One cold rad upstairs

[motoloco]

Hi from a newbie

I've recently moved house and the heating /hot water works fine, apart from one upstairs rad that stays cold. Both pipes to it are also cold. I've bled it and water comes out and drained off some water via the bleed screw and it fills up again. The pin on the TRV moves freely. I've locked off all the other rads (2 downstairs, 3 upstairs) to try and encourage it, but to no avail. Any ideas??

Cheers

 

[Goldberg]

I've bled it and water comes out

If you shut off the valves, one at a time, and open the rad vent, does water come out both times?

 

[motoloco]

If you shut off the valves, one at a time, and open the rad vent, does water come out both times?

Yes it does

 

[kevplumb]

carry on tell the op the prob

 

[bengasman]

When is the last time the rad worked properly?

 

[motoloco]

Well you live and learn!

I've only been in the house a couple of months, and the rad's never worked in that time

 

[kevplumb]

whats the system / boiler setup

 

[motoloco]

whats the system / boiler setup

Do you mean what type/make of boiler is it?

 

[kevplumb]

yes and what sort of system is it connected to

 

[Goldberg]

What boiler do you have, and is the system sealed or open vented?

 

[motoloco]

the boiler is a Gloworm Ultimate (I guess about 20 years old), which seems to work ok and runs quietly. The boiler is downstairs (immediately below the cold rad) and the pump is upstairs (the pump is a Grunflos and is quiet too)

 

[kevplumb]

turn the boiler /pump off

close both valves

get yourself a tray or similar to drain the rad into

once its off

open the valves one at a time into a bucket and see what happens

 

[motoloco]

OK Kev, I'll give it a go and post back later.

Cheers

 

[motoloco]

I've been distracted on other projects this week, but today have undone the TRV side of the rad and drained it. Water flows when the TRV is turned on. Unfortunately the lockshield nut appears seized and won't budge, but I don't think any water is flowing from that side when the valve is opened, as nothing comes out of the TRV side. I was going to drain the system down to remove the lockshield completely, but the drain valve seems to be seized as well, as no water comes out and if I open bleed valves upstairs water flows through them. It's turning into a bit of a drama!!

 

[kevplumb]

sounds like a blocked return