Central Heating Problems

[DIYNOVICE82]

In my property i have 4 rads downstairs and 3 upstairs.
the rad in the living room and the 3 upstairs are not heating up.
i tried bleeding the rads, but i dont think i did it right as i turned the key a lot and there was a large release of water from the valve. i let the water out until the rad was empty (on the downstairs rad). wjen i did this upstairs there was still some water coming out straight away although not as intense as downstairs.
once i had done this i turned the system back on, the rad downstairs remained cold and upstairs the very bottom corner heated up but did not fill the rest of the rad.
please help!!

 

[AlanRob]

In my property i have 4 rads downstairs and 3 upstairs.
the rad in the living room and the 3 upstairs are not heating up.
i tried bleeding the rads, but i dont think i did it right as i turned the key a lot and there was a large release of water from the valve. i let the water out until the rad was empty (on the downstairs rad). wjen i did this upstairs there was still some water coming out straight away although not as intense as downstairs.
once i had done this i turned the system back on, the rad downstairs remained cold and upstairs the very bottom corner heated up but did not fill the rest of the rad.
please help!!

Bleeding a rad is to let air out, not all the water.....

 

[DIYNOVICE82]

what is the correct procedure i should follow?

 

[AlanRob]

You did it, just turn off when the water flows.

If you're on a pressurised sytem, you now have to re-pressurise.

If you've a header tank, should re-fill automatically.

 

[DIYNOVICE82]

do i need to bleed all the radiators or just the ones that are not working correctly?

 

[MANDATE]

Just the ones that aren't working. This basically applies to radiators that are hot at the bottom but cold at the top (due to the air). Of course there are other reasons why a rad don't get hot which has nothing to do with air.
Valves may be blocked preventing the flow of water or the radiator tubes may be blocked ( cold areas ).

 

[DIYNOVICE82]

Ok last night i gave it another go.
I started upstairs and as soon as i crakced the valve open water was present. i left it for about 45mins and there was about 2/3 bucket of water released. about 1/2 the radiator got 'luke warm' but as soon as i turned the vavle off it lost the little heat it had in it.
this was the same for all 3 rads upstairs, they got a little warm when the valve was open and went cold when it was shut.
does this mean the problem is more severe than just having air in the system????????

 

[slippyr4]

i left it for about 45mins and there was about 2/3 bucket of water released. about 1/2 the radiator got 'luke warm' but as soon

Which part of "just turn off when the water flows." didn't you understand?


Check both the supply pipe valves (TRV, lockshield) are properly open.

 

[DIYNOVICE82]

water came out as soon as the valve was opened.
where are the supply pipe valves?

 

[jackohelp]

once you are sure the air has gone you may find the rads closest to the boiler heating up and the ones furthest away not. close the ones closest to the boiler a bit and keep trying. (balancing ) Another thing, if they are double panelled rads they sometine have two bleed points one for each side, make sure you bleed from both.

 

[DIYNOVICE82]

the ones nearest the boiler (3 rads upstairs) are not getting hot at all even after the air has gone, it is 3 out of 4 rads downstairs that are getting all the heat.

 

[slippyr4]

Has something changed on your system or some work been done for these problems to occur?

 

[DIYNOVICE82]

i have only just moved in this week so i dont know how long the system has been operating like this

 

[ricarbo]

You need to try this:-
With the boiler off -
If you have a small tank in the loft, ensure that it has some water in it and that the ballvalve lets a bit of water in when you push the float down
If you don't have a small tank in the loft, read the pressure gauge on the boiler (when it is off and cold) to see what the pressure is. there might be a green section on the dial. if so, the indicator needs to be in that green sector.
bleed each rad by opening the bleed valve at the top. close the bleed valve AS SOON AS water starts to come out.
Close one of the radiator valves where the pipes join the radiator (these are the supply pipe valves) on EVERY radiator EXCEPT one of the rads that doesn't get hot.
Turn the system on. If the one radiator gets hot, turn it off at the valve and try one of the others that didn't heat. If you can get them all to work one at a time, then your problem is 'balancing'.
If none of them heat up, maybe the valves are stuck shut. Are they thermostatic valves (usually larger than the valve at the other end of the rad and with numbers on the head, often 1 to 4 or 1 to 6)? If so, take the head off and push the little pin down, firmly, (perhaps with the side of a pair of pliers , so you don't hurt yourself) but don't hit it with a hammer! repeatedly until it pops up. If you want to know how to take the head off, see if you can find a makers name on the valve, then get their instruction sheet. Often there is a ring you simply unscrew, but it's not always obvious what to do.
If it's a balancing problem you need to close down the lockshield valve (the smaller valve at the other end of the rad) a bit (you take off the plastic top and turn the now exposed stem clockwise until it stops, counting the number of turns, then anticlockwise a lesser number of turns). Ideally you check the temperature of the pipe at each end of the rad and adjust the lockshield until every rad has one pipe 10 degrees Centigrade hotter than the pipe at the other end
The people you took over from might be able to help?

 

[DIYNOVICE82]

I have tried as mentioned above.
even with just one rad turned on upstairs there is no heat at all getting thru to it..........any ideas?