Radiant system-need help getting my heat on

Bebes

I have a radiant heat system, with a Weil-McLain boiler. PSEG turned the gas back on, but the boiler had no water pressure, so he wouldn't start it up, thus we still have no heat. The gas has been off since June, if that matters.

What do I do next. I lifted the lever over the bell shaped thing, and water passes through it.

Ironman

"Bell Shaped Thing"

The minimum cold pressure on the boiler should be 12psi for a two story house and 18psi for a three story.



When you say "the bell shaped thing", it could be the fill valve or it could be the relief valve. A picture would be helpful.



Also, when you say that the boiler had no water pressure, are you basing that on the boiler's gauge? It could very well be wrong. If there is indeed no water pressure, where did it go? If you have to add a substantial amount of water to the system then there's a leak(s) that needs to be repaired first. And then the air will have to be purged from the system before the boiler can be functional.



It could be that you simply need a fill valve or it could be that there's a whole lot more that needs to be done. If you do the wrong thing and then fire up the boiler, you could be creating a bomb. It could be that the gauge is reading wrong and that there is indeed pressure on the system.



You may want to call a pro to look at it. But if you'll post a pic., someone may be able to get you through the first step and eliminate some of the possibilities.

Bebes

I"m on it

I have a way to get a pic, it just takes me a little time. I'll do that right now.

Thanks

Bebes

Here's the pics

The first one is the bell shaped thing. The second one is my gauge. The third one is the switch, which is on. The fourth one is....I don't know what, but I had that shut off valve off, for maybe a few months, cuz it was leaking. My plumber came over and fixed that. The fifth one was my best attempt at showing the system all together.

What's next?

Ironman

Leak

There's something that's not showing in your last pic. that is leaking above the expansion tank (gray tank). Can you tell where it's leaking from?

Bebes

OK

The leak that shows in pic 5 is from the part in pic 4. That's what my plumber tightened, and it's completely dried up now..

Ironman

TRY...

Lifting the handle on the fill valve again and watch the lower portion of the boiler gauge to see if it starts to rise. Leave the handle up while doing this, but shut it if the pressure reaches 12psi. First make sure that any shut off valves in the line with the fill valve are opened.

Bebes

Question

Do you think the water evaporated during the summer? Is it possible to put too much water in the tank? I assume the fill valve is the bell shaped thing? I dd check to see if all the other valves were open...even tried lifting the handle, if that's what's in pic 1, but I got nervous and didn't do it very long at all.

Barb

Ironman

No...

Water doesn't evaporate in a closed system... but it can leak out. The part that you said was leaking is called a backflow preventer. And that's what it does: it prevents water from within the boiler system from flowing back into the potable water line if the potable line looses pressure. The leak on it should not have caused the boiler to loose pressure because it's in the potable line, not the boiler system pressure.



I'm suspecting that your fill valve is bad and needs replacing. It should automatically keep the boiler pressure at 12psi minimum without the handle up. Raising the handle manually bypasses it and holds it open. That's why I said close it at 12psi. We don't want any more pressure than that on a cold boiler (18psi if the house is 3 stories).



You probably have a low water cut off safety switch which is holding the boiler off until it's got pressure on it.



I'd suggest calling a heating pro. Check the "Find a Contractor" tab above if you don't have one.

Bebes

Thank you so much for taking all this time.

I went down and tried to raise the lever to let water into the system, but I couldn't hear anything moving, so your guess seems pretty right on. Darn, and we were so close to getting heat in the house. Oh well, I guess a few more days won't kill us.

I have an awesome plumber....he's just not free until Monday. Ah, life.

I sure did learn a lot, and that's always good.

Thanks again.

Barb

Ironman

If...

Raising the lever didn't let water flow in, then your water line is shut off somewhere else. There may be another shut off valve between the boiler and the fill valve.



The other possibility is that the strainer within the fill valve is clogged. Make sure that there's not another valve closed in the line somewhere before you call your plumber. The strainer can be removed and cleaned by removing the nut on the bottom of the fill valve. Make sure that you close the shut off valve upstream of the fill valve and that there is no pressure on the boiler before you attempt to remove the nut that holds the strainer.



In either case, you'll probably have to bleed air from the boiler system after the problem is fixed.



Best Wishes

Bebes

Update

For some reason, I went back down to try the lever again, and this time, water flowed into the boiler....and right out the overflow spigot. So, I guess that means that part is working after all.

So that gets me wondering if the problem is just with the gauge. It looks simple enough to replace.

What do you think about that theory?

As for bleeding air out of the system, I think I've done that before, but will need a refresher.

Barb

EricAune

Replace the gauge, wait for the plumber

If the gauge did not indicate a change in pressure when the pressure relief valve opened and spilled water then the gauge does need replaced.  This is common and routine as they age. 



if you do not have any form of heat and can wait (think safety, is there any vulnerable people in the house?) then that may be the best option.  The pictures you posted show a boiler system that has a few years under its belt and likely stands the need of a good once over, even after the minor problems are fixed, in order to verify its proper operation and safety.  When I say safety I am talking about the possibility of it producing carbon monoxide (as a chief concern).  This, again, is something that should be done as routine maintenance the same as replacing a old worn out gauge....only a heck of a lot more important.  

Bebes

The thing is....

It took all the money I had to get the gas back on, so I'm a little behind the 8 ball, so to speak. That said I'm not looking to blow my house up any time soon. Mostly, I keep seeing if the problem is something I can handle, cuz I like to know about things.

As for the boiler looking beat, it's not really that old, though in a perfect world having everything checked out sounds like a good idea.

So, is there anything I can do to jostle the gauge into working? Do I have to remove the excess water in the boiler, or will it do that itself. Can I turn the boiler on, put some heat in the house, and then turn it off.

tim smith

Re: no pressure/no heat

I would not try and start that boiler whatsoever until you have some qualified person check over. Call the gas company and see if there is any assistance for low income situations. There usually is so people don't freeze in winter. Just don't try and start yourself. Good luck

LarryC

What is the valve in picture 4? Safety relief ???

Is that the overpressure safety relief valve in picture 4?  If so, why is there a ball valve on it?

Mark Eatherton

Its a backflow preventer....

NOT a safety relief valve.



ME

LarryC

Thank you. I learned something new.

Thank you Mark.  I learned something new.

Bebes

Final update

So, my plumber came over.....good thing too. Let's see, the gauge was broken, the spigot thing that let's off the excess water wasn't shutting,(hmm, is that the pressure release valve?), the part where the pilot comes out was bad, the whole thing, the....well, the part where the gas is controlled, (feel free to fill in the right words here)...it's the box where the automatic gas shut off is, was defective, the bars that the gas comes out of were all rusty and needed cleaning...that was my job... and the flue was set on all the time open, plus there was tons of air in the system. But its on now.

Now alls I need to do is stop the heat loss....plenty of projects there, but I'm on it.

Bebes

A new development

The system was running fine for quite some time, but now one of the floors isn't working. It's too late to call my plumber now, so I thought I'd see if I could find an answer here.

The first pic is my IPC panel; the second pic is a box that is on the loop for each floor. On two of them, the lever at the underside is to the right, but on the floor that isn't working, it's on the left, and the loops are cold. I tried to switch it over, but it won't go.

Is there something I can do now, or do you think the box is defective?

Bebes

Woops, never mind

Turns out I had my loops mixed up...it's working fine. I did learn something tho, so that's good.

I sure like this board, the people, the new look. I noticed I got edited by admin, and just want to say that if I'm off base with stuff, just let me know.

Over and out for now.