diverter tee heating problem

JK_3

When bleeding from rads the water is going to take the path of least resistance to tje bleeder therefore if you have a hump or high spot in the pipe that is air bound bleeding the rad will only get the air from the rad and not the hump.

Rick_66

Diverter tee heating problem

have a diverter tee hot water heating system. I am not sure what I am
doing wrong I know that I was to let the air out of the system I went to every
radiator and tried bleeding them of the air until water came out. The ones on
the lower floor I bleed and the water pushed the air out but after I close them
back with the radiator still on 85 they begin to cool down and go back to
not putting out any heat at all after about 20-25 minutes.

I still have heaters on the upper floors that are on the same system as the
ones downstairs that will not work at all. Only one that seems as if it is on
the middle of the system in the master bedroom started to get hot none of the
other 4 are doing anything. I had the valves on them open for about 1-2
hours and nothing happened at all no steam no air no noting.

I need to try to get some heat going in the house because the weather is
about to change and I need it to work before that happens. What should I do ? I
have a new born in the house and need to get the heat going ASAP... Any help
you can give would be appreciated. I am trying to avoid using a plumber as
that is just extra expense that I really don't need at the moment unless it is
really necessary...

Jeff Elston

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Unknown

Rick,

It sounds like you may have a cold-fill pressure problem. Is there a gauge near the boiler telling you the systems pressure?

Dave

Todd Schliphack_2

Photos would be helpful

If you can give us a few photos of what the near boiler piping looks like, we could eliminate or point out some common suggestions ie: pumping away?????

Unknown

If the piping and radiation is still original, it sounds like the circulator pump has been changed to a different model, and isn't up to the task of your hi-head system.

Just a guess.....

Noel

Rick_66

The system is the same and was working ok when we moved into the house last winter. I came in the house around and the cold spell was in the air and the system was working then often taking time to warm up but it was working.

The pump comes on and seems to be fine although that may be an issue. When I opened up the vents the heat came out and air as well and the finned radiators were getting hot. after closing the vents on the radiators the radiators went cold once again. Not sure what to do at this point never had this kind of system before...

bob young

judgement call

Call a lic. plumber & he will do start up & explain system to you . then you might be able to do routine maintenance in the future. sometimes you just gotta open up your pocketbook. unless you want your family to be cold.

Rick_66

I am not in jeopardy of having the family being cold at this moment. I am just in the process of trying to do something for myself before calling in a hired gun and get hit with an additional expense. Right now I am trying to figure out why it is not working and get it to work. I have a two zone heating system and the house is not freezing because zone 1 works as designed. I am trying to figure out why zone 2 does not and rectify the problem. I am very sure that if not concluded with the issue in a few days I will call in someone to get it going and brief me on the process as you said. I am just trying to see if my problem is a simple one that can be rectified by me a the moment.

martin

Monoflows

You say 1 zone is working, when you turn up the therm on down zone does the return get hot. If not either in zone valve or therm.

Rich Kontny_5

Try....

Starting with the system switch shutoff. You have to have a makeup water setup in order to properly bleed the system. If you do not have a makeup water piping arrangement or if it is not working properly you need to call a competant service provider.

If you have proper makeup water you need to start at the radiator(or radiation)that is first upstream of the boiler,than progress around the house back to the boiler. Monoflo systems while very cost effective are notorious for air problems. The air pockets can move with the pump on and make them like the needle in the haystack to find!

If you go through this process and turn the system back on you should have heat in ALL the radiation. If you don't it is time to call the professional!

Good Luck!

Rich K.


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Rick_66

Thank you I will try this ASAP and if not I will be calling a PRO in to get the job done and at the same time get an education on the system that I have. Thanks

JK_3

Another possible issue is that when you bleeding the system you are only pulling water up either the feed or retun side and the other is air bound. try bleeding with the supply side shut off and then with the return side shut off and you will probably find that this solves your problem.

Rick_66

It appears that on the supply side there is a valve of some sort that is supposedly able to be turned by a screw driver as it appears. The problem with that is that the screws in those positions seem to be frozen in and not able to turn.

The one that I was able to turn seems like it is not backing out but may only be an internal valve to shunt the path of water flow, once again not sure about that theory but just making an observation.

Bruce Stevens

That is more than likely

a butterfly valve the slot is in the same direction as the valve ie slot in line with pipe its open, crosswise to the pipe it is closed. probably has a hole in the center so it is not a positive shut off but rather a balancing valve. loosen the packing nut one quarter turn and see if you can move the valve and hold screw slot while retightening the nut. Usually that will do it however on occasion they will kep leaking and need to be replaced.

JOE_106

CHECK THE VALVES

IF THE SHUT OFF VALVES ARE STUCK CLOSED THEN THE WATER IS NOT GOING TO FLOW THROUGH THE RADIATOR OBVOIUSLY. WHEN YOU ARE BLEEDING THE RADIATOR YOU MIGHT BE ONLY BLEEDING FROM THE RETURN SIDE. JUST MY TWO CENTS. I HAVE RUN INTO THIS PROBLEM BEFORE AND HAD TO CHANGE THE VALVES.

Rick_66

problem fixed

Thanks to all the helpful people out there and all the advice. It turned out that the boiler was basically running on the water it had in the system for a long time since I brought the house months back. It turned out that the water was not going in to the boiler because the check valve and the back pressure valve were not working due to being clogged with so much crap it would have made you sick had you seen it. Went to home depot picked up a new check and pressure valve installed it all is well... Then I go and try and bleed a radiator in the main bathroom after getting heat and break the DAMN stem on it and it is leaking like a siff all over the damn place. LOL sometimes I need to learn to leave well enough alone and follow my mind... Now I have to replace the bleed valve after the holidays I guess. I was able to stick a bolt from the Isuzu in the threads and slow the leak down and still keep the house toasty