Chained Radiators

Buck

Recently moved into an older house heated with hot-water cast iron radiators (There's eighteen total in the house!)  All of the them in the house work great -- except for one.  It never gets hot, only warm.  I've bled the unit without any improvement.  I've traced the radiator's piping down in the basement and found that this radiator is at the end of a chain of four rads.  My question is: Can a radiator produce <span style="text-decoration:underline;">less</span> heat than others in a chain simply because it is at the end of that chain?  If yes, to this question, what is the best solution?  Running pipe to the main heat is an unrealistic remedy. 

Mark Eatherton

Ouch...

Some peoples kids....



You can run out of heat before you get to the last radiator.



I've seen this before, and the consumer didn't want the sheet rock dust associated with the correct fix (parallel piping), so we put a 4 way reversing valve on the circuit that would reverse the direction of flow every 5 minutes during a call for heat. It evened the flow of heat out better than it was before. You may have to adjust the time depending upon how it is laid out and configured.



ME

Charlie from wmass

a question

can you attach the end pipe to the return so the water flow becomes reverse return. This is not a diy project. Having not seen the system in photos or person it is a long shot guess. There may be a way to encourage the flow to the last radiator by restricting the flow to the earlier ones. also there may not be proper flow rates either too slow or too fast. By using a Delta T pump with outdoor rest to get a long flow period or even constant flow.

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

Curious

What is the setpoint water temperature on your boiler.  It should be between 170 - 180 degrees.