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Good responses...
The pic shows the radiator upside-down on the floor -- so the top piece ruptured. The piece didn't appear to become a projectile, but was found a few feet from the rad.
I think that hole shown is on the return side: the water fills the radiator to the top at each fin, flows through the final top passage as it cools, and drops to the bottom to be on its way at the return pipe.
I talked to some more family today. Another theory is that the boiler was in good condition. The supply line froze and didn't provide sufficient water to the system. Meanwhile, the system is heating up with steam and the components become hot. The frozen pipe then thaws and releases a rush of near-freezing water into the hot system and the violence ensues: with a possible rupture in the tank, supplying the steam. Then the system quit, froze-up and provided enough freezing power to bust the iron.
Maybe the insurance adjuster will shed some light into the matter.
It's a puzzling case for sure...
-Rick
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“If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research” ― Albert Einstein
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