Another central heating problem

GristlyEnd

This has been driving me crazy for sometime.

Radiators in hall and living room will not heat up properly. Hall rad barely gets warm and living room rad doesn't heat up at all. I have tried to balance the system and the lock vale is barely open on all the other rads in the house and are producing great heat. I have taken the rad off in the living room and flushed it out, put it back on and it was still the same.

Now the strange thing is, the water pipe into the valve of the living room rad is very hot so hot water is getting there (rad in kitchen is fine). Could the valve be faulty? it did fill up with water again after I put it back on.

SAXA

Did you bleed the rads ? Air in the rad will stop it heating up .

GristlyEnd

Yes I have done that. No air in any of the problem rads.

Just The One

DarrenG wrote:

Yes I have done that. No air in any of the problem rads.

I actually have the exact same problem... I have taken the rads off and flushed them out... drained gallons of water through the pipes/valves... I tried to balance the system.... started by turning off every other rad and left the two dodgy ones on... they seemed to heat alright... then slowly I opened the others in order to balance... I thought this was great... The following day when I turned on the heat these two rads failed to heat again...

I have had a few people look at it but it has baffled them all... I am about to call in a professional... unless you can discover another thing to try.

GristlyEnd

Anyone else any thoughts on this?

Samson

Are these rads at the end of the system (last in line/pipework)?

Borzoi

Just The One wrote:

I actually have the exact same problem... I have taken the rads off and flushed them out... drained gallons of water through the pipes/valves... I tried to balance the system.... started by turning off every other rad and left the two dodgy ones on... they seemed to heat alright... then slowly I opened the others in order to balance... I thought this was great... The following day when I turned on the heat these two rads failed to heat again....

All the balancing in the world won't help if the pump or boiler are undersized for your system.

karltimber

I am in the middle of the same problem also..

Try to turn up your pump.
The water pump should be near your boiler.
They usually have 3 settings- 1,2,3 which inturn increases the pressure of the water in your system.

Give this try and see if that works.

Thx

GristlyEnd

Samson wrote:

Are these rads at the end of the system (last in line/pipework)?

I believe they are.

BTW this is a new house I moved into May 04. We had the plumber around to check it out and he balanced the system but the same problem reappeared. Now we can't get in contact with the builder anymore

GristlyEnd

karltimber wrote:

I am in the middle of the same problem also..

Try to turn up your pump.
The water pump should be near your boiler.
They usually have 3 settings- 1,2,3 which inturn increases the pressure of the water in your system.

Give this try and see if that works.

Thx

Thanks, I'll have a look when I get home. I'm sure the pump is built into the boiler unit and I'm not sure if it is easily accessible.

Boiler system is an Ideal Mini S24 www.idealboilers.com

tapest

DarrenG wrote:

Now the strange thing is, the water pipe into the valve of the living room rad is very hot so hot water is getting there (rad in kitchen is fine). Could the valve be faulty? it did fill up with water again after I put it back on.

DarrenG
Flow pipe to rad is hot....hot water reaches rad.....Correct
Faulty valve ?? possible, like kitchen tap with rubber washer, maybe stuck
It did fill up.... Of course it would, it will fill up from either side of rad (flow or return pipe), only needs one valve open to fill, two valves open to heat.
So re-check flow / lockshield valve by
a) close both valves fully,
b) loosen "union" between suspect valve and rad, remove bleed screw, drain rad fully
c) place receptacle under union...and have additional large bucket and towels on stand by if you're heavy handed or can't read d), e).
d) Slowly open return valve slightly and watch water flowing, confirming this valve is OK. Shut valve fully and wait for drips to stop.
e) Even more carefully open flow valve and check as above. When fully open, if no water appears gently tap valve body (sledge hammer not required) beware of sudden gush. By testing the good valve first, you'll know you have the union open enough and not too much and also how much water to expect.
That'll confirm or eliminate your suspicions about the valve condition.
If your having trouble with 2 rads.... what are the odds of 2 valves giving trouble at the same time ??

Hopes this helpes
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