulic bender.
Done well it looks like a smooth arc. Once you get the rhythm down it goes quickly. Never had a chance to use one but there are fancy automatic benders that would do this in a thrice.
I don't know what sort of pipe you use for steam. I guess it depends on the system. A lot of welding shops have the benders. A electrical contractor that does heavy industrial jobs is likely to have a bender.
Depends a lot on what kind of steam you're talking about. Regular home heating steam, IIRC, is just iron pipe, which I don't think bends real well, especially if it seamed vs seamless.
In a big electric generating plant you can bet they have bends in the pipe (which may be a foot in diameter). But that's where an outfit like Tube Turns comes in.